As the NHL continues on in the month of February, teams are hitting the 54-game mark which means it’s the time where almost every team has played two thirds 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, this week leading into the weekend, 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 Atlantic division.
The Atlantic Division has been a three team race, between the Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings. All three teams have taken their turns with top spot, Montreal getting most of the spotlight in the first portion of the season, while Detroit and Tampa Bay have taken over the helm in the second part. The Boston Bruins, who were decimated by injuries early on, have since gotten healthy and have started their climb in the rankings. They’ll look to keep the Florida Panthers at bay, a team that saw success at the start of the season but have since gone hot-and-cold in the last few weeks. The Toronto Maple Leafs finally put an end to their franchise-record 11 straight loss streak, while the Ottawa Senators continue to search for answers with a new coaching system and a few names likely headed out the door. Finally, there’s the Buffalo Sabres, a team that will undoubtedly receive a top-3 pick this year, improving their already deep prospect pool.
NHL Report Card, Term 1: Atlantic Division
Our Hockey Department’s Matt Ricks, Charlie Clarke, Griffin Schroeder, Aivis Kalnins and Shawn Wilken all sat down and graded each team.
1. MONTREAL CANADIENS – (35-15-4)
OFFENSE: B-
Slow starts to the game have been a trend for the Habs this season. In fact, they have scored just 24 goals in the opening period, the worst in the league. However, their ability to turn things in in periods two and three are why this grade is boosted into the B-category. Max Pacioretty leads the Canadiens in goals (25) and points (46). The usual suspects, along with Pacioretty, have contributed but if the Canadiens want to take it to the next level, they’ll require some help in the top-6 and for the bottom-6 to starting chipping in from time to time.
DEFENSE: B+
PK Subban has really lit things up in the second portion of this season. Leading all Habs defensemen in goals, assists, points, average time on ice per game, penalty minutes, powerplay goals, and game winning goals. P.K. has been the catalyst to the Canadiens defensive force. Paired with Andrei Markov, the duo has formed the Canadiens top defensive line that can be relied upon every game. Nathan Beaulieu, paired with Sergei Gonchar, has created a dynamic that the Habs were missing in their top-4, while Tom Gilbert and Alexei Emelin struggle to find consistency, although towards the tail end of this stretch they did look impressive.
GOALTENDING: A+
Is there anything left to say about Carey Price? Currently leading the NHL in save percentage (.933) and second to Pekka Rinne in goals against (2.00), Price has been the team’s most consistent and absolute best player on the ice. It is believed that without Carey in goal, the team would be nowhere near where they are currently. Not only is he in contention for the Vezina, but he’s also been entered into discussions regarding the Hart Trophy. Looking up and down the Canadiens roster, there is simply no player more important to the team right now than Carey Price. Dustin Tokarski fills in as a back-up and while he did well for himself in the first portion of the season, he’s struggled to string wins together when the team has turned to him in this segment.
COACHING: A
This grade will have half of the fanbase nodding in agreement and half throwing their arms up in the air. The most important thing a coach needs to do is win games and Michel Therrien has done that in each and every year he’s stood behind the bench. This year is no exception, as his team has been in a tooth-and-nail fight over the division lead. His main criticism has been how he juggles his lines constantly and how much he relies on center David Desharnais, but if you look at his depth down the middle – and the fact that Alex Galchenyuk has requested to play wing – Therrien’s best center in the line-up after Tomas Plekanec is the small Desharnais. The most recent decision to play the kids (Michael Bournival, Christian Thomas and Jacob De La Rose) has paid dividends. Even the much criticized move of putting Dale Weise on the first line seems to be paying off.
MANAGEMENT: A
Marc Bergevin has been quiet on the trade front up to this point, but his name has come up in several trade talks, regarding the Edmonton Oilers and Arizona Coyotes. For the time being, we can’t judge a general manager on moves he may or may not make, but what we can judge is his patience regarding his current line-up and the call-ups he’s made in the second part. With P.A. Parenteau out of the line-up due to concussion problems, Bergevin has rotated several youngsters between Hamilton and Montreal. Names like Gabriel Dumont, Christian Thomas, Jacob De La Rose and Michael Bournival have all gotten looks at the NHL level, while face-off specialist Manny Malhotra is left on the sidelines, awaiting his next opportunity.
2. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING – (34-17-6)
OFFENSE: A+
Led by goal-scoring behemoth Steven Stamkos, the Lightning’s offense has never been in question. While Stamkos holds the lead the team in goals (29), Tyler Johnson leads the team in points (54). As of this writing, Tampa Bay has six players with 30 points or more, and Alex Killorn is not far behind with 28 points. While it’s impressive numbers to boast, what’s even more incredible is the fact that 11 players are currently scoring at a success rate of 10% or more on the shots they take. Maintainable? We’ll see, but for now, the Lightning are scoring in bunches, keeping them in the race for a division title.
DEFENSE: C
Between Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman, Jason Garrison and Matthew Carle, the ice time among defensemen has been distributed rather evenly, allowing all four blue-liners to play the game they need to in order to back up goaltender Ben Bishop. However, there have been multiple games that saw defensive breakdowns and poor neutral zone play, leading up to some goals against that could have been prevented. 5-on-5, the team has allowed 105 goals, so there’s an area they need to fix. It hasn’t hindered their position in the standings too much at the moment, but if this trend continues into the third and final portion of the season, they could fall behind the pack of Montreal and Detroit.
