Player Discussion NYR Mid-Season Report Cards

[GoAwayPanarin]

Alright people, lets have em.

Top of the class:

Artemi Panarin - A+++++
What more really needs to be said? He won't be at the forefront of the hart discussion, but he really should be

Mika Zibanejad - A+
Last year was no fluke. PPG+ with out Panarin.

Tony DeAngelo - A
Top 5 in league scoring from the back end while being tasked with lugging around perhaps the worst player in the league at the D position.

Adam Fox - A-
Some rough spots recently but the production has already eclipsed what I expected out of him this year. Dark Horse for the Calder

Ryan Strome - A-
He was more opportunistic than good early on but he's been as responsible for his own production as anyone else has lately. Making a case to hang around long term.

Honor Roll:

Jesper Fast - B+
The production hasn't been there to put him higher but he's been excellent this year. When ever a line is struggling, plugging him in seems to be the solution to getting that line going.

Filip Chytil: B
Game has slipped a bit of late but honestly he was so good early on that he still deserves to be here. His line is not indiciative of how well hes played, he's had several gimmies beefed on by his linemates.

Henrik Lundqvist: B
He's had some ugly moments, but the team defense has been horrendous so that isn't exactly on him. Hasn't been able to bail the team infront of him out with regularity like he did in his prime, but it still happens more often than you'd expect given the overwhelming opinion of him here.

Just missed:

Alex Georgiev: B-
Pretty much the same as above with more memorable stinkers.

Chris Kreider: B-
Was complete and utter ass for half the season. Has worked himself back up to this level.

Jacob Trouba: B-
Has had games where he really shines (Colorado) and then games where nothing goes right (Vancouver.) All in all hes been about what I expected.

Brendan Lemieux: B-
Bad penalties are the only thing keeping him from being higher. Production has been solid and hes been a wonderful troll.

Middle of the class:

Pavel Buchnevich - C+
Production has really dried up. He's in the middle of alot of good things which is nice but eventually they have to turn into points. Hasn't happened for him.

Brady Skjei - C
No player on this team has been more up and down than Skjei. He is the epitome of a C player.

Ryan Lindgren - C
Loved his game early, haven't loved it as much lately.

Kaapo Kakko - C
He hasn't looked the same since that game against Pittsburgh. Flashes in some moments, but not often enough. Coaching Staff hasn't done him any favors but he hasn't put himself in a position to be moved up often enough, with the exception of that Calgary game.


Below Average

Libor Hajek - D+

Was probably asked to do too much but really struggled with the role he was given. Where is the guy we saw last year?

Brett Howden - D
Most of the time he is just "there." Hes looked better on the wing, but still hasn't really done much of anything.

Brendan Smith - D
Can we really not do any better than this on the 4th line?

Greg McKegg - D
Don't understand the love fest from Quinn for this guy. Good Wheels, but thats really it.

Coaching Staff: D.
The system sucks, the decisions on who to put out there on the PP have been baffling and the meritocracy lasted all of a week.

INC:
Haley, but who really cares
Fogerty: Same, but his line sucks.
Shesty: I mean what hes done this year collectively puts him in God tier but 2 games at the NHL level are just 2 games.

Fail:

Marc Staal: F

Arguably the worst player in the league at his position. Not an NHL level player. Sitting duck for any team that has even a sliver of team speed. Kills transition and most offensive zone possessions.

Click to read more...

 

[FIRE DRURY]

Well Done.

 

[bl02]

Pretty fair assessment half way thru.

 

[BleedBlueNYR]

The only thing I’ll say is that Kakko has had a few games since the PIT game that he’s looked pretty good in. Most notably the one in Calgary where he just looked really confident with the puck.

 

[Machinehead]

Giving Kakko any higher than a D is lying to ourselves and I think D is even being nice.

 

[HFBS]

Giving Kakko any higher than a D is lying to ourselves and I think D is even being nice.

Mostly agree with the original post but I think this is right. Might rate Trouba lower and Smith higher because Smith does less damage at forward than defense.

 

[eco's bones]

Brendan Smith is not really a forward and McKegg not necessarily an NHL player. He's more like a borderline NHL player.

Trouba allows Fox and DeAngelo to slot into our lineup correctly. He is without doubt a more complete player than either. Fox and DeAngelo are better offensive players but Trouba is still a good offensive player. When we grade Trouba that should be kept in mind. I also see Skjei as a 2nd pair guy---not a first pair guy. His offensive output of 18 points with almost no power play time is really good. Defensively he could be better sometimes but that could be said of all of our D to some degree.

As for the hate for Marc Staal---he and Tony have actually played fairly well together. I mean DeAngelo quite often attacks the net down low and Marc is definitely the guy staying back. Marc also gets a lot of PK time. This is not to say that I don't look forward to the day when Staal's contract is up but IMO he's not as bad at his job description as some make out. If he were making $2 mil instead of $5.7 that would be about right as far as his value.

Lindgren's been pretty good. Hajek--okay. The main difference between the two is the smaller Lindgren is more combative and Hajek seems shy at times.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Brendan Smith is not really a forward and McKegg not necessarily an NHL player. He's more like a borderline NHL player.

