Kin
New member
Well, at the 41 game mark I'm going to give my impression of the season. Obviously with the team playing as well as they are there isn't much to complain about(GDTs notwithstanding) but i think it's still useful to breakdown where the team needs to improve and who is really flying. My grades are both going to reflect how a player is doing in relation to expectations for them while not grading entirely on a curve of those expectations(Zach Hyman being the best Zach Hyman he can be does not get an Auston Matthews grade for doing the same)
So, here we go:
Mitch Marner: Not much needed here. The team's leading scorer is on pace for a 30 goal, 110 point season and to my mind has cemented his place on a future Team Canada selection. His emergence as a PK option has really raised the question of whether he might end up being the Leafs' best overall player.
Auston Matthews: Shame about the injury because he's scoring at a 61 goal, 118 point pace which would have him in the thick of Hart talk if he'd been around. Winning face-offs at a good clip(53%) which is a nice development. Wish the possession numbers were a little better.
John Tavares: Johnny Toronto! Captain Bedsheets! Good Possession numbers! Very good on the draw! Leadership! Exclamation Marks! Would be an A+ if not for the fact that I think that the 2nd highest cap hit in the league should be in the "Best Player in the League?" conversation rather than "Best Centre on his team?" conversation but it's a fairly minor ding. Feels more and more like he'll be named Captain.
Morgan Rielly: Is on pace for 26 goals and...90 points? Can that be right? Call the boys in the lab and get them to check on it. Loses the + because I don't think he's really taken a step towards being one of the elite defensemen in the league. The numbers are nice but I still think they're a little hollow. The possession numbers aren't mind blowing and defensively he still seems a bit hit or miss.
Frederik Andersen: I was tempted to go a little bit lower here. He's had a solid season but I don't know that I saw a ton of growth over what he'd done before. Then I looked around the league and saw he had a SV% almost 20 points higher than the league average so...enjoy your A and let that groin heal, buddy.
Nobody
Travis Dermott: Definitely cementing his place as a NHL defenseman who can be relied on for steady play and competence in all three zones. Very good possession numbers offset a bit of a lack of offense and a lack of spectacularness(which may or not be a word).
Kaspari Kapanen: I'm sure some people would be tempted to put him higher but this feels about right for a guy on pace for a 50 point season. Solid in all three zones, the speed is nice and looks to be pretty valuable as a guy who can be valuable on any line but we're going to forget the "Better than Nylander" stuff pretty quickly.
Jake Gardiner: He is what he is at this point. Scoring is down, which is surprising of anyone this year, but that's probably because the #2 PP hasn't really clicked. Still much better than some give him credit for. Will hurt to lose him more than people realize.
Nazem Kadri: Good ol' Naz. Still a nice luxury to have as a #3 C, still capable of chipping in when needed, doesn't seem to really be well used on the PP and another 30 goal season seems like a long shot.
Zach Hyman: Good all-around presence. Good defensive work, decent enough at popping them in that he's not dragging down Tavares-Marner too much, not a valuable enough player that you can overlook suspensions so hopefully it's his last one.
Andreas Johnsson: Fine enough for what he is. I get the sense that over the next 5 or 10 years we'll have a lot of guys like him who get hot for a bit playing with Matthews or Marner or Nylander and we'll lose a bit of perspective but still.
Garret Sparks: Kind of an adventure and still not the calm and steady performance you want from a back up but still better than league average sv% from a backup merits a decent grade.
Old Man Marleau: Still a solid enough player on the third line. Can still score when needed. Definitely having fewer moments that make me think "Oh yeah, Patrick Marleau is a really good player".
Par Lindholm: Versatile, speedy, winning his face-offs. Unexciting. Par is still a goofy name.
Connor Brown: Doing a decent enough job being shuffled around the line-up and working the PK. I remember when "Brown may never score 20 again" was a controversial opinion of mine.
Oz: Pretty good for a #6/7 defenseman which feels like a C+. Don't see that he'll ever be much more than that and resultingly I'm not overly inclined to learn how to spell the guy's name.
Goaty McGoatface: Certainly is on the team.
Nikita Zaitsev: Wait, is he still on the team?
Ron Hainsey: This feels a little unfair. I don't think that when he signed a 2 year, 6 million dollar deal he thought he was going to be getting top 4 minutes on a contender and be expected to perform as such. But, still, not doing great.
Nobody
Trevor Moore: Wears #42, which is comforting. Seems to know his business.
