This year I thought I'd take a load off the crew, just a bit, so I split the end of year report card up between the three of us. We have all put in a lot of time, and we might as well take advantage of the benefit of having an actual team of writers.
...and I use the term
"writers" very loosely.
On to parent/teacher conference:
The Pivots bought to you by Gatekeeper
19 - Jonathan Toews
Gatekeeper - It's no secret that Jonathan Toews has had a down year. Yes, I know he draws hard matchups. Yes, I know he is one of the two most concerning opponents for teams facing the Blackhawks. The fact of the matter is that point totals in the mid 50s isn't enough for future hall-of-famer, Captain Serious. He needed to be that stabilizing force, with Hossa, that allowed Quenneville to plug in just about any player at left wing and compete. At the very minimum. Instead, it has been a revolving door of left wings that even saw Marko Dano swapped for Andrew Ladd. The jury is still out on that move. This isn't the first time his linemates have been changed. While Kane is having a career season, Jonny is having one of his worst. In fact, the only worse seasons were the shortened lockout season (
for obvious reasons), 2011-12 (
only 59 games due to injury), and his rookie season. I get that he is the captain, and
yadda yadda yadda, but he needs to be better going forward.
GRADE - B minus
15 - Artem Anisimov
Gatekeeper - I think everyone was pretty critical of Anisimov, especially for what the Blackhawks gave up, but he has fit in nicely. He has his flaws, but as we saw with Jonathan Toews and his line mates, it's not always as easy as just plugging a guy, or in this case guys, in. His faceoff ability is, quite frankly, dog poop on a stick. He might still be better suited for a 3rd line role if Teuvo Teravainen can make that jump to legit full time threat, but for the foreseeable future the top two spots are locked. This is fine and well, because he's locked up for the next 5 seasons. Ride this pony while it's a raging inferno. The Hawks have Teuvo's rights for a few and Kruger is signed for 3 more, so they have a strong core up the middle, which is the complete opposite of past years.
GRADE - B plus
86 - Teuvo Teravainen
Gatekeeper - The great Quenneville conundrum. World class talent in a miniature package, but where do you play him? He can play right wing, and has played quite a bit at wing, not only in the NHL. Everyone seems to be stuck on this notion that he needs to be a center to be successful, but when you put him with defensive wings on the third line, you're wasting his talent. Do you slide Anisimov down? Do you slide Hossa down?
WHERE SHOULD TEUVO TERVAINEN PLAY? The answer, at the trade deadline, almost sounded like it could have been "some other team". Teravainen might be the epitome of "this is why we can't have nice things". I was of the opinion that they could slide Hossa down to the 3rd line and carry those slugs while Teravainen can play El Capitan's little buddy. Hell, with Ladd playing up there, the size is taken care of. I'm just an idiot basement dwelling blogger that lives with his parents
wait, that's #Fatrick.
Anywho, While he can have a flash of brilliance playing with the slugs, it's not doing much for his confidence. For example, look at the jump in his step when he played with Kane and Panarin. He didn't look that much out of place at all. The bottom line is that he deserves better. The positions that Quenneville puts him in aren't the best for maximizing his talent. If you don't like him, and want to give him the run-a-round, then just trade him for a defender. The kid has been an absolute trooper. Give him some stability.
GRADE - B Minus
16 - Marcus Kruger
Gatekeeper - Another company man. Kruger took a pretty decent one year home town discount last summer, after the dreaded
"Bowman promise" left him twisting in the wind. He was performing his usual duties like a good soldier when he had his wrist dislocated, putting him in IR for 4 months. I fully expected that we had seen the last of Marcus Kruger, and he would get his reward elsewhere. Stanbo surprised us, once again, by signing him to a 3 year extension followed by his unlikely return to the lineup. Surprisingly, Kruger stepped right in, like he never missed a step, and has bolstered the penalty kill since his return. He is going to eat a decent size chunk of their cap, but he has a place.
