Report Card Time!

Below is a list of the player grades that I have given to the Penguins current roster. I’ve tried to grade players on my previous expectations for them this coming season and if they acceded, regular season play, and finally post season play. Taking these 3 into account, I’ve averaged the scorers based on (F = 0, A+ =12) scale and an expectation scale was based on the following: 0- utter failure, 6- met expectations and 12-well beyond.

Centers: Erik Christensen: 7/8/3 => overall: C+
I never felt EC would get a chance to succeed here but he showed enough patience and was able to succeed in the regular season. Frankly, I felt he should have been up last season as well. The playoffs saw Erik cast as a 4th line center which is just poor misuse by Therrien. His play in the playoffs drew memories of a certain RSL league scoring leader complete with soft perimeter play and failure to make his presence felt outside of being a frequent checking dummy for Ottawa defenders.

Sidney Crosby: 12/12/10 => Overall: A
Amazing player and a season to remember. While most 2nd year players fall into the dreaded sophomore slump, Crosby led the league in scoring. While his last month was off pace from previous months, Crosby proved to absolute warrior and a player that should stay on this team for as long as he is able to play hockey. A joy and a pleasure to watch.

Evgeni Malkin: 9/10/5 => Overall: B
Supreme talent but obviously with this being the first year in the NHL, and the whole English language barrier saw Malkin have struggles. Regular season saw a potential superstar who cooled off as the season progressed. In the post season after a lack luster couple of games, Malkin picked up the pace playing with Crosby and showed at least to me that he a sense of urgency which will bode well for him this future. Needs to get stronger and improve those defensive skills we saw in the international competition though you can’t take out the Calder and general impact he had this season with the Ovechkin hype.

Jordan Staal: 12/11/11 => Overall: A
When we first drafted Jordan, I was a little disappointed. I felt the hype he got was more of a direct result of this generation’s version of the Sutters. Amazingly Staal set rookie record for SHG and showed up not as a timid rookie but as a vet. The reach and hockey sense will prove him well as he gets stronger, faster and more experience. One of the few Penguins to actually show some sort of an impact play in the postseason. It will be a sad day when we have to trade this man/kid.

Max Talbot: 10/9/8 => Overall: B+
Loved his game and the way he played. Proved he belongs in the league this season. Gritty and solid player with some clutch scoring and a never give up attitude. Checking line center with some scoring upside in the future.

Chris Thorburn: 8/6/INC>. => Overall: B-
Solid gritty play in the corners, speed youth and potential bottom line guy in the future. A very shrewd pickup and hopefully a chance to become more of a contributor next season.

Right Wings:

Colby Armstrong: 5/7/9 => Overall: B-
Got bitten by the sophomore slump and had trouble being Sidney’s right hand man so to speak early. Slowly battled his way out of it before finally hitting his stride midsize. The comparisons to a poor man’s Adam Deadmarsh were dead on and hopefully Colby continues to keep it up. Was a factor during the post season when a lot others were not and that boost him up a point.

Michel Ouellet: 4/3/4 => Overall: D+
Had a horrid stretch were he showed absolutely nothing before finding himself as a decent complement to Staal and Malkin. Overall improvement during the season with noticeable difference in speed and board play. Sadly he is still too slow to be an effective top 6 winger in the NHL and has no place on the top two lines outside of healthy scratch extra skater. The game these days is based on speed and Ouellet still showed a lack of an ability to make plays skating. When he was allowed to be stationary he showed an ability to pass the puck and shoot effectively but in motion still a weakness with horrid miss shots, missed chances and blown odd man rushes. For much too often, he was invisible despite playing with skilled players. Moreover, he probably leads the Penguins in secondary assists. He took the body more but he wasn’t “physical” as some would have you believe. One or two hits (bumping into people) doesn’t count. I do appreciate his apparent effort but there are too many limitations in his game right now. Ouellet also doesn’t really add anything to this team also when he isn’t producing points. He needs to skate this entire off season before he is dare mentioned as a top 6 forward on a cup contender which we ARE right now.

Ronald Petrovicky: 4/6/7 => Overall: C
I thought he’d be a very solid player when we picked him up but struggled mightily during the season and ultimately getting injured. Showed to work extremely well with fellow pest Jaarko Ruutu. Often times, petro was awarded with his solid play with little to no extra ice time! I’d like to see Petro back but with Stone coming up I doubt it.

Mark Recchi: 8/8/3 => Overall: C+
Solid first half of the season combined with an atrocious second half. Grew tired as the season wore on before eventually dissipating. Showed a more physical side when scoring was down but sadly should not have been a first or 2nd liner for us and towards the end of the season. Thanks for the work Rex but you need to hang em up. Overall great career and hopeful hall of fame selection.

Left Wings:

Ryan Malone: 3/6/5 => Overall: C-
An enigma often times one of the more dominant players on the ice with players of lesser caliber but more often than not, far too invisible. Very solid pker and showed a greater tendency to bang bodies around but in general a disappointment. Malone showed more pursuit of Pens patrol members than the puck. More fittingly: a lackadaisical disappointment despite living the dream many of us wish we could pursue.

Nils Ekman: 2/2/5 => Overall: D+
Overall disappointment struggled with Crosby outside of a period. Got hurt and was a healthy scratch all season outside of a handful of games. Likely will not be resigned.

Georges Laraque: 6/5/4 => Overall: C
Provided toughness and big hits during the season but lack of speed really hampered playoffs against speedy Ottawa team. I’d like to see him return. The Pens should not give up on him because once he isn’t in the lineup again, teams will continue to take runs at our superstars. Laraque needs to be there to stop that.