Our Boy Willy: Still crazy fun to watch on the puck, doing the little things, not scoring, solid beard.
Holl, Marincin, Hutch: ?\_(ツ)_/?
So, here we go:
A+
Mitch Marner: Not much needed here. The team's leading scorer is on pace for a 30 goal, 110 point season and to my mind has cemented his place on a future Team Canada selection. His emergence as a PK option has really raised the question of whether he might end up being the Leafs' best overall player.
Auston Matthews: Shame about the injury because he's scoring at a 61 goal, 118 point pace which would have him in the thick of Hart talk if he'd been around. Winning face-offs at a good clip(53%) which is a nice development. Wish the possession numbers were a little better.
A
John Tavares: Johnny Toronto! Captain Bedsheets! Good Possession numbers! Very good on the draw! Leadership! Exclamation Marks! Would be an A+ if not for the fact that I think that the 2nd highest cap hit in the league should be in the "Best Player in the League?" conversation rather than "Best Centre on his team?" conversation but it's a fairly minor ding. Feels more and more like he'll be named Captain.
Morgan Rielly: Is on pace for 26 goals and...90 points? Can that be right? Call the boys in the lab and get them to check on it. Loses the + because I don't think he's really taken a step towards being one of the elite defensemen in the league. The numbers are nice but I still think they're a little hollow. The possession numbers aren't mind blowing and defensively he still seems a bit hit or miss.
Frederik Andersen: I was tempted to go a little bit lower here. He's had a solid season but I don't know that I saw a ton of growth over what he'd done before. Then I looked around the league and saw he had a SV% almost 20 points higher than the league average so...enjoy your A and let that groin heal, buddy.
A-
Nobody
B+
Travis Dermott: Definitely cementing his place as a NHL defenseman who can be relied on for steady play and competence in all three zones. Very good possession numbers offset a bit of a lack of offense and a lack of spectacularness(which may or not be a word).
Kaspari Kapanen: I'm sure some people would be tempted to put him higher but this feels about right for a guy on pace for a 50 point season. Solid in all three zones, the speed is nice and looks to be pretty valuable as a guy who can be valuable on any line but we're going to forget the "Better than Nylander" stuff pretty quickly.
B
Jake Gardiner: He is what he is at this point. Scoring is down, which is surprising of anyone this year, but that's probably because the #2 PP hasn't really clicked. Still much better than some give him credit for. Will hurt to lose him more than people realize.
Nazem Kadri: Good ol' Naz. Still a nice luxury to have as a #3 C, still capable of chipping in when needed, doesn't seem to really be well used on the PP and another 30 goal season seems like a long shot.
Zach Hyman: Good all-around presence. Good defensive work, decent enough at popping them in that he's not dragging down Tavares-Marner too much, not a valuable enough player that you can overlook suspensions so hopefully it's his last one.
B-
Andreas Johnsson: Fine enough for what he is. I get the sense that over the next 5 or 10 years we'll have a lot of guys like him who get hot for a bit playing with Matthews or Marner or Nylander and we'll lose a bit of perspective but still.
Garret Sparks: Kind of an adventure and still not the calm and steady performance you want from a back up but still better than league average sv% from a backup merits a decent grade.
Old Man Marleau: Still a solid enough player on the third line. Can still score when needed. Definitely having fewer moments that make me think "Oh yeah, Patrick Marleau is a really good player".
Par Lindholm: Versatile, speedy, winning his face-offs. Unexciting. Par is still a goofy name.
C+
Connor Brown: Doing a decent enough job being shuffled around the line-up and working the PK. I remember when "Brown may never score 20 again" was a controversial opinion of mine.
Oz: Pretty good for a #6/7 defenseman which feels like a C+. Don't see that he'll ever be much more than that and resultingly I'm not overly inclined to learn how to spell the guy's name.
C
Goaty McGoatface: Certainly is on the team.
C-
Nikita Zaitsev: Wait, is he still on the team?
D+
Ron Hainsey: This feels a little unfair. I don't think that when he signed a 2 year, 6 million dollar deal he thought he was going to be getting top 4 minutes on a contender and be expected to perform as such. But, still, not doing great.
D-F
Nobody
Incomplete:
Trevor Moore: Wears #42, which is comforting. Seems to know his business.
Our Boy Willy: Still crazy fun to watch on the puck, doing the little things, not scoring, solid beard.
Holl, Marincin, Hutch: ?\_(ツ)_/?