GRADE - A
70 - Dennis Rasmussen
Gatekeeper - Moose has had an interesting year. He was unexpectedly called up and played well. I honestly didn't expect to see him at all this year, but here we are. He played 46 games and was able to chip in 8 points. Rasmussen is not ever going to be flashy, but he's a decent sized guy that is pretty flexible. This came in handy with Marcus Kruger missing 4 months. His only hope next year is playing the wing, because the Hawks are set up the middle.
And then they send him to Rockford.
GRADE - B
Players like Tanner Kero, Philip Danault and Vince Hinostroza made appearances, but weren't worth full assessments
The Wingers bought to you by Gatekeeper
88 - Patrick Kane
Gatekeeper - What an eight month period for this dudebro. If you don't know the story of what happened in August, this is not the place for it. I've never been a big fan of Patrick Kane the person, and I'm even less a fan, now. Nonetheless, he's having a career year. He's the most likely candidate for the Art Ross and within reach of the Rocket Richard trophy. He finished with 46 goals and over 100 points. If it weren't for Patrick Kane, the Chicago Blackhawks would be in serious trouble. Artemi Panarin probably isn't close to as successful without Kane on his line. All of this while being a pretty detestable human being to anyone with a shred of decency. The fan base is completely divided over their loyalty, or lack thereof, and it has made for a fairly bittersweet regular season thus far. Nothing I can say here hasn't already been said, so I gave him this grade simply because of the distraction he created for the rest of this team and, honestly, the entire league. Obviously, based on hockey alone, he'd be an A plus.
GRADE - B
81 - Marian Hossa
Gatekeeper - One of the great debates, other than the obvious stinky elephant in the room, is whether Marian Hossa is declining or just having an off season. I would say, possibly both. It's been gone over again and again, but the Blackhawks are really going to need to suck up this decline and find a way to use him effectively. If they don't he could retire early with another team and the Blackhawks would get hit with a significant cap recapture penalty, which is something they absolutely cannot afford. So what should they do? It has been my opinion that they should drop him down the line-up to a less significant role, like the third line, and maybe move a younger wing up to Hossa's original spot. This take the pressure off and allows him to stay somewhat under the radar, while being a great mentor for some of the other young players. All this said, he has had a down year and the years will catch up. Preserve him as best you can, Blackhawks.
GRADE - C
72 - Artemi Panarin
Gatekeeper - I am not ashamed to admit that I had my doubts about Artemi Panarin, as everyone should have. He was coming from a league that, whether you agree or not, is inferior to the NHL. That was reason, alone, for tempered expectations. He's smallish, and played with Ilya Kovalchuk in the KHL. All that has been cast away, though, and he should finish the season as runaway the Calder trophy winner. The mainstream media dropped off the Gostisphere bandwagon, but they are still trying to convince themselves that there is some rational reason to vote for someone else,
ANYONE! This is complete bullshit, of course, but this is nothing new. Panarin was an enormous find. Credit to Stan Bowman for convincing him to join this organization, when he could have literally gone anywhere. He definitely softens the blow of losing both Saad and Sharp. Great for everybody.
GRADE - A plus
65 - Andrew Shaw
Gatekeeper - This guy is like a cockroach. He will survive nuclear fallout. Shaw is that pest that never goes away. In addition, he is the player that Quenneville loves. That
#GRIT,
#MOARHITZ, and his versatility basically make him the other son that Quenneville never had. I'm sure I'll be wrong about this, but I cannot see a way that they can bring him back this summer, based on their salary cap crunch. Don't get me wrong, he's a very useful bottom 6 player and can adequately temporarily jump into any role when needed. The key word is "temporarily". He's a bottom 6 player and needs to stay there. Paying him any more than his current salary to be himself is too rich for the Blackhawks blood. Someone will need to step into this role next fall, and it should be interesting.
