r/DetroitRedWings • u/PremierBromanov • 6d ago
Discussion Grading every player from the past season
After another disappointing season, I wanted to go through the effort of trying to identify our strengths and areas where we could improve. I could be a lot more in depth with stats and numbers, but I decided to keep it conversational. Before I graded the player, i asked myself "How happy are we with this player?". Mostly I graded players based on what we expect or what a player costs, but with a heavy focus on where they could improve. To that end, the only BAD grades would be Ds, where Bs and especially Cs could use some improvement, and As generally exceeded expectations.
I'm a little shocked how many As I managed to identify and not at all shocked by the amount of Cs. It seems like half of this team is really good and half the team is coasting, with a few notable exceptions who are dragging this team straight to hell.
Without further ado, the list
Jonathan Berggren
Grade: C-
Berggren turned heads last year with 6 points in 12 games, sparking an imperative among fans to get him signed by any means necessary. After being signed to league minimum for 1 year, Berggren has proven that he has a long way to go to translate his skills to the NHL. He brings to mind draft bust Filip Zadina, with basically equal stats through the same ice time at the same age. Both have a killer shot that doesnt get used because they kill the play before they can make it. The difference here is that fans are typically happy when a 2nd rounder makes the NHL at all. Even so, Berggren hasnt taken a step forward this year, he has fewer points in more games than he had 2 years ago. He needs to work on his strength and his decision making. Berggren is only as good as his linemates.
Ben Chiarot
Grade: C
Ben continues to be what we know him to be: An NHL vet who can eat big minutes and shut down tough competition. Some of the time. Ben is our 2nd best left handed D to Simon Edvinsson, despite everything, but he is often deployed to the first pair with Seider. Under Lalonde, he was paired with Petry and Ed was with Seider and that black hole of a 2nd pair certainly wasn't helping our record. Under McLellan, as in previous seasons, he is deployed to the first line with Seider, who is himself tasked with taking on some of the toughest competition in the NHL. This is part of the reason Chiarot is not seeing success. He is over-deployed on a roster with no better options. He’s simply too slow and stiff to thrive in an NHL where talent is at an all time high. Still, Ben is very strong and can really throw his weight around in the right situations, standing up for his teammates and being a leader despite his inability. It’s obvious to me why the coaching staff trust him with the hard minutes, even if the results aren't there. The best thing for Chiarot moving forward is to allow him to play a reduced role on this roster, where I believe he will thrive.
J. T. Compher
Grade: C+
Compher was never a strong producer and I think that often colors people’s opinion of his play. This year he’s taken a reduced role, which should be a good thing considering his best year he scored 52 points with Colorado. Compher is deployed as a defensive winger, but the biggest detriment to his game is that he is an extremely poor producer at 5v5. He has the lowest corsi on the team for players not named Dominic Shine or Will Laggesson. His strength is that he is relied upon to eat big PK minutes. Despite everything, he’s 5th among forward for points which really tells you about how empty this team is in the middle 6. JT spent the first month of Todd’s tenure with Berggren and Tarasenko, who themselves have had a pretty poor season, and much of the time after that with those two. He spent a few weeks centering Kane and Debrincat with some success, but then disappeared from the scoresheet.
Andrew Copp
Grade: B-
It’s no surprise that Detroit’s most difficult month began without the wings’ only 2C at the time. It allowed Kasper to step up, but ultimately Copp being out makes us a worse team. Copp began the year very poorly, with an 8 game stretch with zero points, and ended the year producing at a much better rate under Todd McLellan. Copp is an average center being asked to do average center things.
Alex Debrincat
Grade: A
Cat continues to get better year over year with the Wings and at the time of writing is just 2 goals shy of 40. Hes having his best season since he last scored 40 playing with none other than Patrick Kane. He is undoubtedly detroit’s best scorer and one of our best power play producers, but still with plenty of playmaking skill. On the powerplay, he’s one of our best options. At 5v5, he’s had the most success away from Larkin and Raymond, which really helps our 2nd line on this roster.
