How would you grade the players' performance in 2016-17 thus far?

[TheScorpion]

It's simple -- give the players a rating on how they've played this season. I thought this would be a good time to do this, seeing as how we're approaching the mid-way point of the year.

Forwards:

Backlund: A (all-around fantastic player, in all three zones. can score frequently, and is premier defensively)
Tkachuk: A (exceeding every expectation as a rookie. he'll be a fixture in the red and yellow for years)
Versteeg: A- (fantastic playmaker, lots of skill -- hope he's re-signed. this team needs him)
Gaudreau: A- (maybe not producing at his highest capability, but he's still been great)
Frolik: B+ (started off hot, but has cooled off somewhat recently)
Monahan: B (is heating up, but is still below his average pace. needs to use his body more)
Brouwer: B (lacks consistency, but has formed good chemistry with his linemates and brings physicality)
Bennett: B- (like brouwer, he lacks consistency, but when he's on, he's on. will probably reach 20/20)
Ferland: C+ (has been fine, but needs to score more to get a higher rating. best hitter on the team)
Chiasson: C+ (has hot and cold spells. right now, he's on one of the latter, but brings a solid net-front presence)
Hathaway: C+ (intangibles! they always win with him in -- he brings truculence like few others)
Stajan: C (is easily the best player on the team at being matt stajan. jokes aside, he's a good 4C)
Jankowski: C (small sample size, so his rating can't go any higher -- but he didn't look lost in his one game)
Hamilton: C- (doesn't play every night, but shows the odd promising attribute. nothing wrong with appeasing dougie)
Bouma: C- (he will never be his 2014-15 self again. it's too bad, that player was awesome. this one is meh)
Shinkaruk: D (didn't leave much of an impression during his stint with the big club. still has time to develop)
Vey: D- (the very definition of a plug. a fine 14th forward, who can play 8 minutes every third game)

Defense:

Hamilton: A (he brings a cannon from the point, and is solid in his own end. what brodie was in 2015)
Giordano: A- (started slow, but has really rounded into form. a true leader for this club)
Brodie: B (his fiancee's ms diagnosis probably (rightfully) hurt him. he's also playing his off-side. he'll get better)
Wideman: B- (somewhat of a rebound season for dennis. he's been a good complement for tj on the right side)
Engelland: B- (it's amazing how much better he's gotten in three years. a leader with physicality and good puckhandling)
Jokipakka: C (he's still developing, for sure. he looked strong to start the year, but has seemingly lost a step lately)
Kulak: C- (same with jokipakka, but he was sent back down to stockton. lots of promise with both of them)
Grossmann: F (actually the worst player i have ever seen wearing the flaming c)

Goalies:

Johnson: A- (this guy is probably going to be an all-star. he's been pretty good. forms a good tandem with...)
Elliott: B- (has been far better of late. looked terrible to start, but has won his last 3 games.)


Your thoughts?

[Jason14h]

You give way too many A and B ratings for a mid standings team!

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

You give way too many A and B ratings for a mid standings team!

You're right, although in my mind many players on this team are exceeding expectations. I'm curious to see what others think, how they grade them.

[calgaryblood]

Yep way too many A's and B's.

Elliott a B is actually laughable. He's been a C- at best.

Gaudreau B+ - his early slow start brings his grade down.

Monahan C - also had a putrid start and this is a season rating not a last 15 games rating.

Versteeg B very consistent player.

Brouwer - C- good start but invisible for a while now while not on the PP

Chiasson - C a pleasant surprise after the first 10 games

Backlund B+ very consistent all year long just a little inconsistent offensively

Frolik - B very consistent just like Backlund but has been invisible offensively way too often

Bouma D- bad all year and lost in his own zone. Barely an NHLer IMO

Hathaway- B+ plays his role perfectly

Bennett B- has been pretty good this season but needs to be better defensively and use his teammates more.

Tkachuk B+ great all year.

Goalies - Johnson A- kept us in almost every game he's played.

Elliott - C- too many softies and inconsistent play.

[dying4acup]

I'd give Backlund an A. I'd listen to arguments on a few other players. But Backlund gets an A.

If not for Backlund this season, the Flames and Canucks are a dead heat.

[djsFlames]

Backlund: A+++

Elite, elite "3rd" line center.
Very, very good 2nd line center.

I'm not sure the other 29 teams even know yet how much they want a Backlund suiting up for their team every night. Like Brodie the last couple years, Backs still flies completely under the NHL's radar. But fans around these parts sure know that his game is as smoothly rounded as a pebble. Just a great example of savvy, patient development of a player by an NHL club that has paid off handsomely.