GRADE - B
16 - Andrew Ladd
Gatekeeper - He only played 19 games with the Blackhawks, but had 12 points. Eight of those points were goals. I'd say that filled the huge left wing hole that Saad left. All that said, he's going to be a free agent on July 1st, and there is no way the Blackhawks will be able to afford keeping him. I've always loved Ladd's game, and it'll be sad to see him go, once again, but that is life. Stan brought the pieces in to help, and Ladd was one of them.
GRADE - B plus
25- Dale Weise
Gatekeeper - Dale Weise has become Antoine Vermette. Despite bringing him in to bolster the bottom 6 along with his teammate and line mate in Montreal, Joel Quenneville seems to have no plan of using him in a position where he can succeed. When he has played, it has mostly been on the 4th line. When he has played on the 3rd line with Teravainen and Fleischmann, they have been good. That's not good enough for Coach #3CUPZ (should have been 4). If you're going to wonder why he's not producing more than one assist, look a the game logs. He has played more than ten minutes in only 5 of those 15 games. No surprise to anyone, but his hard headed coach, the most productive line he's played on was with Teravainen and Fleischmann. When he is saddled with Desjardins, Rasmussen or Mashinter (roughly 30% of the time) on his wing, he is not as successful. I would have given him a worse grade if he wasn't getting jerked around by Quenneville so much.
GRADE - C
12 - Tomas Fleischmann
Gatekeeper - Going from Weise to Fleischmann is like night and day. Quenneville loves this guy and I have no disagreement about that. Flash has come in and filled that affordable bottom 6 role beautifully. He has chipped in 5 points, including 4 goals, in his 19 games with the Blackhawks. This makes you wonder what Bruce Boudreau DIDN'T see in Fleischmann last spring when he was only dressed for 6 of the Ducks 16 games. Makes you wonder, because Joel Quenneville might be the most stubborn coach in the league, and even HE likes Fleischmann.
GRADE - B plus
11 - Andrew Desjardins
Gatekeeper - Desjardins is a bottom 6 guy that can play all 3 positions and not get you killed. Nothing more, nothing less. I can't complain about him, but I also cannot praise his play much either. He is just a guy that unspectacularly fills spots economically. This is a job the Blackhawks need filled and he does just that. He shockingly played in 77 games and dumped in 13 points. I can't believe he only missed 5 games all season either.
GRADE - B
14 - Richard Panik
Gatekeeper - Panik came over in the deal that sent Jeremy Morin away once again, this time to Toronto. We were all just happy that Morin was gone and was going to get a chance to play, rather than rot in Rockford, again. Panik has turned into a really nice return, when Quenneville will play him. Six goals and eight points in 29 games is pretty good, despite the line mates he has been dragging around. He has gotten top line time, but sparingly. When most of your time was on lines with Ryan Garbutt, Andrew Desjardins, Dennis Rasmussen and Brandon Mashinter you're lucky to produce at all. The weird thing is that when someone like Hossa gets hurt, Quenneville with throw him with Toews. It baffles me, and anyone with eyes. I hope they keep Panik around. He can be affordable, and he is still young. When he's dressed you regularly see him in the action. I just want to see more.
GRADE - B
53 - Brandon Mashinter
Gatekeeper - The Man
SHITTER. This fucking guy. The next generation of useless Brandons with numbers in the offensive lineman ranges. He's big. That is his redeeming quality. Someone, somewhere told people in this organization that Mashinter could fight. They were wrong. He is not good offensively and he is barely serviceable in the defensive end. Most of the goals he did have were basically garbage goals. He did have 4, though, so that brings him from a "D" to a "C". He can sweep a puck into the open net when asked, which is more than we could say for Viktor Stalberg. It ironic part of Mashinter playing is that they have gotten far more out of him than anyone has gotten out of the guy they traded for him, former 1st round draft pick Kyle Beach.
