Anyone scoring 20+ goals gets an A for me:
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Gaudreau - makes things tick on any line.
Monahan - scoring 31 goals and playing hurt - no complaints even if he's considered one dimensional.
Ferland - one of few players who is truculent and will go in the dirty areas and scoring 21 goals - also he was hurt after scoring his 20th goal - so this may have affected his production in addition to Monahan getting injured.
Tkatchuk (A+)- what more can you say before he got injured? - a true warrior.
The following will also get an A for me:
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Hamilton
Mike Smith
The following gets a B:
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Rittich - did a pretty nice job as a backup. The team sucked in front of him down the stretch. So, not really his fault.
Jankowski (B+): I think as a rookie, he showed he can play the center position. He's a bigger player than previous years as a junior. If he can bulk up just a bit more, I think he can be a #2 center for the Flames.
Gio - Has been pretty stable, but I have some reservations about his leadership down the stretch. Based on his age, if Tre can move Gio to a contender and get some assets back while he still has value, that would be awesome.
Spencer Foo (B+): he's promising with the 3 games he's played with the Flames. As well, I like the fact that he goes into the dirty areas in front of the net.
R Andersson (B-) - I like what I see, a bit undersized for but his grittiness is nice.
The following gets a C:
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Backlund - kind of average this year, but I think it was mainly due to Frolik being injured and then Tkachuk later getting injured and playing with different line combos that didn't jive.
Brouwer - actually would be too bad this year if he hadn't got injured.
TJ Brodie (C-) - off year, he'll bounce back.
Stone - average stay-at-home d-man.
Kulak - a bit on the soft side but does show some mobility.
Stajan - Final year as a Flames (hopefully), but not enough gripe to push him down lower for the past 2 seasons.
Hamonic (C-) - First year with the Flames, probably not a good fit with Brodie. Hope he bounces back next season.
Nick Shore - haven't seen enough of him with the Flames, but I think he'll replace Stajan for next year as the Flames 4th line center/right wing.
Bartowski - looked ok at times but average on most part.
Hathaway (C-) - Looked great at the beginning and really inconsistent. Got some speed and feisty at times.
The following gets a D:
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Lazar - Meh
Versteeg - Too bad he's injured basically most of the season, but time to move on to bigger, faster, and better right shooting right winger next season.
Gilles (D+) - I would've moved him to C and it may be bad timing that he came in when the Flames were sliding out of the door with their playoff and Gilles wasn't able to steal any games. Reason why I gave Rittich a better score was because he did steal a few games during the season.
Stewart - made absolutely no impact. Lucky that Tre gave up nothing for him.
Hrivik - didn't see enough of him in his 3 games with the club to really judge, but zero points. Foo has 2 goals and could've had more with his 4 games with the Flames.
Frolik - If he hadn't been injured, I think the second like would be somewhat like it was last year going down the stretch. I think Frolik's injury might have made him more cautious at times. Hope he bounces back next season.
Bennett - yet another disappointing season and has not yet lived up to his potential other than that 4 goal game in his first season. Some of the offensive penalties in the offensive zone this season was just in-excusable and a few of them actually costed the Flames a few games. It may be better if Tre can move him for a right shooting right winger either before training camp or move him before New Year in the 2018-2019 season.
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