Player report cards at the quarter-pole

[ZBBM]

56 Spencer Abbott: C.  Played very little but at least not a liability.
37 Carter Ashton: D+.  Too much talent for a 4th-liner but hasn't done anything to deserve more.
40 Troy Bodie: C+.  Not a liability.
63 Dave Bolland: A.  Brought way more offense than I expected.
42 Tyler Bozak: B+.  Often criticized, but we've missed him.
46 David Broll: C.  Played very little but at least not a liability.
71 David Clarkson: D.  Beginning to wake up but so far biggest disappointment of the roster.
24 Peter Holland: C.  Looks pretty good so far but hard to judge.
59 Jamie Devane: C.  Played very little but at least not a liability.
43 Nazem Kadri: B-.  Liking his physical play but would like to see more scoring.
81 Phil Kessel: A-.  Still doesn't compete defensively enough for my liking, but what he gets paid for, he does as well as anyone.
41 Nikolai Kulemin: D.  Second-biggest disappointment; stellar defensively but needs to shoot more, cause dude can score.
32 Josh Leivo: B-.  Offensive flair but quit cold-clocking your own goalie.
19 Joffrey Lupul: A.  Our best forward IMO, would be my choice for captain if Phaneuf goes.
38 Frazer MacLaren: C-.  Redundant with Orr, but inasmuch as he gets paid to punch, he does it OK.
11 Jay McClement: A-.  PK not quite as amazing last year, but this guy is indispensable to the team's success.
28 Colton Orr: C-.  See under MacLaren.
12 Mason Raymond: A+.  Waaaaay exceeding anyone's expectations, in fact probably equals Lupes as our best forward.
23 Trevor Smith: A-. Quietly contributing on the scoresheet.
22 Jerred Smithson: B+.  He wins faceoffs, he wins faceoffs, he wins faceoffs.
21 James van Riemsdyk: A.  OK, a 3rd guy who has been our best forward ... sheesh.

Defensemen
4 Cody Franson: B.  Excellent on the PP, but still too many defensive lapses.
2 Mark Fraser: B-.  Good contributor to the PK.
51 Jake Gardiner: C-.  Slowly getting better defensively, but he gives away the puck way too much.
36 Carl Gunnarsson: A-.  Gunnar does what Gunnar does: PK, shotblocking, not being an idiot too much in his own zone.
3 Dion Phaneuf: A.  Playing his best hockey as a Leaf.
15 Paul Ranger: D+.  Wildly inconsistent IMO.
44 Morgan Rielly: C+.  Hasn't contributed much offensively yet, so his rookie learning curve on D drags his grade down a bit.

Goalkeepers
45 Jonathan Bernier: A+.  Everything we hoped for.
34 James Reimer: A+.  See under Bernier.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

My critiques.  At work + never really do the grades, but my comments regardless:

Don't know how you give Kessel an A- and a knock on his D play while Lupul gets an A while being terrible in the Leafs end.

Raymond a best forward?  By what measure?

Leivo should not get a higher mark than Kulemin.  Kulemin should not be a D even with not shooting enough.  He plays tough, tough minutes, as does Clarkson.  That should be rewarded, someone has to do it.

 

[TML fan]

Just a comment about your thoughts on Kulemin. What I've noticed from him is that he doesn't seem to be looking at the net when he shoots, but rather at the goalie. He had a great chance in last nights game that I thought he should have scored on and pretty much just shot it into the goalie.

He definitely doesn't have the same confidence that he had 2 years ago on the offensive side of his game. It's probably why he's shooting less and it's nice to see him getting some of that confidence back. On the other hand, he has improved dramatically in other areas of his game IMO, perhaps buying into his role on the team? Either way, I think he's a pretty underrated player and someone the Leafs should hold onto as long as they can.

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

Yeah, there are some tough grades there.

Kessel is an A+ IMO.
I agree with Potvin on Lupul, other than last night, I've found him a little slower in all zones and lacking on the defensive side of things.
JvR has been our best forward A+ for him also, the guy has exceeded my expectations both last year and especially this season.
No love for Kool-Aid man? "D" is a little harsh.
Morgan Rielly has been better than I thought also and deserves at least a B- from me.