GRADE - C
29 - Bryan Bickell
Gatekeeper - I really should have left him off the hook because he has only played 24 games, but fuck him. I went out on a limb and defended him for far longer than I should have, citing his past playoff performances. Then he absolutely laid an egg in last year's post season. His agent claimed that he had hard to diagnose ocular issue that gave him vertigo like symptoms and he was good to go this year.
TWENTY FIVE GAMES, AND TWO ASSISTS. That was all he was able to pitch in. The Hawks tried to trade him, and eventually dumped him in Rockford, much to the chagrin of his wife. This was one person's fault. Bryan Bickell. It's not like he is not physically able to play any more. His problem is between his ears. He goes to Rockford, where it's easy for him to use his size to dominate, and he puts up 31 points in 44 games. He's a bum slaying head case and he needs to go. The Blackhawks have no room for $4 million dead dollars on their cap next year. Whatever it takes, One Trick Bick must go away.
GRADE - F
Ryan Hartman, Mark McNeill, Kyle Baun, and Marko Dano are incomplete because they were here for all of 30 seconds. Ryan Garbutt was traded away. Jiri Sekera and Viktor Tikhonov were snatched up off waivers
The Blue Liners brought to you by Pat
2 - Duncan Keith
Pat - Keith had an up and down year by his standards. He missed time at the beginning of the year after having knee surgery, but bounced back nicely. Throughout the year, Keith had his mishaps of being caught out of position, which almost every time would end up costing the Hawks. His production was on par with at of his past years. In the end he tallied 9 goals and 34 assists in 67 games. He was also a +13 on the year. Its hard to rip a guy who has production like that while coming off in season surgery. Perhaps his biggest mistake though was being suspended for the final 5 games of the regular season, and the first playoff game for swinging his stick at Charlie Coyle's face.
GRADE -A minus
7 - Brent Seabrook
Pat - While Eddie Olczyk said Seabrook had a "Norris Trophy kind of year," the majority of us would tend to disagree with that statement. While Seabrook set career numbers in goals (14) and points (49), he had stretches of the year where he was absolutely atrocious. There were numerous times where he was caught out of position, missed assignments, and most importantly, turned the puck over at the most inopportune times, which would cost the Hawks. Seabrook is as reliable as they come. We haven't seen these kinds of mistakes out of him in some time, so it was bound to happen. Overall, I thought Seabrook wasn't as bad as people made him out to be.
GRADE -B plus
4 - Niklas Hjalmarsson
Pat - Throughout the season, Hjalmarsson was the most consistant of the Hawks defensemen. He managed to put up 2 goals and 22 assists, while being a +13 on the year. Continuing his theme of being a shock blocking machine, he blocked 151 shots. Year in, year out Hjalmarsson is always willing to sacrifice himself by blocking a shot, or taking a hit to make a play. My one knock on him is his famous blind backhand passes while in the defensive zone. This year however, those seemed to be fewer than in years past. This season was just another solid one in Hammer's career, and he continues to show that he might just be the best bargain in the NHL when it comes to defenseman.
GRADE -A minus
32 - Michal Rozsival
Pat - Oh Rozsival. The guy who gets the most shit from everyone. Overall, you can't deny it, Rozsival had a very solid and respectable year. Surely, there were mistakes. Those are going to happen. I mean he wasn't the one who swung his stick carelessly into the face of an opponent, was it? No. Rozsival played 51 games and matched his previous totals with 1 goal and 12 assists. He was also a +3, which was an improvement from last season. All this while coming back from a horrific looking ankle injury during the playoffs last season. So while you continue to use him as your scapegoat, I'm going to disagree, and say he wasn't that bad this year. Plus, we were treated to this ICONIC photo after he scored his loan goal of the season.