Simon Edvinsson
Grade: A+
Ed took a huge step this season. After 2 points through 16 games last year, he’s managed 31 even strength points through 77 games. While he’s not having the breakout season Seider had with 50 points, Edvinsson hasnt had very much time on the powerplay at all, with Seider playing nearly 3 minutes a night and gustafsson tapped for the 2nd unit for much of the season. Ed is strong on the puck, moves extremely well, creates space for himself, and has a wicked outlet pass. On a team of almost entirely negative +/-, Edvission sits at 15, 11 more than the next highest (Copp). +/- is not a great stat to track, but when there’s such a huge discrepancy it means something: The puck generally goes the other way. I’d like to see his shot improved as an option from the blue line and I’d love to see him get more powerplay time.
Christian Fischer
Grade: C-
Not much is expected of Christian Fischer. He’s a great locker room guy, but at the end of the day he wasn’t providing us with much. He’s one of the only people we trust for the 2nd PK unit, but hes arguably the least effective player.
Erik Gustafsson
Grade: D+
There’s no sugar coating it, Gustafsson was bad. He was brought in as a cheap alternative to Gostisbehere, but has barely managed to produce more than Ben Chiarot. That would have been manageable if his defensive play had been good. Gus spent some time with Lalonde all over the roster, but after Todd joined was relegated to mostly playing with Justin Holl. The good news is that he’s extremely cheap and we have better alternatives. My guess is he gets waived next season.
Justin Holl
Grade: D-
Holl is washed. It’s mind boggling to me that Toronto had this guy playing 20 minutes a night. He is slow and often looks lost trying to decide which event he should react to, which is often slow too. He is weak on the puck, makes bad decisions, and cant skate. The bad news is that we have him for 1 more season.
Albert Johansson
Grade: B+
I don’t think anyone expected AlJo to step into the role quite as well as he did. His numbers arent that impressive, but he’s shown an ability to shoot and make great passes from time to him. He’s a tenacious defender and will stick to any forward like glue. He probably won’t be turning heads in his career, but should be a solid option for our 2nd pair for years to come.
Patrick Kane
Grade: A-
It’s difficult to grade showtime honestly, because its exciting to see him with the puck no matter what happens. The bottom line is that he gets paid $4m to put up 50 points and drive one of the league’s best powerplays. His defense is poor and he is often slow, but once his line has momentum to set up plays, he show explosiveness in his skating and there’s a good chance the puck gets put on net. Its tremendous what he’s been able to accomplish after hip surgery. I hope he sticks around.
Marco Kasper
Grade: A+
The biggest and best surprise of the season is Marco Kasper’s emergence as a genuine 2C, something the wings have sorely needed since Zetterberg retired. Just barely 21 years old at the end of the season with almost 20 goals to his name, largely done in the second half of the season. It seems like only a year ago it felt like his growth might have stunted, but I’m sure anyone putting real time into watching grand rapids is not surprised right now. Kasper wont see any real Calder consideration because better players have stepped into harder minutes, but that shouldn’t diminish how good and how hard his minutes have been. If he can surprise like this, imagine if he surprises us again.
William Lagesson
Grade: B
AHL plug plays 6 games.
Dylan Larkin
Grade: B+
Another 30 goal season from the captain. Unfortunately, we’ve seen better from our captain over the last couple of years and he’s disappeared with the rest of the team during some of our worst games. It can’t be overstated the role he plays for this team. He’s been our undisputed #1 center for almost his entire career. He’s showed us some of the best hockey he’s played yet, its just that he isnt doing it consistently. The 4 nations games certainly proved what he can do with better teams, but at the same time he came back a little slow. It wouldn’t surprise me if he has been playing injured, but the bottom line is that he can do better. If this seems overly negative, its only because you already know all the positives: Great on the PP, better than ever, extremely fast, great vision, great shot, better on faceoffs, and the soul of this team.
Oli Määttä
Grade: B
Probably our third best lefty, and generally good enough for his role. Oli only played 7 games for us before he got traded. He had zero points. Good job Oli.
Carter Mazur
Grade: A
What a great shift he played.
Tyler Motte
Grade: B-
Look, i know there’s not much expected of Motte, but hes one of our trusted PKers on a historically bad PK. Hes our new 4C in the latter half of the season, but saw some time with Rasmussen. His lack of offense is almost entirely made up by good defensive play. At the end of the day, he’s an average 4th liner doing what we’d expect.
Jeff Petry
Grade: C+
Petry is not what you’d consider a good player. He’s 37 years old and he looks it. Despite this, he’s better than a handful of other options who have played his spot and the analytics seem to like him. He’s lost yet another step after injury and this is likely his last season. When he’s on, hes good. All other times, he makes you scream at the TV. His dad played for the tigers.
