forgot to ask tom something last night, so while im here i might as well post my team grades through 1/4 of the season
Kyle Turris: B
Has played well overall, can see he is clearly not used to the bigger minutes with Spezza out. Needs to produce more offensively but has been our best player multiple games this year. I think a B+ is debatable, but there is still much room for improvement. He's bound to start capitalizing on his chances soon.
Erik Karlsson: A+
Well... what else did could we expect from this kid? Up until the unspeakable happened, he had been our MVP right behind Mr. Anderson without a doubt. Not really much else to say.. he had been fantastic in all facets of the game, and I wish him a speedy recovery
Daniel Alfredsson: B+
Had a rough start to the year fighting the flu, showing signs of rust and age, but he has bounced back as of late and has been looking much more Alfie-like. He is bound to start netting some more.
Milan Michalek: C+
Defensively solid, almost invisible offensively (contrary to what his 8 points may indicate). He seems to have forgotten how to shoot. I dont think I've seen him hit the net in the past 10 games. With Spezza out, we really need him to step up and contribute offensively. Out with lower-body currently but I assume it's nothing big.
Sergei Gonchar: B
Provides solid leadership on and off the ice, as well as giving us a relatively reliable source of offense minus Karlsson. I sometimes question his decision making, but I also think people are a bit too hard on Gonch. He is a big part of our team and powerplay, shitty as it's been lately.
Jason Spezza: N/A
Out for 6-8 weeks due to back surgery, but played pretty well in his 5 games this year.
Erik Condra: B+
Very hard worker day-in, day-out. Although he may not hit or score a lot of goals, he is a smart player and seems to always know where to go. Lacks finish as we know all too well.
Zack Smith: C-
Penalty machine, hasn't been playing with much drive and still has a big ol' goose-egg in the goals column. It seems that he is always making the wrong decision as of late, but I hope he get his shit together soon.
Chris Neil: A
One of the few guys who can hit, score (to some extent), fight, etc. He does it all, and each season I'm more and more appreciative of what he does for this team. He sometimes takes inopportune penalties, but he is such a big part of our team that it doesn't really matter.
Colin Greening: D
Uhh.. yeah. I have no clue what happened to this kid. Everything we praised him for last year is seemingly gone. Has no wheels, poor decision making, no physicality, the list goes on and on. He seems to only play well on Spezza's wing. Although his line showed some positive things in the first few games, he has been abysmal throughout the past 7 or 8.
Jim O'Brien: A-
I love this guy. Very fast skater who always surprises me with the way he plays. Never expected much from him but he has 4 goals on the season (tied for 1st on the team with Turris). Not much of a playmaker, but he seems to score key goals for us.
Patrick Wiercioch: B/B+
Pleasant surprised coming up from Bingo. I don't think anyone really expect him to make the transition this easily, but he has been making stretch passes through the entire opposing team look easy. Love the way he's playing, but as expected, some lapses in the defensive end.
Chris Phillips: C-/C
3 goals on the season, but if you counted all the goals he has caused for the opposing team, I think he'd be up there with the leading scorers of the NHL. Sorry Chris, but your play sure is deteriorating as of late. I am always on your side when people take shots at you, but this year has just not been your year.
Andre Benoit: B-
He has been average. Not a huge factor offensively but solid in both ends of the ice. Has played better than most of us expect him to, and will probably be seeing a few more minutes with EK gone.
Marc Methot: A+
Physical, surprisingly speedy, and most of all, great in the defensive zone. Him and Karlsson were just fantastic. There's a reason this guy wore the "A" on his first season with the team. I think I've seen a grand total of one bad play from him, and it was actually because of someone elses bad decision.
Jakob Silfverberg: B-/B
Been improving each and every game. Not scoring too much right now but he has had his fair share of chances. With only a 6.3 shooting percentage, it would be silly to think he isn't going to start scoring a bit more. Surprisingly good along the boards and underrated vision when cycling in the zone. Reminiscent of Alfie sometimes, but still needs to work on a lot of things.
Mika Zibanejad: A-
Coming back from a concussion, he was called up during the AHL all-star break. I don't think anyone expected him to stay up with the Sens, but lo and behold, he is now their 1C. He's putting it all together this season, and showing why he went 6th overall. Really liking his play in both ends of the rink.
Peter Regin: C+
Currently on IR with chest injury, but expected to return as soon as next game. Although he has improved as of late, he has been a blackhole offensively. I think it's time he switched back to #43 for that 2009/10 playoff series karma.
Guillame Latendresse: C-
On IR and out indefinitely. From the 6 games he played, he didn't look good. Really slow in both skating and decision making, and was lacking defensively as well. One thing I did like about his game was that he was always finishing his checks, but minus that, not much positive to say.
Kaspars Daugavins: C+
Decent 4th liner. Lone point coming from a nice tic-tac-toe play against Tampa in which he was the "tic". Strong on the puck.
Stephane Da Costa: A
Only 5 games with the Sens, but has played great in every one, especially the last 2. Being a smaller guy, you wouldn't expect him to try and cut in and make moves (especially after the Phaneuf incident) but he is seemingly fearless, and has a very nice shot and good vision on the ice. I really like this kid and I hope we keep him in the organization.
Mike Lundin: B-
Wasn't expecting much of him, and haven't gotten much either. Haven't noticed him, which is a good thing for the type of player he is.
Mark Borowiecki: C+/B-
Nice to have another phyiscal, intimidating presence on the blueline, but he doesn't have much to contribute other than that. Personally, I have liked his play, but others haven't been so fond. Expect him to be called up again with the loss of EK.
Craig Anderson: A+++++++
He's the best goalie in the NHL currently. I will ignore last game as it was an anomaly due to shitty stuff happening, but this guy has easily been the MVP of our team, possibly even the NHL. 11/10.
Ben Bishop: B
One poor performance where the team played well, one very good performance where the team fell asleep. Possibly going to be traded away soon.