GRADE - B
57 - Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Pat - Similar to Rozsival, TVR found himself returning this season after suffering a couple of significant injuries last season. While he did return during the playoffs last year, the true test for TVR was how he would be able to hold up this season. He answered that question by appearing in all 82 games, and tallying 14 points. Nothing flashy offensively, but I'll take that production from a depth defenseman. With that production and reliability came some bad when it came to skating and turnovers. I'm not going to get into corsi or all those other flawed fancy stats, that's Derek's area of "expertise." I don't know what people want out of a guy like TVR. He's nothing special, he's just a guy, who I would gladly take on my team as a depth guy. He's a work in progress, but next year he'll be relied upon more as some more roster turnover occurs.
GRADE -B minus
52 - Erik Gustafsson
Pat - There was a lot of hype when the Gus Bus left the shop for Chicago. I believe Gate was the one driving that bus. Like TVR, Gus struggled at times when it came to turnovers and missed assignments, but Q seemed to discipline him more than TVR. While he failed to find the back of the net, Gus did record 14 assists, and was a +11 on the year. Those numbers are hard to ignore when it comes to placing him behind TVR on the depth chart, but he hasn't earned Q's trust yet. I look for that to change.
GRADE -B minus
43 - Viktor Svedberg
Pat - As the Hawks tried to put the pieces together of the puzzle on defense, Svedberg was one of the guys who rode the Rockford Shuttle to Chicago. Svedberg appeared in 27 games, and found the back of the net twice. When it comes to the term "under construction," Svedberg fits that category. He needs to work on being more aggressive, and using his reach, there is some optimism when it comes to his development. After being recalled from Rockford, he looked like he had gained some confidence, which is key for his future.
GRADE -C plus
55 - Christian Ehrhoff
Pat - Ehrhoff came to the Hawks in a trade deadline deal for Blob Suckderi. How Bowman managed to get someone to take Suckderi is beyond me, let alone get a guy like Ehrhoff in return. At first Ehrhoff seemed like he could be a reliable defenseman down the stretch, until he had one bad game, and was placed in Q's doghouse.......
FOREVER. I still think the Hawks may need his experience in the playoffs, but based on Q's history, its unlikely. I'll grade him based on how Q would want him graded. The only thing stopping me from giving him an F is the fact he already has two of them in his last name.
GRADE - D minus
5 - David Rundblad
Pat - I'm going to have to ask why Gate even wanted me to grade this colossal disaster of a defenseman. Rundblad "played" 9 games for the Hawks before he was sent to Rockford in January. Before ever playing a game with the IceHogs, the Hawks announced they were loaning him to ZSC Lions of the Swiss league so he could party it up in a hot tub in the Swiss Alps with another Hawks castoff, Cristobal Huet. (Remember him) What else can you say about this turnover machine that somehow registered 2 assists? I guess I could say he's back with Rockford now. Terrific.
GRADE -F
Trevor Daley and Rob Scuderi came and went.
The Goalers bought to you by Atomic Froster
50 - Corey Crawford
Bryan - Crawford is just an average goalie, Crawford is only good because he’s on a great team, Crawford has a weak glove. These are a few of the many comments heard around the league when you bring up our two time Stanley Cup champ. Unfortunately the best second line in hockey overshadowed his stellar play this season otherwise he would be our main story line. It’s disappointing that he had this mysterious injury late in the year otherwise he would be a strong contender for the Vezina. With a record of 35-18-5 he puts up a career best in the wins column and looking back at the 23 loses you would be hard pressed to find more than a couple you could call a goalie loss.
GRADE - A minus
33 - Scott Darling
Bryan - While our Canadian contingent was one of the shining points of the season his American counterpart was lacklustre. In the first three quarters of the year Darling only got the start when the Hawks played a back to back and often was given the tougher assignment. Coming off the bench once every couple weeks made it really difficult to get any rhythm going, but such is the role of a back up tendy. When he was put is a starters role due to a injury his play remained the same, with a record of 12 – 8 – 4 he only wins half his starts. As we saw by his engagement this all-star break he is prone to over committing and often finds himself well out of position. Hopefully he is only needed to open and close the bench door this post season but if called upon brings the talent shown in the Nashville series of 2015.
GRADE - C plus