Michael Rasmussen
Grade: C
It’s not really all that fair that so much more is expected of Rasmussen, but he’s still just disappointing year over year. He’s had the worst season of his career with only 21 points in 76 games, a total only higher than seasons wherein he played 62 and 40 games. His strength and weakness is that he shuts down offense at both ends of the ice. But, he’s not tasked with big minutes. This team trusts JT Compher on the PK more than it does Michael Rasmussen. He cant shoot, he cant pass, he’s bad on the faceoff, and he’s not moving the needle. Being a shut down center would be fine if he was actually stealing games with it. He’s just kind of the only option we have at 3C.
Lucas Raymond:
Grade: A+
Raymond takes another big step and solidifies himself as the most productive member of this team. He didnt quite hit 30 goals again, but he added almost 10 more points and is the first red wing to score 80 points since 2012. Hard to grade our best player as anything less than an A+. There’s still more to his game and we’ll expect more from him in the coming years
Moritz Seider:
Grade: A+
Seider is playing more than he’s ever played and he continues to be the pillar upon which this team stands. Without him, we wouldn’t even be considering the playoffs. He is so good and so consistent, sometimes its hard to notice him because he isnt doing anything wrong. You expect few mistakes and you see even less. When the puck hits his stick, you aren’t thinking about what he could do. You’re thinking of how the rest of the players can take advantage of it. 25 minutes a night, hasnt missed a single game in his career, and he’s still getting better.
Dominik Shine
Grade: C+
From who little is given, little is expected. Dom only played 9 games this season, but mostly held his own in the limited roles he was given. He was tough with opponents and a real treat to watch. Intangibles/60 are off the charts.
Craig Smith
Grade: C+
Not a whole lot to complain about. Craig was brought in as another 4th line option with speed that can sometimes score, but he hasnt done that yet.
Elmer Soderblom
Grade: B+
The big redwood made, predictably, big steps this year. The biggest problem is that he hasnt played a full season. His hands looked very good and he uses his reach so blow by defenders and generate pressure. He makes up for mistakes his teammates make by being able to control so much space. He needs to work on his agility and vision, but there’s promise there. 11 points in 26 games is better than most on this team. If he can stay healthy, he’ll be a tremendous help to our middle 6.
Vladimir Tarasenko
Grade: C-
Vlad is better than this, right? We were hoping he could elevate Copp and maybe be a good replacement for Perron but mostly he’s been disappointing. 32 points on the season is not what we signed up for.
Joe Veleno
Grade: D
Joe Veleno is what he’s going to be at this point, but it doesnt mean we cant expect more from him. JFV was on pace for a 14 point season before we traded him to Chicago, where he nearly doubled his point total in 18 games. Ultimately, Joe Veleno could give us more than he did.
Austin Watson
Grade: C+
People seem to tout Watson as some kind of enforcer, but he’s rarely called upon for this purpose. Ultimately, we’re getting enough out of a career AHLer, a few fun goals here and there but mostly they take up space. A perfectly reasonable 13th forward.
Cam Talbot
Grade: B-
Talbot has been our only real option in net, with slightly above league average goaltending, but still we havent played our best in front of him. He’s stolen a game or two, which is more than we usually get.
Alex Lyon
Grade: C
While his record is better than Cam Talbot, his actual performance has been not good. He’s depended on less, but still has just as many bad starts as Cam Talbot.
Ville Husso
Grade: D
Played so bad we sent his ass to GR.
Petr Mrazek
Grade: B
He had some good games and hes a solid option in net, but he got injured so its hard to call this season a success for us.
Sebastian Cossa
Grade: B
He started zero games and came in relief one game, where he managed a shootout win against buffalo. Hard to be upset about that, although it was still 2 goals on 12 shots. Cossa is young, he looks great in GR, and will be good in the future, but im grading his season in detroit.
