As the NHL heads into the month of December, it officially marks the time where almost every team has played a third of the NHL schedule. With student’s report cards being sent home to the moms and dads of the world, it’s only fitting to give every NHL team a report card of their own. Every day, over the next week, Last Word On Sports will cover one division a day, and break down each team into five separate categories; Offense, Defense, Goaltending, Coaching, and Management. Just like a school report card, each section will receive a grade between A+ and F. Today, we take a look at the Central division.
The Central division is a scary one and at first glance. Before the season started, many believed that the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks would be in one-on-one, no holds barred match to determine who’d finish atop. Incoming, the Nashville Predators! Shocking the NHL, and fans around the world, the Predators have taken command of the division at this point in the season, and don’t seem to be holding back, or showing signs of regressing any time soon. Last year’s division winner in the Colorado Avalanche have fallen back down to earth, now that their shot percentage dropped, to no one’s surprise, and they’re not getting the same Vezina-caliber goaltending that they got last season. The Dallas Stars, the Cinderalla story of last year, have seen the clock strike midnight, and now reverted back to rags and pumpkins.
NHL Report Card, Term 1: Central Division
Our Hockey Department’s Tyler Shea, Griffin Schroeder, Ben Kerr and Shawn Wilken all sat down and graded each team.
1. Nashville Predators – (17-6-2)
Offense: A+
With a new mentality in place, the Predators have went from protecting one goal leads, and relying on heavy defense, to scoring goals left and right. Rookie Philip Forsberg is on a whopping point-per-game pace (25 points in 25 games), and leads the team, with a shocking +22. With a variety of looks on a few lines, the Predators have been able to throw out many combinations and get the same result; goals.
Defense: A+
Shea Weber, Seth Jones, Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, and Mattias Ekholm. It’s not right to have this amount of sheer force on the blue-line. From providing necessary offense, especially Weber on the powerplay, to perfecting their transition game, and cycling pucks quickly out of their own zone, the defense has been outstandingly dangerous. Plus, the defense has played a huge part in the fact that the Predators have allowed around 27 shots per game, on average, making the life of their goaltender even easier. We’re not just talking about being one of the best top-4 in the Central division, but in the league!
Goaltending: A+
Pekka Rinne’s big return, after spending most of last season rehabilitating, has been one of the biggest additions to the Predators, and he was always a part of the team to begin with. Outside of his jaw-dropping 1.88 goals against and .931 save percentage, Rinne has played the second most time this season, just behind Cory Schneider of the New Jersey Devils, and he has two shutouts to add to his resume. Rinne hasn’t faced a barrage of shots this season, but he’s always come up big every game.
Coaching: A+
When Peter Laviolette was brought in, big changes were expected. Barry Trotz’s defense-first strategy was scrapped in favor for high-octane offense, and boy, has it paid off. The team is right up there in the league in 5-on-5 scoring, with 54 goals, and coaching your new team to the top of the Central division at the first trimester of the first season is incredible.
Management: A+
A new coach that brings forward a better strategy and winning record? Check. Solid 1-2 punch in Mike Ribeiro and James Neal, AND they’re clicking? Check. Keeping Forsberg with the team, and he’s clicking. Big fat check. Depth at center? David Poile, we salute you. In the off-season, you managed to turn the team around completely in just one free agency period, and with a couple of minor decisions that have led to big-time results, the Nashville Predators are one of the most dangerous teams in the league.
2. Chicago Blackhawks – (17-8-1)
Offense: A+
Defense: A
Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith bring you an all-star pairing, and with Johnny Oduya and Niklas Hjalmarsson clicking, the Blackhawks top-4 looks deadly, and one of the best four-man wrecking crews in the NHL. Then, it falls off a bit from there. Michael Rozsival, David Rundblad, and Trevor Van Riemsdyk have all seen their share of time this season, but the bottom pairing always remains in doubt, and quite a liability. The defense isn’t as perfect as the offense, but the top-4 makes it as close as it can be.
Goaltending: A
Coaching: A
Management: A+
3. St. Louis Blues – (16-8-2)
Offense: C
The Blues are averaging 2.6 goals per game, but have also generated 31.5 shots per game. The age old saying, “shoot more, score more”, doesn’t really apply. They need to shoot more accurately.
