Player report cards at the quarter-pole
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Bernier/Reimer: A+. Easy one here. They were without a doubt our co-MVPs for the first quarter of the season. There's really nothing else to say about these guys. They are both playing like top-10 goalies right now. The rotation so far has worked out better than anyone could have expected it to.
Phaneuf: A-. Defensively, Phaneuf has been an absolute rock. He went on a stretch of about 10 games where he was on the ice for just 1 even-strength goal against (extraskater isn't working so I can't look up the exact number). Parise, Crosby, Tavares, Hall, Spezza, Giroux, Perry, Getzlaf, Hossa, Toews, Sedin, and Duchene are just some of the big names that Phaneuf helped keep off the scoresheet in games vs. Toronto. The team could use a little more offence from him though, particularly on the powerplay where he has just 3 points. That would have pushed him up to an A or A+.
Gardiner: B+. Gardiner has the best corsi rating of any defencemen on the team (46.6%), which means he's spending more time in the offensive zone than the other defencemen. The numbers of his partners with and without Gardiner are pretty telling as well. Ranger goes from 46.0 with Gardiner to 42.2 without. Franson goes from 40.5 without Gardiner to 45.8 with him. Rangers GA/20 doubles when he's not playing with Gardiner while Franson's is cut in half when he is. I know that's my most number-y explanation so far, but I really feel it shows how good Gardiner has been. He's been dominant when the puck is on his stick and Carlyle is rewarding him as he's tied in even-strength ice-time with Phaneuf. Like Phaneuf though, some more offence would definitely be nice.
Gunnarsson: B+. Most of what I said about Phaneuf applies here too. I think Gunnar has been a big part of Dion's success this season. He's been as steady as one can be back there and looks to have recovered from that hip injury that plagued him last season. Leads the team in blocked shots and has been a big part of our penalty killing this season. I think he's a very underrated piece to our team.
Franson: B-. There's been two different Cody Franson's so far this season. There was the one who played with Rielly and seemed to be causing odd-man rushes every other game that ended up with the puck going into our net. And there's been the one who played with Gardiner and looked much calmer as he allowed Jake to handle more of the puck carrying duties. I've talked in the past about how much I love this pairing and above how Gardiner has effected Franson's stats. The two of them together were great. Franson and Rielly though were pretty bad. 0 goals but I feel like a lot of his shots are more for rebounds and tips.
Rielly: C. I feel like his struggles with Franson were more because of Cody than him. Like I said, it was often Franson hanging him out to dry on odd-man rushes and Rielly couldn't rush the puck as often since Franson primarily handled that responsibility on the pairing. In the small amount of time since that pairing was broken up I've noticed an improvement in his play. He's being more assertive with the puck and rushing it more often, which is where his strength lies. He's also been very aggressive when it comes to jumping into the play which again is something that he will have to do to be successful.
Ranger: C. When the season first started it was pretty clear that Ranger hadn't played in the NHL in a very long time. Slowly but surely though there has been improvement. He still has the bad turnover here and there but I feel like the Leafs are looking at him as a long-term investment. If he continues to improve his game we could see the top-4 defenceman he was in Tampa come playoff time.
Fraser: C. He's only played 7 games so it's been hard to get a good read on him. There were times where he looked like a solid physical bottom pairing defenceman, but other times where it's clear his foot speed isn't NHL level. I think the fact that he has to wear a brace for his knee all season long is going to a big detriment to him. Like the other defencemen, who his partner is has had a lot to do with his play. He's been paired mostly with Ranger and together they form the slowest possible pairing we could create.
Phaneuf: A-. Defensively, Phaneuf has been an absolute rock. He went on a stretch of about 10 games where he was on the ice for just 1 even-strength goal against (extraskater isn't working so I can't look up the exact number). Parise, Crosby, Tavares, Hall, Spezza, Giroux, Perry, Getzlaf, Hossa, Toews, Sedin, and Duchene are just some of the big names that Phaneuf helped keep off the scoresheet in games vs. Toronto. The team could use a little more offence from him though, particularly on the powerplay where he has just 3 points. That would have pushed him up to an A or A+.
Gardiner: B+. Gardiner has the best corsi rating of any defencemen on the team (46.6%), which means he's spending more time in the offensive zone than the other defencemen. The numbers of his partners with and without Gardiner are pretty telling as well. Ranger goes from 46.0 with Gardiner to 42.2 without. Franson goes from 40.5 without Gardiner to 45.8 with him. Rangers GA/20 doubles when he's not playing with Gardiner while Franson's is cut in half when he is. I know that's my most number-y explanation so far, but I really feel it shows how good Gardiner has been. He's been dominant when the puck is on his stick and Carlyle is rewarding him as he's tied in even-strength ice-time with Phaneuf. Like Phaneuf though, some more offence would definitely be nice.
Gunnarsson: B+. Most of what I said about Phaneuf applies here too. I think Gunnar has been a big part of Dion's success this season. He's been as steady as one can be back there and looks to have recovered from that hip injury that plagued him last season. Leads the team in blocked shots and has been a big part of our penalty killing this season. I think he's a very underrated piece to our team.
Franson: B-. There's been two different Cody Franson's so far this season. There was the one who played with Rielly and seemed to be causing odd-man rushes every other game that ended up with the puck going into our net. And there's been the one who played with Gardiner and looked much calmer as he allowed Jake to handle more of the puck carrying duties. I've talked in the past about how much I love this pairing and above how Gardiner has effected Franson's stats. The two of them together were great. Franson and Rielly though were pretty bad. 0 goals but I feel like a lot of his shots are more for rebounds and tips.
Rielly: C. I feel like his struggles with Franson were more because of Cody than him. Like I said, it was often Franson hanging him out to dry on odd-man rushes and Rielly couldn't rush the puck as often since Franson primarily handled that responsibility on the pairing. In the small amount of time since that pairing was broken up I've noticed an improvement in his play. He's being more assertive with the puck and rushing it more often, which is where his strength lies. He's also been very aggressive when it comes to jumping into the play which again is something that he will have to do to be successful.
Ranger: C. When the season first started it was pretty clear that Ranger hadn't played in the NHL in a very long time. Slowly but surely though there has been improvement. He still has the bad turnover here and there but I feel like the Leafs are looking at him as a long-term investment. If he continues to improve his game we could see the top-4 defenceman he was in Tampa come playoff time.
Fraser: C. He's only played 7 games so it's been hard to get a good read on him. There were times where he looked like a solid physical bottom pairing defenceman, but other times where it's clear his foot speed isn't NHL level. I think the fact that he has to wear a brace for his knee all season long is going to a big detriment to him. Like the other defencemen, who his partner is has had a lot to do with his play. He's been paired mostly with Ranger and together they form the slowest possible pairing we could create.
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CarltonTheBear said:
I didn't get around to grading the Defense/Goalies yesterday... but this is pretty much it from my perspective as well.