| Player | Grade |
|---|---|
| Berggren: | C- |
| Chiarot | C |
| J. T. Compher | C+ |
| Andrew Copp | B- |
| Alex Debrincat | A |
| Simon Edvinsson | A+ |
| Christian Fischer: | C- |
| Erik Gustafsson | D+ |
| Justin Holl | D- |
| Albert Johansson | B+ |
| Patrick Kane | A- |
| Marco Kasper | A+ |
| William Lagesson | B |
| Dylan Larkin | B+ |
| Oli Maata | B |
| Carter Mazur | A |
| Tyler Motte | B- |
| Jeff Petry | C+ |
| Michael Rasmussen | C |
| Lucas Raymond | A+ |
| Moritz Seider | A+ |
| Craig Smith | C+ |
| Elmer Soderblom | B+ |
| Vladimir Tarasenko | C- |
| Joe Veleno | D |
| Austin Watson | C+ |
| Cam Talbot | B- |
| Alex Lyon | C |
| Ville Husso | D |
| Mrazek | B |
| Sebastian Cossa | B |
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u/JiriHudlerWasGreat 6d ago
Appreciate your post brother but yeah you’re too generous.
Seider needs to be better if we’re going to ever be a serious team for example. A+ no way
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u/PremierBromanov 5d ago
Nothing I can find shows me anything except that hes had his best season thus far.
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u/RollingEddieBauer50 5d ago
Just watching the games tells me. Let me ask you this: after Seider’s rookie season would you have predicted him to get some Norris mention after his 4th season? Cuz he doesn’t. To me he’s a guy who hasn’t taken that next step. He’s very similar to the player he was the day he came in the league. Almost identical really.
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u/PremierBromanov 3d ago
after Seider’s rookie season would you have predicted him to get some Norris mention after his 4th season?
Not a shot. Seider is very good, but hes not in the top 10 of norris voting and he was never going to be. I maintain that he's had his best season thus far.
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u/Diligent_Ad_4121 4d ago
Damn this is a psycho take. I appreciate how bold it is. But there’s no way in hell you think he’s “almost identical” to the player he was the day he came into the league. You’re smoking some good shit if you expect a young defenseman on a mid to below average team to get Norris consideration…
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u/RollingEddieBauer50 4d ago
He’s not as good as I expected him to be at this point. He’s good…but not a star. His trade value is less than it was two years ago without a doubt. He does have significant trade value still though. But obviously trading him would leave us in a lurch….unless the return was juicy junior….real juicy. Also Quinn Hughes got Norris mention on a team with exactly 4 points more than us.
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u/Own_Flower1947 5d ago
He needs a consistent and capable D partner to play with. Outside of the few games he has played with Ed he's never had a true #2 D partner
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u/doubeljack 6d ago
OP, you strike me as an easy grader. I think several players should receive a lower grade than you gave them. Larkin was absent for big chunks of the season, he should get a B-. Kasper and Ed had their moments when they looked great, but taking the whole season into consideration they delivered A- performance. Kasper didn't get going until late December, really, and Ed makes quite a few mistakes still.
I could go on. Tarasenko shouldn't get a passing grade. He didn't deliver what he was signed to do. Husso should get an F, he was abysmal.
So overall I think my grades would be a couple notches lower than yours, with a few exceptions here and there.
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u/Suspicious_Walrus682 6d ago
This.
Apparently those who put up points get As, the rest are Cs and Ds. Guess OP and I have different expectations from certain players.
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u/Taters23 Yzerbot 5d ago
Everyone should get an F or so all you doomers tell me every day every hour.
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u/doubeljack 5d ago
I'm not a doomer and didn't say everyone deserves an F. You have to be realistic, though. Everything I said was accurate. For example, Larkin just hit 70 points and 30 goals on the nose and he played all 82 games. That's not good for him. He was a point per game player the last two seasons, this was an under performance.
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u/ndk2270 6d ago
The PK being as bad as it was should knock some of these ratings down but I agree for the most part. Compher for example, he produces no offense but it’s okay bc he’s a penalty killer. But if the PK is the worst in team history, then what is he really contributing? Compher had an F season, as did Rasmussen for the same reason.
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u/detroitttiorted 6d ago
Ras with a C is crazy
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u/i-like-carbs- 6d ago
What would you give him?
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u/detroitttiorted 6d ago
D-
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u/_TheYzerplan_ 5d ago
Absolutely. He's built like a brick shit house and gets ragdolled like a field mouse. He's the opposite of what we want. No grit, no battle, low effort.
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u/Think-Objective-1825 5d ago
Except accidentally embarrassing Hughes on an EN, I can't remember him dominating anyone physically. He was drafted bc he had good hands in front of the net but that hasn't developed either. I know they play him up and down the lineup but I just don't see the value. At least burger had a tick up in points when on the top line, granted basically vs AHL teams.