Defense: A+
The Blues are only allowing 2.1 goals per game, the third best in the league, and have been limiting the opponents to 27 shots per game, again, top in the league.
Goaltending: A
Brian Elliott is out with an injury for some time, so it will be Jake Allen, and newly-signed Martin Brodeur. Allen has been spectacular, but it’s Brodeur who may lose the Blues some points or goals.
Coaching: B
Ken Hitchcock has been very good at keeping his team balanced with the right line ups. He is also great at getting his players to buy into the defensive system, and is working well.
Management: B
Doug Armstrong has been doing very well as GM of the Blues, making the appropriate moves to make his club better, along with smart drafting. Picking up Brodeur was a bit of a head scratcher, but hey, it could work for this year.
4. Winnipeg Jets – (14-9-4)
Offense: D
The Jets have averaged just 2.18 goals this season, with only 40 goals coming on 5-on-5 situations, and 59 in total, landing them near the bottom in the league. Bryan Little, Andrew Ladd, and Blake Wheeler are all stuck at 19 points a piece, and after that, the rest of the offense pales in comparison.
Defense: C+
It’s not that the Jets defense is bad, but after Jacob Trouba, Tobias Enstrom, and Zach Bogosian, there isn’t much else. Mark Stuart has been okay since the start of the season, but apart from that, the Jets have to rely heavily on their bigger names to keep pushing forward. Still, when you’re giving up just about as many goals as you’re scoring, the defense has to tighten up.
Goaltending: B+
Despite a so-so defense, and a team that can’t score, Ondrej Pavelec has been able to post decent numbers this season (2.21 goals against, .919 save percentage), and a record of 9-8-2. Then, you start to peak over at what Michael Hutchinson is doing, and you begin to wonder if the situation could change as the season rolls on. Hutchinson’s record of 5-1-2 in seven starts is quite a fancy one, and in front of the same team, Hutchinson has superior stats (1.62 goals against, .943 save percentage). A smaller sample size, but when exactly does he get to expand that? Maybe this season?
Coaching: C-
Paul Maurice seems to get his team up for the start of games, and then loses them by the third period. For instance, the Jets are a top-10 team in first period scoring. For a team that just doesn’t score, that’s a pretty neat little feat. In the second period, they take a plunge to 24th in scoring, and by the time the third period hits, the Jets are dead last in scoring goals. Maurice needs to keep his team motivated through 60 minutes, which seems to be their biggest problem to date.
Management: D
We know it can be tough, but it’s time to make a trade that involves NHL players. When it comes to doing that, the “day off” in general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff’s name seems rather fitting. The team has many holes, mainly legitimate scoring ability, depth in the top-4 on defense, and perhaps entrusting the role of starting goaltender in Hutchinson. All it takes is a trade or two to get the ball rolling, but Kevin seems to have misplaced his ball altogether.
5. Minnesota Wild – (14-10-1)
Offense: C
To say the offensive output for the Wild this season has been surprising would be an understatement. Zach Parise is a point-per-game player at 19 in 19, but he’s third on the team in goals, with three. Jason Pominville, and free agent winger, Thomas Vanek, have five and two goals respectively. Young wingers have taken the reigns of goal scoring, as Nino Niederreiter and Jason Zucker have 11 and ten goals respectively. Outside of these players, the depth scoring so far is thin, with an above-average offense at 13th in the league, and a bottom of the league powerplay(9.0% eff.)
Defense: B+
It starts at the top, with minute-muncher Ryan Suter. The Minnesota Wild are a team built on keeping the puck out of the net moreso than putting the puck in the other, and have lived up to that goal, currently sitting at 7th in the league in goals against at a 2.29 clip. They are also currently the best team in league in terms of allowing shots to get to the goaltender, at 471. The nucleus behind Suter, including Jared Spurgeon(3-8,+8), and newly-signed Marco Scandella(5-8,+6), the Wild will continue to crack the top ten in the charts defensively this season.
Goaltending: B-
The Wild were clear at the beginning of the year in terms of their direction with goaltending, with the moves to put Josh Harding on waivers, and let Ilya Bryzgalov walk. This opened the gates for 24-year old Darcy Kuemper, who has relished his spot in the starting position, posting an 11-7-0 record, with a .912 save %, and 2.28 GAA. Kuemper looks to be the goaltender of the future, and is off to a great start in his first full season with the Wild. Niklas Backstrom has been a capable backup, posting a 3-2-1 record, along with a 2.01 GAA, and .915 sv %.