Other than that, I think you are pretty close on most grades.

 

[ZBBM]

My critiques.  At work + never really do the grades, but my comments regardless:

Don't know how you give Kessel an A- and a knock on his D play while Lupul gets an A while being terrible in the Leafs end.

Raymond a best forward?  By what measure?

Leivo should not get a higher mark than Kulemin.  Kulemin should not be a D even with not shooting enough.  He plays tough, tough minutes, as does Clarkson.  That should be rewarded, someone has to do it.

Disagree all you want, but if you want to disagree, provide your grades.  That's the whole point of a thread like this.

EDIT: And BWB, yes, I grade pretty tough.  No grade inflation with me.

 

[Corn Flake]

Apparently goal scoring / offensive production the only way to get a good grade, eh?

 

[ZBBM]

Apparently goal scoring / offensive production the only way to get a good grade, eh?

Apparently you skipped Kessel, McClement, Raymond, Smith, Smithson etc etc?

 

[CarltonTheBear]

James van Riemsdyk: A. On pace for 67 points and 38 goals. He's the only forward contributing to the success of both the powerplay and penalty kill. Easily our most well-rounded forward.

Phil Kessel: A. Top-20 in points, top-10 in goals. On pace for 82 points and 47 goals. He's getting paid to be an elite offensive player and that's exactly what he's doing.

Dave Bolland: A-. A big surprise offensively this year, and provided the team with some much needed secondary scoring in his 15 games. I didn't think he would keep up that scoring and unfortunately we won't really find out.

Mason Raymond: B+. On pace for about 62 points, which would be a career high. Like Bolland, I don't expect him to keep that pace, but he's giving the team secondary scoring when others aren't. And he's been pretty solid defensively as well.

Joffrey Lupul: B. Not as high on him as others are. He's on pace for 34 goals but they've come in bunches so far. Just 2 goals in his past 12 games. He also doesn't provide much defensively. He's been bounced around a lot in the line-up because of our centre situation so hopefully when Kadri and Bozak return things will calm down and he can get back into a groove.

Jay McClement: B. I'm sure this is where most will disagree with me, but 1 even strength point in 20 games shouldn't warrant much more than that. I also think he's a big reason why Lupul and Kulemin haven't been scoring, so he's hurting the teams secondary scoring. Not entirely his fault of course as the problems at centre have forced him higher in the line-up. Best penalty killer in the league, but I'd still say he's the #2 reason for our success there (behind goaltending).

Nazem Kadri: B-. Maybe it's just because he hasn't played in 3 games, and because in the last 4 games he did play he only managed 1 assist, but I haven't been impressed with Kadri much this season. I liked that he was getting some PK time when Bozak and Bolland were out, and I do think he's been putting the effort in defensively. Like Lupul, injuries and suspensions have caused his linemates to be changing a lot, so once that settles down we should see more offence out of him (particularly at even-strength).

Nikolai Kulemin/David Clarkson. B-. Clarkson has 1 goal and 4 points in 11 games. Kulemin was 1 goal and 3 points in 9 games. Neither has been given much of an opportunity to play in an offensive capacity, neither has been taking as many shots as they should. They've both still played good. Kulemin has been our best defensive forward and has been great on the PK. Clarkson has been our best forward in terms of puck possession and is leading the term physically. One of them will start to play in more of an offensive role once Bozak and Kadri return and hopefully we see some more points. The other will continue to sacrifice points for a solid overall games.

Tyler Bozak: B-. 46.2% on the draw this season, which is down from 52.6% last season. Faceoffs are a big reason he's in the line-up and that number has to improve. Some speculated it was injury related so maybe the time off will help there. 6 points in 11 games while both his wingers were at a point per game is also a little low. He did come up big on a few occasions in the first 11 games, and we all knew ahead of time he wasn't going to be getting 60+ points. If he picks up where he left off and improves on the draw I'll be happy.