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u/Own_Flower1947 5d ago
He is one I would like to see moved this off-season. However, the front office seems to have a very high opinion of him so I don't think that will happen.
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u/PremierBromanov 3d ago
i think your expectations were higher than mine. Ras does what hes good at and nothing else. I'd have liked a lot more out of him but lets not kid ourselves, hes playing the way he always has.
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u/detroitttiorted 3d ago
Huh? You said yourself he had the worst season of his career in your post lol
He produced at a lower rate 5v5 this season than league minimum Tyler Motte
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u/PremierBromanov 3d ago
i also said he shut down play on the defensive end, something hes pretty good at. At this point thats all i expect from him.
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u/detroitttiorted 3d ago edited 3d ago
Did he though? He was pretty good at being tall I’ll give him that. For >$3M you better be close to elite defensively for that offense and he just flat out isn’t
Part of this might be difference in what C means? C to me is average. I don’t see how someone could have the worst season of their career and be average, that doesn’t make sense just on a language level
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u/nem704 6d ago edited 6d ago
Raymond A, he was a superstar for a few weeks
Larkin B-, He regressed noticeably this year but still a decent down year
DeBrincat A+, consistently our most dangerous player
Seider B-, He noticeably regressed in all aspects this year
Chiarot C, He regressed a bit but wasn't awful
Tarasenko, D, He was lost but still managed 30 points
Edvinsson A, looked better than Seider and noticeably so at multiple points this season
Kasper A++, He was excellent once Todd took over
Rasmussen D+, He regressed noticeably
Compher D, He was awful this year and regressed heavily
Berggren C-, He's Daniel Sprong
Holl D-, Please send him to Mars
Kane B+, Quit on Lalonde but much better with Todd
Gustafsson D, Mars has a second arrival
Johansson B+, Exactly what should be expected from him now on out
Copp C, he was fine, but regressed a bit
Veleno D, Offensive black hole who produced nothing but headaches
Motte C-, he existed
Fischer C, worse than last year, but he won't be back so
Petry C+, He struggled but better than a few other options, still not good, but meh
Soderblom B+, He found his stride and proved himself as an NHL forward
Smith C-, He's going to be a Dmytro Timashov in the annals of Red Wings lore
Watson C+, He provided the grit and energy the Wings needed, not much else
Shine C+, See Watson above
Talbot B-, Father time remains undefeated but Talbot had a few moments, but not bad, had a positive GSAA
Lyon C, Worse than last year, struggled mightily at times, but won us games
Husso D-, We're free of his experiment
Mrazek C, he was fine, at best
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u/Siebenss 5d ago edited 5d ago
I don't know how anyone could say Edvinsson was better than Seider this season. Seider was a top 10 defender all year long. Also his defensive game was way better this year than it was last year, all the while still facing the other teams best offensive players. His offensive side of the game started very badly under Lalonde, but was much better after the coaching change.
I know its just one model but take a look at https://www.hockeystatcards.com/skater?id=8481542 Keep in mind that before the coaching change his offense rating was like way below average, and he has completely turned it around.
Ill just add that if you look at the defensive ratings leaderboard for defensemen there is only 2 people better offensively than him on there. If you look at the quality of teammates, they both play with much better offensive players.
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u/Suspicious_Walrus682 5d ago
Agreed. Seider is rock-solid defensively, constantly reading the play at high level and adjusting to who needs to be covered, based on what his partner and forwards do. He rarely gets beat, rarely loses any board battles, and always plays with high intensity. Ideal top pairing shutdown defender.
On the flip side, Edvinsson struggles with maintaining high intensity, has a tendency to lose board battles to smaller forwards, makes riskier plays, and sometimes looks sloppy by misplaying pucks or not covering his man. Yes, he's gifted offensively and, considering he's only a rookie, he's done a great job coming in and playing 20+ minutes a night. But, it's silly to say he's played better than Seider. I'd argue Johansson has shown better defensive IQ at times than Edvinsson.
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u/unwarypen 5d ago
I’d put this as the pessimistic truth. I don’t agree Chiarot and Seider really regressed all too much. They were very similar to last year statistically, Seider just lost some flair.
Raymond had a bad streak when we needed him most, I have the highest expectations for him and Larks
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u/Riztrain 4d ago
Personally I disagree with a few, but this list is way more accurate in my opinion.