[Karl]

Forwards:

Backlund: A+
Tkachuk: A
Versteeg: B+
Gaudreau: B
Frolik: B+
Monahan: C
Brouwer: C
Bennett: B-
Ferland: B
Chiasson: B-
Hathaway: B
Stajan: B-
F. Hamilton: C-
Bouma: D-
Vey: D
Shinkaruk: C-


Defense:

Hamilton: A
Giordano: B
Brodie: C
Wideman: C+
Engelland: B+
Jokipakka: D+
Grossmann: F
Kulak: C

Goalies:

Johnson: B+
Elliott: C-

[Locke]

54%

[DeluxeMoustache]

Forwards:

Backlund: A+ - aces
Tkachuk: A- - very good but needs to rein himself in and make better decisions sometimes
Versteeg: A - value for dollar, creative
Gaudreau: A - A+ performance post injury erases a sluggish start
Frolik: B+ - solid
Monahan: C+ - bouncing back from a slow start
Brouwer: C - moments but largely unspectacular
Bennett: B- - developing
Ferland: A - above my expectations
Chiasson: B - good job with an assignment arguably above his pay grade
Hathaway: A - a positive influence on the team and guys who used to do the same job
Stajan: B- - solid
F. Hamilton: C- - meh
Bouma: D - just doesn't do the same things that earned his contract
Vey: D
Shinkaruk: C-


Defense:

Hamilton: A - very good
Giordano: B+ - trending up after a bad start
Brodie: C- - playing better but seeing lack of comfort on the opposite side
Wideman: B+ - underrated here
Engelland: A - above expectations this year
Jokipakka: C - fine.
Kulak: C - ok, unspectacular


* Don't understand why people bothered rating Grossmann


Goalies:

Johnson: A- - I don't let the overall body of work be swayed by the kind of goals that have happened the last few games
Elliott: C - more a victim of circumstance early

[calgaryblood]

Karl likely has the most accurate rankings. Just wouldn't rate Backlund an A+. To me an
A+ is near perfection. I wouldn't rate many players in the entire league an A+ but he has been great this year. I would rate him an A- at the absolute best but pretty much agree with the rest of the scores.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Karl likely has the most accurate rankings. Just wouldn't rate Backlund an A+. To me an
A+ is near perfection. I wouldn't rate many players in the entire league an A+ but he has been great this year. I would rate him an A- at the absolute best but pretty much agree with the rest of the scores.

I think if you're ranking them based on what you expect of the player, he's an A+ for sure.

[Otto-matic]

Forwards:

Backlund: A
Tkachuk: A
Versteeg: B
Gaudreau: B+
Frolik: B+
Monahan: C+
Brouwer: C+
Bennett: B-
Ferland: B-
Chiasson: B-
Hathaway: B-
Stajan: B-
Bouma: C-



Defense:

Hamilton: B+
Giordano: B
Brodie: C+
Wideman: C+
Engelland: B+
Jokipakka: C-
Kulak: C

Goalies:

Johnson: B
Elliott: C

I took out Vey/F.Hamilton/Shinkaruk since they had little playing time and really hard to grade how they performed.

[1qqaaz]

Are we grading based on expectations, or overall performance?

Stajan has been quite a bit better than I thought he'd be. He has almost reached his point totals from last year. I'd give him an A-/B+ in terms of meeting expectations.

Other than that, I'd say Otto-matic is the closest. I'd probably be a bit harder on Elliott (at least so far).

[N-E-B]

Backlund: A
Tkachuk: A
Versteeg: B
Gaudreau: B+
Frolik: B+
Monahan: C+
Brouwer: C
Bennett: C+
Ferland: B
Chiasson: B-
Hathaway: B
Stajan: B+
Bouma: F

Hamilton: A-
Giordano: B
Brodie: C
Wideman: C+
Engelland: B+
Jokipakka: D+
Kulak: C+

Johnson: A-
Elliott: C

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

Are we grading based on expectations, or overall performance?

Stajan has been quite a bit better than I thought he'd be. He has almost reached his point totals from last year. I'd give him an A-/B+ in terms of meeting expectations.

Other than that, I'd say Otto-matic is the closest. I'd probably be a bit harder on Elliott (at least so far).

Personally, I rated based on expectations. My grade for Elliott is a bit high, but otherwise I feel they're pretty accurate.

You can do either/or, though.

[Macho0978]

A - Backlund, Frolik, Ferland, Johnson, Tkachuk,

B - Gaudreau, Versteeg, Hamilton, Chiasson, Stajan, Hathaway, Kulak, England

C - Monahan, Brouwer, Giordano, Jokkipakka, Bennett

D - Wideman, Bouma

F - Brodie, Elliott

This is based on expectations. Brodie was regarded as our best dmen for the last year or 2 and his play has been bad and way off Hamilton and Giordano

Elliott was supposed to fix our goaltending and he has been god awful other than the last few games

I also expected a bigger jump from Bennett so even though I'm very high on him still and he is only 20 I was expecting more production

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

You're right, although in my mind many players on this team are exceeding expectations. I'm curious to see what others think, how they grade them.

I think you're ratings are dead on Scorpion,but if we were rating just for December. Still a good assessment

[GullFoss]

this is silly. if c is average, then

number of "d" rankings = number of "b' rankings
number fo "f" rankings = number of "A" rankings

IMO, the players to get A/B's should be Johnson, Backlund, Hamilton, Versteeg, Frolik, Hathaway, Ferland, Tkachuk

The eight players with D/F's are Brouwer, Monahan, Brodie, Elliott, Bouma, Bennett, Wideman, Jokipakka

Players with C's: Johnny, Giordano, Kulak, Chiasson, Engelland, Hamilton, Shinkarauk, Stajan

[CroFlames]

Hard to rate them because almost everyone deserves an F from the first 15 games. The last 25 have been awesome though.

C average for the most part.

[savardandjokinen]

I love Brodie and think he can bounce back, but he's been awful this year. I understand his wife's situation, which may be why he's not doing well, but that still means he's not doing well. Brodie has been a D.