Peter Holland: B-. If I was giving grades based on the fact that his presence meant that JVR could play the wing, I'd give him an A+. But unfortunately for him I'm not. He's almost been a carbon copy of Bozak this season, which explains why they were graded the same. I'd like to see him stick around over Smith once push comes to shove and Bozak returns.

Jerred Smithson: C+. I kind of felt like giving him something higher but I couldn't justify giving him a B- and McClement a B. Smithson has been a good 4th line, but still that's really as he's been. We just don't really know what it feels like anymore to have a 4th liner who isn't completely useless.

Trevor Smith: C+. This was a tough one. I can't really justify anything higher for just 3 games of offensive play as he was basically invisible for the other 9. I think I would have given him a C- for the first 9 games and a B- for the next 3, so that seems to even out to a C+. He was playing mostly with Orr and McLaren before so you can't really blame him. Carlyle shouldn't have kept him on the 4th line for as long as he did. 5 points in 3 games when we needed him most is great, but I don't think he'll stick around. Even with the points there were still some pretty bad giveaways and he didn't look good defensively in general. And once Bozak and Kadri return he won't be playing with Lupul and Clarkson anymore so the offence will probably dry up.

Josh Leivo/Spencer Abbott: C. Leivo played 7 games, Abbott just 1. They both looked like young players getting their first taste of the NHL. But you could see some potential. I do wish Carlyle played them a little more while they were here. It felt like once the 3rd period came around they were stapled to the bench.

Bodie/Ashton/Broll/Devane: C. All 4 of these guys essentially filled the same role when they were in the line-up, and as far as 4th liners go they were fine. They were physically when they had to be, forechecked hard, and didn't look out of place in our own zone.

McLaren/Orr: D. Useless.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I wrote a lot more than I was expecting. I'll do my defence and goalie grades later tonight. Although Reimer/Bernier shouldn't take very long.

edit: Just reread a couple of those, yeah, there's some grammatical errors I'm sure.

Also, my ratings are all relative to the rest of the team too. Again, I'm sure I'll get some comments on my McClement grade, but a B still says he's been our 6th best forward which seems pretty fair to me.

 

[Optimus Reimer]

Not sure about the knock on Clarkson for not scoring because I really do not believe he was brought in to score, but rather to add grit, leadership and a bit of tenacity to the team.  In that regard, I would put him at an A level because he is doing what he was expected to do, but if we are to add offensive production into the equation then I would put him at a C/B- level.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Not sure about the knock on Clarkson for not scoring because I really do not believe he was brought in to score, but rather to add grit, leadership and a bit of tenacity to the team.  In that regard, I would put him at an A level because he is doing what he was expected to do, but if we are to add offensive production into the equation then I would put him at a C/B- level.

In my rankings an A would mean he's been a top-3 forward on this team. And I don't think anyone would argue that's the case. A 1st liner playing great hockey should get a higher rating than a 3rd liner playing great hockey.

 

[louisstamos]

Not sure about the knock on Clarkson for not scoring because I really do not believe he was brought in to score, but rather to add grit, leadership and a bit of tenacity to the team.  In that regard, I would put him at an A level because he is doing what he was expected to do, but if we are to add offensive production into the equation then I would put him at a C/B- level.

To be fair - I do think he was brought to score, I just don't think he's expected to be a 30-goal scorer like he was in NJ.  I think Nonis himself said he wants Clarkson to provide all those intangibles, but also be that 20 goal, 40-50 pt player (similar to what Tucker was for most of his time in Toronto)

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

My critiques.  At work + never really do the grades, but my comments regardless:

Don't know how you give Kessel an A- and a knock on his D play while Lupul gets an A while being terrible in the Leafs end.

Raymond a best forward?  By what measure?

Leivo should not get a higher mark than Kulemin.  Kulemin should not be a D even with not shooting enough.  He plays tough, tough minutes, as does Clarkson.  That should be rewarded, someone has to do it.

Disagree all you want, but if you want to disagree, provide your grades.  That's the whole point of a thread like this.