Gary Roberts: 12/10/12 => Overall: A
Complete warrior that provided everything asked of him and than some. At this point, he is a sure fire must sign this off-season with a possible 2 year deal. Will do wonders for the young wingers. His physical nature hasn’t been seen in quite some time and the man despite being 40 years old can still crash the net and bang home any garbage like the best of them.

Jarkko Ruutu: 4/7/7 => Overall: C+
Much hyped pest thought to bring that to the ice but was turned into 4th liner with 5 minutes of ice time a game. He’d try to compensate by going out of his way to make an impact in the game but would often result in penalties. I’d like to see him return.

Defensemen:

Eric Cairns: INC
Hurt the entire season. No need for him next season.

Mark Eaton: 10/8/6 => B
Played well beyond expectations until injured and fought back to get back into the rhythm. Sadly, the 2nd half of the season is more of the Eaton we will see but regardless a solid player.

Sergei Gonchar: 8/10/2 => C+
As opposed to last year, Gonchar started out decently and hit his stride during the big winning streak. Only problem was the real playoff season started in April and our friend Sergei was MIA. Sadly he showed some defensive awareness during the season and solid positioning. In the playoffs though was a different matter. Horrid defensive play in the playoffs and that cannon of a shot Gonchar had on the powerplay was either blocked or missed the net. Let this be a lesson to Coach Therrien that he should not be considered a shutdown defenseman nor should he be played against opposing teams best players. Brutal playoffs put another very solid season to shame. Looked uninspired / winded also. Gonchar should not be on the ice for the full 2 minutes on powerplays either.

Joel Kwiatkowski: Inc.
A waste of a 4th round pick if he couldn’t find some playing time in this sea of filth.

Josef Melichar: 0/0/2 => F
An absolutely abysmal year. The weakest link on the blueline filled with weaklinks. Melichar’s best days this season was seen when he was out with an injury. Poor positioning and defensive zone play. In an attempt to mitigate his injuries, Melichar decided to play less physical and try to become more positional sound except he is HORRENDOUS positionally. Too slow and not agile enough to keep with wingers, Melicharred was burnt more often than the sniffed out play. Some will point out that he blocks shots. Uh..blocking one shot a game doesn’t make this scrub valuable when defensive breakdowns are because of him. Would often forget to even cover his man in front of the net. Oops. Moreover, Melichar is completely useless in the offensive zone with zero ability to get a puck on net without it going 10 mph which we saw far far far too often. He can’t handle the puck nor can he make quick passes when pressured against quick teams. I pray to God that Melichar is done in this uniform. The new NHL has exposed you Josef Melichar or better yet goes to another team in the east.

Alain Nasreddine: 7/5/inc => C+
Winning Streak Alain was the money. Physical, played sound defensive hockey and was a breathe of fresh air. Lost his job for his child’s birth and never regained his spot because of the spectacular play of Josef Melichar. In spot duty the rest of the season, Alain struggled mightily and sadly was the still better than others that played over him. I hope he can stick around next season so I get one more look at him but he needs to be the 7th dman / healthy scratch. He played well beyond my expectations of course, but I’d rather have seen Welch up here instead improving his craft.

Brooks Orpik: 7/7/5 => C+
Brooks is way too inconsistent for my liking but I would like to see him back. Provides a need physical element and can sometimes look so smooth skating and effectively playing a 2 way game. Other times, Orpik is man too confused on the rink, constantly running around and putting himself out of position. This has been his overall best season and I look to see further improvement. He also was able to form a good defensive pairing with Ryan Whitney.

Rob Scuderi: 1/1/2 => D
Oy. Yet another disaster. Scuderi is better positionally than Melichar but that’s like winning 2nd place in the ugliest contest. Scuderi was in such great position that he would often screen our goaltending. When the goalies made the saves, scuderi felt that kicking in goals or batting them in would serve the team better. Like Melichar, Scuderi is completely worthless in the offensive zone. I’m sorry but dumping the puck around the boards EVERY time doesn’t help. A few shots on goal of the 20 mph variety were also blasted out of the Scuderi cannon. The playoffs actually saw improvement from Scuderi. However, it is far from enough to have a roster spot. I will also pray that this is his last game for the Pens. We can only hope some other team decides to pick him up so perhaps he can kick in some of our shots. Scuderi is often said to play his best when you don’t notice him. This season he did everything in his power to make sure he was noticed.

Ryan Whitney: 9/7/5 => B-
Whitney blossomed into a dynamic offensive player who has the ability to lead dmen in scoring for 10 years to come. I would like to see him change up his routine more as opposed to just one timing the cross ice Crosby feed. Regardless, Whitney has the speed and size to become dominant. However, we did not see that this year. Terrible positioning with atrocious play in his own zone was seen for much of the season. Played timid at times as well. The playoffs saw Whitney exposed with his defensive zone play but sadly he was still the most effective defensemen during the playoffs overall. Ryan will hopefully take over the role of PP QB once Gonchar leaves.

Goalies:

Marc-Andre Fleury: 9/8/7 => B
A breakthrough season for MA. I wondered if the man was physically tough enough to handle the NHL and the horrid bounces that sometimes occur. Fleury shocked and awed with 40 wins despite playing with the worst core of defenders in the league. Fleury stole games but had his share of bad ones. Would make the difficult saves look easy but make the easy saves look adventurous. Still he is the most athletically gifted goalie in the league. The playoffs showed that MA does have the toughness to succeed. He has the will and despite horrid and back breaking goals he kept his cool. His consistency will improve with further instruction and his rebound control should also see a boost.He still gives up far too many rebounds on easy shots that he should be able to vacuum in, and he looked shaky when handling the puck.

TBO: 7/7/inc => B-
A return to form for Thibault. Doesn’t have the skills of Fleury but he doesn’t need to shoulder the load. A decent backup that was able to steal some games for the club during the season. If he can be signed for cheap, I would hope he will return next season.

-op