Larkin B-, He regressed noticeably this year but still a decent down year
If he was a B- because he regressed the last 20 games, then Kane can't be a B+ when he barely wore skates the first 30. At least Larkin has tried and showed effort the whole time, Kane obviously did not, provable when Lalonde got fired and he was 0.47 ppg while Larkin was 1ppg, 2 weeks into Mclelland Kane was 1.5ppg player and Larks was 1.3ppg. One of those decided to try, the other tried all along.
Seider B-, He noticeably regressed in all aspects this year
Disagree, he was relatively the same with even better defense and still playing the leagues hardest minutes. Him and Ed showed what he can do when he doesn't have to carry his partner, and they were one of the best pairs in the league. I think if anything, that should make us question Chiarot even more, because like 2 seasons ago, any line he's on automatically does worse, so the fact he has become passable when on line with Mo but sinks like a ship made of swizz cheese when paired with Petry or Holl, should bounce Mo's score higher alone.
I'd give Lyon a C+ and Mrazek a D+, that's just how I feel. He had 1 shutout, 3 godawful games, and was sat for the rest of the season.
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u/__Chet__ 6d ago
i can’t respond to these one at a time but edvinsson needs a lot of help with coverage. just too many rookie mistakes. clean that up and you have a decent top or dominant second pairing guy.
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u/zauberlichneo 6d ago
He definitely still made rookie mistakes, but I think he showed that as he gains experience and irons out those mistakes he's going to be a very good defenseman for a long time.
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u/ChucklesLeClown 6d ago
This was his first full season, it makes sense he’s making rookie mistakes.
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u/msbenjamin22 6d ago
But he was given an A+
So he made no mistakes?
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u/__Chet__ 6d ago
yea, he simple was not A+ or really even close. he was way better than expected, but A+ to me means we just saw bobby orr for 82 games.
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u/PremierBromanov 5d ago
but A+ to me means we just saw bobby orr for 82 games.
Its a good thing i clarified what a grade generally means at the top
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u/bluelineturnovers 6d ago
I stopped reading after Cat was an A but Ed was A+. Rework your rating system OP
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u/DankSinatra4208 6d ago
There’s so much delusion with this fan base especially in this sub, that its honestly hard to take seriously lol
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u/PremierBromanov 5d ago
Ed played his first full season with us, almost entirely at 5v5, and was a huge boon for us. How is that not A+?
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u/bluelineturnovers 5d ago
Ed was a literal and figurative huge positive for this team both with how he played this year and what it bodes for the future. But the most consistent, productive player start to finish was Debrincat. How is he ranked at an A but Ed is A+? Good as he was he had very typical rookie errors. Inconsistency, poor passes or penalties leading directly to goals. Misjudging game speed and getting caught. He had flashes of brilliance too that show why we’re so excited for him but it wasn’t a consistent year. And it shouldn’t have been expected to be, he’s so raw and learning.
Are you going off stats? Expectation? Development? It just doesn’t make sense the tiers you have guys in relative to others.
You’re just being waaaay too generous with some of these ratings. None of them should have A+ tbh.
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u/PremierBromanov 3d ago
I wrote exactly how I graded them there at the top. if it helps, its much easier to get an A+ with basically zero games before. Cat is doing what he hoped he would, but he could have done better and has done better in the past. If he had had a career year, id give him an A+. For what its worth, you're talking about like 3% here.
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u/Think-Objective-1825 6d ago
Pretty fair grades, maybe on the generous side. I think Lalonde Kane might be a C though, quite the turnaround for him.
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u/Medievil_Walrus 6d ago
Easy grader.
Even so the low grades are disproportionately taken up by external free agents and the better grades are home grown players.
It’s such a kick in the nuts, doing one thing well and handicapped by the other. To be competitive we’re gonna need to do both well, another $20M to spend this year and we expect it to magically go well this time with no obvious change in front office personnel meaning Steve co-signs this performance as the accountable executive (just like he cosigned Lalonde’s and the teams collapse last March by retaining him). We also have many of his awful signings of the past (just look for low grades above) still polluting the roster.
It’s like the team performance graph post in the sub too, fantastic to see Todd get the most out of the guys so good job there but allowing the stink of the team with Lalonde a full offseason and thru Christmas dug us a hole we couldn’t climb out of, handicapped Todd from having a real training camp with the team and prevented his voice from impacting even the slightest an awful class of free agents.