EDIT: And BWB, yes, I grade pretty tough.  No grade inflation with me.

I can't disagree on specific grades without doing my own?  Nah, I'm going to do that.  Don't make a thread if you can't stand the heat in the thread kitchen or something.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

James van Riemsdyk: A. On pace for 67 points and 38 goals. He's the only forward contributing to the success of both the powerplay and penalty kill. Easily our most well-rounded forward.

Phil Kessel: A. Top-20 in points, top-10 in goals. On pace for 82 points and 47 goals. He's getting paid to be an elite offensive player and that's exactly what he's doing.

Dave Bolland: A-. A big surprise offensively this year, and provided the team with some much needed secondary scoring in his 15 games. I didn't think he would keep up that scoring and unfortunately we won't really find out.

Mason Raymond: B+. On pace for about 62 points, which would be a career high. Like Bolland, I don't expect him to keep that pace, but he's giving the team secondary scoring when others aren't. And he's been pretty solid defensively as well.

Joffrey Lupul: B. Not as high on him as others are. He's on pace for 34 goals but they've come in bunches so far. Just 2 goals in his past 12 games. He also doesn't provide much defensively. He's been bounced around a lot in the line-up because of our centre situation so hopefully when Kadri and Bozak return things will calm down and he can get back into a groove.

Jay McClement: B. I'm sure this is where most will disagree with me, but 1 even strength point in 20 games shouldn't warrant much more than that. I also think he's a big reason why Lupul and Kulemin haven't been scoring, so he's hurting the teams secondary scoring. Not entirely his fault of course as the problems at centre have forced him higher in the line-up. Best penalty killer in the league, but I'd still say he's the #2 reason for our success there (behind goaltending).

Nazem Kadri: B-. Maybe it's just because he hasn't played in 3 games, and because in the last 4 games he did play he only managed 1 assist, but I haven't been impressed with Kadri much this season. I liked that he was getting some PK time when Bozak and Bolland were out, and I do think he's been putting the effort in defensively. Like Lupul, injuries and suspensions have caused his linemates to be changing a lot, so once that settles down we should see more offence out of him (particularly at even-strength).

Nikolai Kulemin/David Clarkson. B-. Clarkson has 1 goal and 4 points in 11 games. Kulemin was 1 goal and 3 points in 9 games. Neither has been given much of an opportunity to play in an offensive capacity, neither has been taking as many shots as they should. They've both still played good. Kulemin has been our best defensive forward and has been great on the PK. Clarkson has been our best forward in terms of puck possession and is leading the term physically. One of them will start to play in more of an offensive role once Bozak and Kadri return and hopefully we see some more points. The other will continue to sacrifice points for a solid overall games.

Tyler Bozak: B-. 46.2% on the draw this season, which is down from 52.6% last season. Faceoffs are a big reason he's in the line-up and that number has to improve. Some speculated it was injury related so maybe the time off will help there. 6 points in 11 games while both his wingers were at a point per game is also a little low. He did come up big on a few occasions in the first 11 games, and we all knew ahead of time he wasn't going to be getting 60+ points. If he picks up where he left off and improves on the draw I'll be happy.

Peter Holland: B-. If I was giving grades based on the fact that his presence meant that JVR could play the wing, I'd give him an A+. But unfortunately for him I'm not. He's almost been a carbon copy of Bozak this season, which explains why they were graded the same. I'd like to see him stick around over Smith once push comes to shove and Bozak returns.

Jerred Smithson: C+. I kind of felt like giving him something higher but I couldn't justify giving him a B- and McClement a B. Smithson has been a good 4th line, but still that's really as he's been. We just don't really know what it feels like anymore to have a 4th liner who isn't completely useless.

Trevor Smith: C+. This was a tough one. I can't really justify anything higher for just 3 games of offensive play as he was basically invisible for the other 9. I think I would have given him a C- for the first 9 games and a B- for the next 3, so that seems to even out to a C+. He was playing mostly with Orr and McLaren before so you can't really blame him. Carlyle shouldn't have kept him on the 4th line for as long as he did. 5 points in 3 games when we needed him most is great, but I don't think he'll stick around. Even with the points there were still some pretty bad giveaways and he didn't look good defensively in general. And once Bozak and Kadri return he won't be playing with Lupul and Clarkson anymore so the offence will probably dry up.