Trouba allows Fox and DeAngelo to slot into our lineup correctly. He is without doubt a more complete player than either. Fox and DeAngelo are better offensive players but Trouba is still a good offensive player. When we grade Trouba that should be kept in mind. I also see Skjei as a 2nd pair guy---not a first pair guy. His offensive output of 18 points with almost no power play time is really good. Defensively he could be better sometimes but that could be said of all of our D to some degree.

As for the hate for Marc Staal---he and Tony have actually played fairly well together. I mean DeAngelo quite often attacks the net down low and Marc is definitely the guy staying back. Marc also gets a lot of PK time. This is not to say that I don't look forward to the day when Staal's contract is up but IMO he's not as bad at his job description as some make out. If he were making $2 mil instead of $5.7 that would be about right as far as his value.

Lindgren's been pretty good. Hajek--okay. The main difference between the two is the smaller Lindgren is more combative and Hajek seems shy at times.

This is so false.

Staal drags DeAngelo down enormously. Every single one of DeAngelo's important metrics goes up a ton when he hasn't been on the ice with Staal.

DeAngelo with out Staal is in the green in a few important areas and nearing just even in a few others which is saying a lot because this team isn't really all that great (They're trending better collectively FWIW.) Staal with out DeAngelo is LOL worthy so if anything, he's much worse than you think he is.

Staal at 2 million would still be a really bad hockey player. This is a guy who shouldn't even be in the league, so league minimum would be too much.

 

[eco's bones]

This is so false.

Staal drags DeAngelo down enormously. Every single one of DeAngelo's important metrics goes up a ton when he hasn't been on the ice with Staal.

DeAngelo with out Staal is in the green in a few important areas and nearing just even in a few others which is saying a lot because this team isn't really all that great (They're trending better collectively FWIW.) Staal with out DeAngelo is LOL worthy so if anything, he's much worse than you think he is.

Staal at 2 million would still be a really bad hockey player. This is a guy who shouldn't even be in the league, so league minimum would be too much.

You are too obsessed with Staal IMO. Look even with all the buyouts we have going into next year I'd be okay buying out Staal--it's not like I'm a big fan though I will note that before his head injuries he was a good player. DeAngelo and Skjei have always looked like shit when paired together. DeAngelo has never played better than he is right now and he's playing with Staal.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

You are too obsessed with Staal IMO. Look even with all the buyouts we have going into next year I'd be okay buying out Staal--it's not like I'm a big fan though I will note that before his head injuries he was a good player. DeAngelo and Skjei have always looked like **** when paired together. DeAngelo has never played better than he is right now and he's playing with Staal.

DeAngelo playing his best hockey has nothing to do with Staal lmao.

He's doing this DESPITE having to carry arguably the biggest and heaviest anchor at the position around. His numbers away from Staal are sparkling.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

DeAngelo playing his best hockey has nothing to do with Staal lmao.

He's doing this DESPITE having to carry arguably the biggest and heaviest anchor at the position around. His numbers away from Staal are sparkling.

To be fair the last 4 or so games Staal has been pretty decent but not so good most of the year.

 

[Rempe73]

Panarin - A+
Zibanejad - A+
Fox - A+
DeAngelo - A
Strome - A
Shestyorkin - A
Chytil - B+
Lemieux - B+
Lindgren - B+
Buchnevich - B
Kreider - B-
Skjei - B-
Trouba - C+
Fast - C+
Kakko - C
Howden - C-
Georgiev - C-
Smith - C-
McKegg - C-
Haley - C-
Lundqvist - D+
Hajek - D
Andersson - D-
Staal - D-/F

Relative to expectations of course

 

[Rempe73]

His offensive output of 18 points with almost no power play time is really good.

Agreed. That’s largely ignored, but Skjei producing like that with barely any power play time is really, really good. It’s a good sign for sure.

 

[egelband]

You are too obsessed with Staal IMO. Look even with all the buyouts we have going into next year I'd be okay buying out Staal--it's not like I'm a big fan though I will note that before his head injuries he was a good player. DeAngelo and Skjei have always looked like **** when paired together. DeAngelo has never played better than he is right now and he's playing with Staal.

The worst thing about Staal is his contract. He’s fine as a 6-7 getting periodic rest. The hate is approaching meme level.

 

[egelband]

Panarin - A+
Zibanejad - A+
Fox - A+
DeAngelo - A
Strome - A
Shestyorkin - A
Chytil - B+
Lemieux - B+
Lindgren - B+
Buchnevich - B
Kreider - B-
Skjei - B-
Trouba - C+
Fast - C+
Kakko - C
Howden - C-
Georgiev - C-
Smith - C-
McKegg - C-
Haley - C-
Lundqvist - D+
Hajek - D
Andersson - D-
Staal - D-/F

Relative to expectations of course

How is Andersson above Staal?????

 

[Cag29]

Giving Kakko any higher than a D is lying to ourselves and I think D is even being nice.

Disagree he’s 18. Hughes ain’t doing much either but they are both developing in the NHL. He shows flashes of brilliance so it will come. Patience.