Mid-Season Grades

Now that we're (almost) at the halfway point, I'm sure there's a lot of surprises for people - even fans here that have undying support were likely slightly shocked. So, with that said I assume there will be a lot of positives in this kind of a thread. I purposely left off Kyle Turris and Peter Regin and Matt Carkner.

Jason Spezza
A- , he's produced a much more complete game recently and has a nice amount of points. Times were lean earlier in the season where it looked like he might be reverting back to the 'old' Spezza.

Daniel Alfredsson
A , please tell me no one's gonna complain about the work he's done this year....

Milan Michalek
A, not his fault he got concussed, but it slowed him down. Could use his assists being a little higher, but the heir apparent to Alfie in that he can play both sides of the puck and can snipe

Nick Foligno
A-, still inconsistent at times, but rounding into an excellent NHLer

Colin Greening
A-, contrary to popular belief, Greening doesn't have to score to be effective and the way he plays the game is maximum effort all the time. I gave him an A- because he still needs to produce when playing top line minutes - and he hasn't really lately.

Bobby Butler
D, lucky for him he started to work harder, because he's a goal-scorer and not much more than that. And he hasn't been scoring...

Zach Smith
A, as close to an A+ as possible. What a solid addition Smith has become

Kaspars Daugavins
A-, giving him an A- for his exceptional PKing and the fact that he saw diminished ice time when Neil came back and still gives maximum effort every shift - even if he's only playing 4 minutes.

Erik Condra
A, same as Smith, this is a wonderful hockey player. Smart, sneaky, great on both sides of the puck. Tempted to give him an A+

Jesse Winchester
B+, like Jesse a lot and think he fills the 4th line role very well

Zenon Konopka
B-, don't like the dumb penalties he takes. Perhaps I was expecting more.

Chris Neil
B+, again, this is a veteran who is playing quite well under MacLean. Fights, hits, forechecks, farts in the goalie's face. Good all around.

Erik Karlsson
A+, stud, franchise, the pulse of the Sens offense and is getting better defensively by the game now (scary thought!)

Sergei Gonchar
B+, beauty of a rebound year - injuries aside that is.

Filip Kuba
B+, see Gonchar.

Chris Phillips
A-, see Gonchar and Kuba. Should also be noted that Phillips got a little pissed this year and appears more physical/aggressive.

Brian Lee
B, fills in admirably when asked to. Find him quite inconsistent when compared to his stellar run at the end of last year. A lot of that has to do with him not playing regularly, so it makes it hard to make an assessment.

Jared Cowen
A+, this kid has literally gotten better every single game. From knowing when to pinch, to clearing guys out of the crease, to stepping up and hitting guys, to logging 30 minutes, to finding his offensive game. Lovely to watch - and he'll only get better (presumably).

Alex Auld
D-, terrible year so far. Doesn't help that he never plays.

Craig Anderson
C, not great for Anderson either. He's been good recently, but can we get some consistency? Please?

Bryan Murray
A+, how can you argue against it? Condra and Greening aren't his draft picks, but he kept them around and gave them an opportunity that they grabbed and ran with. Z.Smith was a stellar draft pick, sold high on Fisher, took a shot with Filatov, drafted 3 forwards in round one last year, then added Prince and Pageau as well, showed admirable patience with Kuba and Gonchar (not that he could do much here), hired Paul MacLean. How in the world is this team in a playoff picture halfway through? If you asked Murray he would tell you he knew it all along.


Paul MacLean
A+, again, so far, so GREAT. Listens to the players, talks to the players, has them believing in themselves. You do NOT want to sit back when you have a lead against a MacLean coached team, that much is pretty evident so far - and he also is showing a real ability to coach younger players.

I agree with your ratings for the most part. I'd up Smith to an A+, I'd downgrade Phillips to a B+, and I'd up Neil to an A, but that's about it.

If we're grading Murray on what he's done THIS season, I'd give him a B, as the jury is still out on the Turris trade, but, you're right, his work last year and in the off-season was great.

I think Bingo winning the Calder last year saved our bacon big time. Alot of accelerated growth came from that championship......

tim1_2 wrote:I agree with your ratings for the most part. I'd up Smith to an A+, I'd downgrade Phillips to a B+, and I'd up Neil to an A, but that's about it.

If we're grading Murray on what he's done THIS season, I'd give him a B, as the jury is still out on the Turris trade, but, you're right, his work last year and in the off-season was great.

For sure the juries still out on that Turris trade, but I have to assume they know what they wanted out of the deal. Plus, I think the assessment of Turris can only really be made at this point next year.

Fair point though, perhaps an A or A- for Murray until we know what we got for a top prospect and a high pick.