Coaching: C+
Mike Yeo has been at the helm for the Wild since 2011-12, and has fared pretty above average in his short tenure. The team has been built into a contender the past couple of seasons, getting into the playoffs in 2013, and winning a series in 2013-14. With a good defensive core, and younger players mixing in with veterans and star Zach Parise, the Wild have been hovering around the final playoff spot in the Central division, not quite hitting their stride yet. Under Yeo’s leadership, Minnesota has shown flashes of brilliance, it is just a matter of being consistent, even without their best players in the lineup.
Management: B-
The Wild have built a solid product over the last couple of seasons. Starting with the off-season of 2012, in which the team signed Ryan Suter and Zach Parise to megadeals. Next, it was the trade for Nino Niederreiter, solidifying a future piece up front. This off-season, Thomas Vanek was brought in to add some veteran offensive prowess. Add homegrown talents Jason Zucker, Marco Scandella, Darcy Kuemper, and many others, and you have the current state of the Minnesota Wild. General Manager Chuck Fletcher has steadied the course of the State of Hockey, and at the quarter mark, it may not seem like they are ready to contend for a cup, but down the road, the Wild, under his watch, will be – soon enough.
6. Colorado Avalanche – (9-12-6)
Offense: B-
With 70 goals this season, the Avalanche are sitting right around the middle of the NHL. However, with a top 6 featuring high draft picks like Matt Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon, and Gabriel Landeskog, along with Ryan O’Reilly, and two veteran leaders in Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla, more was expected. They aren’t bad, but aren’t living up to last year’s expectations. A bigger problem, however, is that the Avs bottom six lack talent. They are a very top-heavy team. MacKinnon seems to be coming around after a slow start that had many saying he was a victim of the sophomore jinx.
Defense: C
Tyson Barrie has really developed into a solid puck mover at the back end. With 20 points in 26 games, he is leading the entire team in scoring, even with the team’s top 6. Erik Johnson continues to play big minutes, and produce against other teams’ top players, while playing well in his own end. Zach Redmond and Jan Hedja are decent in their roles. After that, things fall off a cliff. Nick Holden, Brad Stuart, and Nate Guenin are all below 40% Fenwick… just brutal, and the Avs are giving up too much possession overall as a result.
Goaltending: C+
Last season, Semyon Varlamov was nominated for the Vezina, and this writer thinks he should have won it. With all his injury issues this season (14 GP), its caused major issues for Colorado, and the results show it. When in net, Varlamov has been just average, and not at the elite level he played last year. His backup to start the year, Reto Berra, has been downright brutal, with an .883 save percentage. Calvin Pickard was called up from the AHL. He has performed well in the circumstances, and may have stolen Berra’s job.
Coaching: B
As last season ended, Patrick Roy looked brilliant as the first year head coach who was taking the Avalanche to the top of the Central division. This year, the lustre has faded a bit, as the team hasn’t been able to repeat that success. However, given the injury issues that they have had, I just can’t lay it all on the coach.
Management: D-
I can’t lay the team’s issues on coach Roy. Now, that said, Roy is a big part of the team’s management group. In this role, he takes some of the heat, along with Joe Sakic and Greg Sherman. Vice-President Roy isn’t giving head coach Roy enough talent to work with. Though admittedly, he’s second in command here, and the bigger blame has to go to Sakic. The team let Paul Stastny walk, and then signed Jarome Iginla to a three-year deal with a cap hit of $5.33 million per season. Traded Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau and a draft pick for Daniel Briere. Allowed Andre Benoit to leave as a free agent, traded for Brad Stuart, and gave him a two year extension. All three moves made the Avalanche worse, especially in terms of puck possession metrics. This was a team that had serious issues with puck possession last season, and rode their goaltending and high shooting percentage to a stellar record. The poor possession was exposed by the Wild in the playoffs, and then the three big summer moves were all negative for the team’s puck possession? That’s a fail.
7. Dallas Stars – (9-12-5)
Offense: B+
Defense: D-
Goaltending: D
Coaching: C+
Management: B-
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