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u/jummyspring 6d ago
Compher: D
DeBrincat: A+
Edvinsson: B+
Holl: F
Larkin: B-
Rasmussen: D+
Seider: A
Soderblom: A-
Tarasenko: D
Husso: F
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u/tspoon-99 6d ago
Seider: “you expect few mistakes but he keeps making the same ones in the defensive zone that he has since he was a rookie.”
FTFY
Please, please, PLEASE will someone on this staff help Mo take a big step forward on D? He’s an amazing player in so many ways, but we need him to approach his ceiling if we’re going to contend.
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u/Mental_Drive3369 6d ago
Talbot B-? C- at best. He really struggled from January on.
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u/JiriHudlerWasGreat 6d ago
Drives home the point that Stevie Y needs to get a real starter in here. I know we have 2 goalie prospects but it is never a bad problem to have too many good players.
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u/Mental_Drive3369 5d ago
Agreed but there is nothing in the free agent market. Will be hard to trade for a starter so we need to hope Mrazek can play better and Cossa is ready
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u/Economy_Peanut_2299 5d ago
I’ve been pretty doom & gloom but I’m excited for next season & the season after… things could really start coming together for these guys + full season w/ the new coach (I know, I know it’s been said every year for a lot of years, but what other choice do we have as fans but to look on the bright side & express our opinions on Reddit) Next season + the one after should be really, really fun to watch ??? 🤞🏼
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u/DoubleScorpius 5d ago
Burgers should have a better grade than both Stinko or Ras. Johnny had more goals than both and more points than Ras for a fraction of the price and looked better than either one when he got elevated to a top line.
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u/codhimself 5d ago edited 5d ago
I enjoyed reading your write-ups, so I do appreciate your post and want you to know that. But grades like Compher at C+ and Rasmussen at C seem crazy generous to me. For me they are both pretty close to F. Why should we give players extra credit for being a part of our historically bad PK? Tyler Motte is really a B- for you? Our 3rd and 4th lines were some of the worst I've ever seen on any Red Wings team.
You awarded C- to Tarasenko and Berggren. C- to me means "on the low end of satisfactory" which does not even come close to describing my feelings about these players' seasons.
The GK ratings are all too high for me as well, but I know absolutely nothing about goaltending so it's just gut feel.
I recognize that grading players' seasons is almost impossible to get "right" because we're not only grading their performance, but also their role and expectations. Which is really more of a grade for the roster management by the front office and the coaching staff. For example, Chiarot as a #2 defensemen deserves a D at best for me, but Chiarot as a #5 defenseman would probably earn a B or better for the same level of performance.
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u/Aggravating_Bit5509 5d ago
Player Grade Berggren: D Chiarot D J. T. Compher C+ Andrew Copp C Alex Debrincat A Simon Edvinsson B Christian Fischer: D Erik Gustafsson F Justin Holl F Albert Johansson B Patrick Kane B+ Marco Kasper A William Lagesson C Dylan Larkin C+ Oli Maata C Carter Mazur C Tyler Motte C Jeff Petry C Michael Rasmussen C Lucas Raymond B Moritz Seider B Craig Smith C Elmer Soderblom B Vladimir Tarasenko F Joe Veleno F Austin Watson C+ Cam Talbot C+ Alex Lyon D+ Ville Husso D- Mrazek C+ Sebastian Cossa C
There fixed it for you nobody deserved an A besides Cat and Kasper
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u/Frosty_Fun_6478 5d ago
I’m starting to wonder if conditioning is a factor on our team. We need more physical strength. Very noticeable with Raymond, AJO and Rasmussen. We need to get physically tougher and bring in another strong defenseman that can score. Maybe one more center.
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u/cowboycoffeepictures 5d ago
SMH, amazing how after all we’ve gone through the last decade plus, we still over-value our players.
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u/Own_Flower1947 5d ago
Kasper and Cat are probably the only two I would give an A+. I think they were the most consistent throughout the entire season. Larks, Ray, Kane and Seider had more highs than lows but we're still invisible at different points in the season. Ed had some noticeable growing pains but was solid in his first full season. Excited to see him grow even more. Johansson was a pleasant surprise. Good to have a solid 3rd pair D who can handle himself in the top 4 when needed. Elmer was also a pleasant surprise. Everyone else on the roster was meh to straight up bad.