Number Twenty Nine wrote:I think Bingo winning the Calder last year saved our bacon big time. Alot of accelerated growth came from that championship......

Yes, an excellent point. Greening, Z.Smith, Condra, Cowen, Daugavins - all of them benefited greatly by it.

SpezDispenser wrote:

Number Twenty Nine wrote:I think Bingo winning the Calder last year saved our bacon big time. Alot of accelerated growth came from that championship......

Yes, an excellent point. Greening, Z.Smith, Condra, Cowen, Daugavins - all of them benefited greatly by it.

Absolutely. Best thing that could've happend for that group of guys. I just hope the terrible year they are having now doesn't adversely affect Lehner, but that's a discussion for another thread.

The success so far is really such a team effort that it's tough to grade individuals. Obviously, The Alfie gets AAA+++ and everybody else slides in behind that somewhere with Auld being at the bottom.

tim1_2 wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

Number Twenty Nine wrote:I think Bingo winning the Calder last year saved our bacon big time. Alot of accelerated growth came from that championship......

Yes, an excellent point. Greening, Z.Smith, Condra, Cowen, Daugavins - all of them benefited greatly by it.

Absolutely. Best thing that could've happend for that group of guys. I just hope the terrible year they are having now doesn't adversely affect Lehner, but that's a discussion for another thread.

I don't think it will personally. He's still sporting a .910 save% - which is really all that matters - on a terrible team. I think he'll have a strong second half as well.

Plus, I'm not sure what their record is with Locke back in the lineup, but I'm guessing it's a lot better than it was before. Now...to get Wiercioch back and Lehner back and strong would be nice.

SpezDispenser wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

Number Twenty Nine wrote:I think Bingo winning the Calder last year saved our bacon big time. Alot of accelerated growth came from that championship......

Yes, an excellent point. Greening, Z.Smith, Condra, Cowen, Daugavins - all of them benefited greatly by it.

Absolutely. Best thing that could've happend for that group of guys. I just hope the terrible year they are having now doesn't adversely affect Lehner, but that's a discussion for another thread.

I don't think it will personally. He's still sporting a .910 save% - which is really all that matters - on a terrible team. I think he'll have a strong second half as well.

Plus, I'm not sure what their record is with Locke back in the lineup, but I'm guessing it's a lot better than it was before. Now...to get Wiercioch back and Lehner back and strong would be nice.

The reality is Lehner needs to be better. His numbers pale in comparison to McKenna's right now. Bingo is still inconsistent but the wins are coming. DaCosta and Klinkhammer look like a couple of nice additions.

This is why he's in the AHL. Getting some adversity and learning in inconsistent environment.

Don't have time to read anything beyond first post, but I disagree with all those As. We're *not* the griggin' Bpston Bruins so how can we have almost a full lineup of As and still be two points out of 9th? Some players have surprised, sure, but other than Karlsson's A+ I don't think I'd give another A to anyone in the bunch. Unless you are saying "I did not expect much from Gonchar but he's been actually OK" then how is he a B+???! The guy is making $5M a year and is our 5th best D-man, behind Karlsson, Cowen, Phillips and Kuba. Sure, Greening is a rookie (or is he) but the guy's big, not as young as a normal rookie, he's getting top line minutes and he's doing not too bad -- that's a B. And on and on.

Alfie is not an A. He's a B. You may have only expected a C from him, but that does not automatically make him an A.

Then make your own list Prager. I think a lot of these guys have given "A" efforts and had results to match. I think it's also a lot less about the points as it is about the effort each night, the results will follow presumably.

This is a time where it's okay to be proud of your team and the individuals within that team.

SpezDispenser wrote:Then make your own list Prager. I think a lot of these guys have given "A" efforts and had results to match. I think it's also a lot less about the points as it is about the effort each night, the results will follow presumably.

This is a time where it's okay to be proud of your team and the individuals within that team.

What are you grading against, though? A-effort from Cosby and A-effort from Greening are entirely different. Although I don't think you did that. Still, I think your objectivity is being out-muscled by your fan-bias.

wprager wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Then make your own list Prager. I think a lot of these guys have given "A" efforts and had results to match. I think it's also a lot less about the points as it is about the effort each night, the results will follow presumably.

This is a time where it's okay to be proud of your team and the individuals within that team.

What are you grading against, though? A-effort from Cosby and A-effort from Greening are entirely different. Although I don't think you did that. Still, I think your objectivity is being out-muscled by your fan-bias.

Perhaps, but being in a playoff spot with a team I thought would score 12 goals all year has made be into a grade-giver.

I stand by my AAA+++ for The Alfie.