Josh Leivo/Spencer Abbott: C. Leivo played 7 games, Abbott just 1. They both looked like young players getting their first taste of the NHL. But you could see some potential. I do wish Carlyle played them a little more while they were here. It felt like once the 3rd period came around they were stapled to the bench.

Bodie/Ashton/Broll/Devane: C. All 4 of these guys essentially filled the same role when they were in the line-up, and as far as 4th liners go they were fine. They were physically when they had to be, forechecked hard, and didn't look out of place in our own zone.

McLaren/Orr: D. Useless.

Agreed.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Not sure about the knock on Clarkson for not scoring because I really do not believe he was brought in to score, but rather to add grit, leadership and a bit of tenacity to the team.  In that regard, I would put him at an A level because he is doing what he was expected to do, but if we are to add offensive production into the equation then I would put him at a C/B- level.

To be fair - I do think he was brought to score, I just don't think he's expected to be a 30-goal scorer like he was in NJ.  I think Nonis himself said he wants Clarkson to provide all those intangibles, but also be that 20 goal, 40-50 pt player (similar to what Tucker was for most of his time in Toronto)

Yeah, he wasn't signed to that contract to score 1 goal every 11 games. And while I don't want to criticize him too much for his lack of goals because I think they will start to come, if we're giving him a grade based solely on games 1 through 11 you can't just ignore the lack of offence. If we give him an A now what do we rank him at mid season once he's potted a few more? A++++?

 

[CarltonTheBear]

EDIT: And BWB, yes, I grade pretty tough.  No grade inflation with me.

10 forwards have played 12 or more games with the Leafs, and you gave 7 of them As. I'm not sure I'd call that tough. Which is fine these ratings are all subjective, I just think that you were only hard on a small handful of players.

 

[Coco-puffs]

My grades for forwards:

(I considered their role on the team and only considered those with over 8 GP)

Kessel: B+ 
A+ Offensively, but C+ in other facets-  He's working hard and playing better defensively, but still turns the puck over too much in our own end (see Minny tying goal) and the whole line is one-chance and done too much- they spend too much time in their own end.

JvR: A- 
Overall, good defensively, great offensively, needs to use his body a bit more and forecheck a bit better/work the cycle.  As I said with Kessel, that line needs to spend less time in their own end.

Bozak: B-
Overall, good defensively and "what I expect from him" offensively, although more would be desired considering his linemates.  His faceoff prowess has taken a hit, and that holds me back from giving him a higher grade.  See comments on JvR and Kessel about zone time.

Lupul:  B-
He's probably on pace for what you'd expect from him offensively (just under a PPG).  Defensively, needs some improvement away from the puck.  I love what he and Clarkson are doing recently in terms of puck possession together.  Much less time spent in our own end thanks to good forechecking and better breakouts.

Clarkson:  C+
A+ for everything outside of his offense.  When he's on the ice, you NOTICE.  Forechecks and cycles like a madman and is at least getting his chances offensively.  By far, our best puck possession player.  Needs to start contributing offensively on the stats sheet, not just with chances.

Kadri:  B-
Offensively, not as flashy as last year- but 14 pts in 18 games is not bad.  Love his compete level, forechecking, physical play etc, on most days, but needs more consistency there.  Improvement in faceoffs and less stupid penalties are desired.

Bolland:  A
IMO, our best forward overall before he got injured, except for poor faceoff percentage.  Sad he's going to be gone for a while still.

Raymond:  A
Uses his speed well both offensively and defensively.  A pleasant surprise, in term of offense.

Kulemin:  C+
Just behind McClement for best defensive forward.  Needs to generate more offense, even from a defensive role, and would like him to bang a bit more for a guy his size. 