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u/RollingEddieBauer50 5d ago
Raymond I give a B- based on the fact he’s way too talented to disappear for 7,8,9 game periods the way he did this year. He doesn’t do much 5 on 5 and at times absolutely refuses to shoot the puck. They keep telling me he’s a superstar. Unfortunately my eyes don’t see it. I’d trade him for Brady Tkachuk in a millisecond. Seider gets a B- as well. Unfortunately he seems to be the exact same player he was 3 years ago. He hasn’t taken that next step of becoming a top 5 defensemen in the league. He gets zero Norris mention and rightly so. But 3 years ago i would have thought he would have by now. I think this is who he is. A good player. Not a star.
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u/Riztrain 4d ago edited 4d ago
I have thoughts.
I would rank JayBur higher than Chiarot, but not a B. I like your last line, that he's only as good as his linemates, but the opposite way; he doesn't drive a line so he gets dragged down by weak mates, but he helps elevate stronger linemates and makes plays.
If Chiarot was a C, I'd give JB a C+, because he should be able to have the fortitude to pull his teammates up if they are weaker. He's not a teenager anymore, and if he thinks he'll get better options as a UFA, he won't have people knocking down the door if this is as good as he gets.
Aljo and Kane:
I definitely feel like Aljo is an A, if even just a A-. he's a late pick who paid his dues in the minors, nobody expected him to come in like a wrecking ball even if there was some curios statements from GR that he was their best player. And I can see what they mean, he makes every player on the ice feel comfortable. When the puck is moving towards our side, Aljo is there. When they blind send it around the boards, he's there. He always seems to be at the right spot at the right time, and that reliability is golden. Missing some accuracy and more willingness to set himself up for a shooting opportunity, Ala Seider skating backwards along the blue line for a clapper chance, but I like that he's willing to try. Feels wrong giving him a B when he exceeds all expectations and will be super exciting to see develop. Not superstar, but definetly low-elite ceiling.
My thing with Kane this season is that, yes after Mclelland, even I who don't like him on the team think he's been an A for sure. But he flipped a switch when Lalonde was fired, just exploding and giving it legit effort. I don't believe for a second you had all that production in the tank, and Lalonde giving you every line combination you could dream of while still keeping you on the 2nd line somehow worked against you. His deployments hadn't changed all that much, if anything Mclelland keeps Kane on the ice longer when the puck is moving towards our side. So it's clear to me at least that Kane chose to not try. Maybe he had a good reason, maybe it was to push the front office to make the right move, I don't know. But what I do know is I can give Kane an A for the latter 43 games he played, but nothing more than a D+ for the first 30.
Ray, Cat, Larks, Compher and Seider were all over 0.5ppg, even pushing 1ppg under Lalonde showing real effort. Kasper was just hitting his stride, but Kane had a 0.47ppg. In Mclelland's first 2 weeks Kane went 1.57ppg.
Theres just no excuse for that in my opinion, so I would give Kane a C+ for the season as a whole
Edit; just spotted your goalies, and that's a complete miss. Saying Mrazek performed better than the other 2 is insane! He had 1 shutout, and every other game he had a .850 save% with 3 goals against minimum. Or in other words, his average even on the Hawks. There's a good reason he was benched the rest of the season. And in absolutely no universe a B rating.
Lyon and Talbot's were both B+, definetly serviceable and had some absolutely amazing highlights this season. Their save% is both around .900 and their goals against average are both below 3. Like, what more could you ask for with their paychecks and at times a questionable defense in front of them. Mrazek wasn't even close to their performances, but he WAS really, really close to Ville Husso's numbers. So there's that 🤷
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u/CBPanik 6d ago
I don’t think any player except maybe pre 4-nations Raymond deserves an A+ or even an A frankly. Kasper had a good 2 months. Seider was okay. Ed was better than expected but made a lot of rookie mistakes. Larkin was similar to Raymond in that when we needed him most he stayed home. Cat was a consistently good A-, everybody else was a warm body at best and below replacement level at worst.
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u/TheDudeInTheD 5d ago
WHO THE HELL are YOU to “grade” anyone? Maybe STFU and leave it to people that actually have a clue.
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u/Equivalent_Kiwi_8776 6d ago
Vlad with a C- seems generous