[Point Blank]

In light of the other thread about re-signing Chris Butler, I accidentally derailed the thread by mentioning Wideman. But I thought it would be a good idea to rank the CP whipping boys and which ones were most hyped or well-liked. Not sure if this has been done already but here's my list based on year from 2011 onwards (feel free to go as far back as you'd like, my memory sucks):

11/12
Hyped/Well-Liked:
1. Sven Baertschi
2. TJ Brodie
3. Derek Smith

Whipping Boys:
1. Chris Butler
2. Matt Stajan
3. Rene Bourque
4. Anton Babchuk

Biggest rise: Derek Smith- the guy went from a relatively unknown player to a CP favorite. Everyone was happy with him being re-signed.
Biggest fall: Rene Bourque- Looking back now, many new fans couldn't have believed that many long time fans at one time thought he'd be the next captain after Iggy.

12/13
Hyped/Well-Liked:
1. Sven Baertschi
2. Roman Cervenka (at least at the beginning)
3. Johnny Gaudreau
4. TJ Brodie

Whipping Boys:
1. Chris Butler
2. Jay Bouwmeester
3. Alex Tanguay
4. Tim Jackman
5. Blake Comeau

Biggest rise: Matt Stajan- I think CP never had any issues with his character, in this season he wasn't hyped or especially distinguished as a well-liked player, but definitely rose from being CP's most hated player due to the Phaneuf trade fleece.
Biggest fall: Tim Jackman- A former 10 goal scorer and known as a great locker room guy, but after this year fans couldn't care less when he was traded.

13/14
Hyped/Well-Liked:
1. Sean Monahan
2. Johnny Gaudreau
3. Markus Granlund
4. Mark Giordano
5. Lance Bouma
Edit: 5.5. Brian McGrattan (added due to consensus)

Whipping Boys:
1. TJ Galiardi
2. Kevin Westgarth
Edit: 2.5. Curtis Glencross (added due to consensus)
3. Mark Jankowski
4. Shane O'Brien
5. Sven Baertschi
6. Chris Butler
7. Dennis Wideman

Biggest rise: Markus Granlund- had an amazing camp, year at the AHL, and did well up in the NHL. Went from a Tom Erixon last minute salvage to a hyped prospect (in terms of pure skill, most of us would think it's crazy now if we did a one to one trade, Markus for Tom, but we probably would've done that two years ago). Some even went as far as labeled his shot as elite in the NHL level.
Biggest fall: Sven Baertschi- Just last year a huge portion of the Dome consisted of Baertschi jerseys. Not without skill, but he's been under a lot of fire for his mental game.