McClement:  B
Best defensive forward.  Hard on the puck and rarely loses a puck battle.  Always in the right position.  A black hole offensively though, not that we expect a whole lot more anyways.

Smith: B-
Just average defensively.  Shows he can provide offense, but only with offensive players.  A good fill in for the top two lines when injuries come up, but I don't think he should center the 3rd or 4th lines when others become healthy.

Orr:  B-
Fulfills his role well.  Forechecks hard and throws the body.  I don't mind him getting into fights- but needs to stay out of the box unless he's taking someone with him.  Would like to see the 4th line spend more time in the opposition zone.

Ashton:  C-
Good hustle and energy, but still a work in progress as an NHL player.

McClaren:  D
Would like to see the 4th line spend more time in the opposition zone.  Barely noticeable unless in a fight.

 

[Jalili]

A lot of them were relative to expectations.

JVR: A-
Bolland: A-
Raymond: A-
Kessel: B
McClement: B
Lupul: B-
Bozak: B-
Kulemin: B-
Kadri: B-
Clarkson: C+

...Rest of the forwards I'm lukewarm on. All kind of interchangeable.

-McClement's offensive game is non-existent, but I see that as a sacrifice that he's made because the team relies on him so much on the PK.
-Kessel's been good but not quite as good as last year or the year before that.
-JVR has come up big. He's dynamic and his play around the net is making him more of a threat. I contemplated giving him an A.
-Lupul I contemplated, but he hasn't been as good in the games post-injury. Prior to that, he was looking really good.
-Bolland and Raymond both exceeded expectations and played great.
-I don't think there's much doubt now that Kulemin is a really good 3rd liner but definitely nothing more.
-It's because expectations are so high that Clarkson gets a low grade.

Phaneuf: A-
Gunnarsson: B+
Franson: B-
Gardiner: B-
Rielly: C+
Ranger: C

-Phaneuf and Gunnarsson have been really good defensively. Both leave room to be improved offensively, but because they have their hands full with the tough defensive assignments I give them credit.
-Franson has a knack for being good offensively but defensively he's got a ways to go.
-Gardiner still skates insanely well but the rest of his game could use improvement.
-Ranger has been a bit of a disappointment. Not sure if this team is the right fit for him. He's made some good outlet passes but isn't up to par defensively on some nights.

Bernier: A
Reimer: A

Goaltending is what's held the team together. Both have been really good.

 

[Beowulf]

CTB's report card

For the most part I concur with all of your rankings CTB.

If I'm nitpicking I'd give Smith a B- because really I can't have expected him to do anything when he was playing on the 4th line and although he hasn't been perfect he's risen to the challenge admirably in filling in on the top line.

I'd also have a tough time giving Clarkson a B- and would bump him down to a C, as I feel he's been in slightly better opportunities offensively than Kulemin (in terms of linemates) so far and while he is better in terms of puck possession they are both pretty much equal in terms of their physicality and Kulie has a huge edge with his PKing prowess. 

But again that's nitpicking. You're mostly spot on and I like your explanations. Look forward to your GK and D.

CarltonTheBear: A - solid analysis, consistent rationale.

 

[ZBBM]

My critiques.  At work + never really do the grades, but my comments regardless:

Don't know how you give Kessel an A- and a knock on his D play while Lupul gets an A while being terrible in the Leafs end.

Raymond a best forward?  By what measure?

Leivo should not get a higher mark than Kulemin.  Kulemin should not be a D even with not shooting enough.  He plays tough, tough minutes, as does Clarkson.  That should be rewarded, someone has to do it.

Disagree all you want, but if you want to disagree, provide your grades.  That's the whole point of a thread like this.

EDIT: And BWB, yes, I grade pretty tough.  No grade inflation with me.

I can't disagree on specific grades without doing my own?  Nah, I'm going to do that.  Don't make a thread if you can't stand the heat in the thread kitchen or something.

Well, it's not much use if you just nitpick a few and won't go the whole hog.  It's not that hard to do.

And I'm not emotionally invested in a bunch of subjective grades.  Like I said, disagree all you want.