GOALTENDING: B
While Ben Bishop hasn’t been as impressive as last season, before going down to injury, he’s still done a swell job in goal for the Bolts. Posting a 27-10-3 record, Bishops stats are respectable (2.47 goals against, .910 save percentage). The Lightning need to tighten defensively in order to give their netminder some stability down the stretch. Andrei Vasilevskiy has been counted on rarely but when he has been, he’s played well enough. 4-1-1 record this season with the team, Vasilevskiy has put up a 2.00 goals against and a .932 save percentage. While we don’t expect the team to turn to him once the post-season is upon us, he’s a good plan B if something should happen to Bishop.
COACHING: A
When 10 head coaches were polled to determine who was the best coach in the Eastern Conference, John Cooper did not get a single vote, and for the longest time we’ve wondered how that could be possible. Cooper has been exceptional behind the bench, getting the absolute most from Stamkos’ scoring ability, as well as the young players in the top-6. The offensive fire squad has been well coached to date and always ready to play coming out of the gate. Tied with Calgary for most goals scored in the third period (69), Tampa has no quit in them and Cooper is a big reason to why the team has remained so motivated. Will he get contention for the Jack Adams? It’ll be tough with some of the bigger names emerging, but he’s been one of the most impressive coaches in the East this year.
MANAGEMENT: B+
Steve Yzerman hasn’t been too busy with big name trades, but he’s made several minor deals. The decision to put Richard Panik on waivers was somewhat questionable, but their roster didn’t have much space for him, and he’s since found a home, perhaps temporarily, with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Yzerman also acquired Carter Ashton and David Broll from the Leafs, in return for a conditional 7th round pick, the condition being that if Ashton does not play in 15 regular season games next year, the Leafs do not receive any compensation. Finally, a move that shows the true class of Stevie Y, the Lightning sent Evgeni Nabokov to the San Jose Sharks in order for Nabby to retire as a member of the Sharks organization. Three moves that haven’t improved the team, but have not hurt them either.
3. DETROIT RED WINGS – (31-13-9)
OFFENSE: A-
After a slow beginning to the season, the Wings have hit their stride in the offensive department, scoring 2.94 goals per game(7th) into mid February.The powerplay under new assistant coach Jim Hiller has risen from the ashes into first in the league at 25.5% with 48 power play goals. Both of these statistics have been aided by the improved health of the team(knock on wood). Pavel Datsyuk is nearly a point per game player. Captain Henrik Zetterberg has led the team with authority at both ends of the ice, playing in all 52 games and potting 47 points. The young guns have chipped in as well, with Tomas Tatar leading the way 23 goals and 39 points, a mark that he finished at in 2013-14.
DEFENSE: B+
The Defensive core has held up for Detroit after a sub-par 2013-14. They have given up the fewest goals at even strength with 78, equating to 2.36 goals per game, good for fifth in the league. In terms of shots against, Detroit is third in the league giving up 27.3 per game. The penalty kill, once at the top of the league, has fallen to 9th at a 83.4% rate, but has been solid. With another year of growth for the defensive core under Niklas Kronwall along with newcomers Xavier Ouellet and Alexey Marchenko jumping into the fold, the team looks to be on the rise currently and for the years to come at the blueline.
GOALTENDING: B+
Jimmy Howard needed to have a bounce back year if this team wanted to have a collective bounce back season, and so far he’s answered the bell. Posting 16 wins in 32 games with a 2.11 goals against average along with a .920 save %, he was on pace for his best NHL season to date. Jonas Gustavsson went down with a shoulder injury that has kept him out since November, that opened the door for Petr Mrazek. After Howard had a slight groin tear that has kept him since early January, Mrazek had a shot to prove he could be the goalie of the future. In 10 games started, Mrazek has won eight games, posting a .914 save % and 2.42 goals against average so far this season. 13 wins out of your third stringer isn’t too shabby.
COACHING: A-
No, Babs hasn’t signed the extension we’re all waiting for yet, but he again is providing exceptional leadership for Detroit behind the bench. With assistant coaches Jim Hiller rejuvenating the powerplay(1st) and Tony Granato creating an exceptional penalty kill(9th), the trio has turned in some solid results for a team that has a legitimate chance to win the Atlantic Division.
MANAGEMENT: B+
No, Ken Holland did not get the big time free agent defenseman Hockeytown was craving, but the team has been just fine without the addition. Holland has not rushed into any trades and has held on to the young talent developing in the system, and it has paid off. This has been evidenced by Tomas Tatar’s emergence as the leading goal scorer and Gustav Nyquist showing last year was no fluke just to name a couple players that have panned out. With the trade deadline coming up and the Red Wings playing themselves into buyers, we will see if that pool gets tested for a top-4 defenseman that would be an aid to an already deep blueline.
4. BOSTON BRUINS – (28-20-7)
OFFENSE: C+
It seems as though the pushing and shoving ways of the Boston Bruins may be coming to an end, at least from an offensive standpoint. For years, the Bruins have been able to force their way into the opposing team’s end, like a blitz, and score at will. This season, the likes of Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand and Carl Soderberg, three players capable of putting the puck in the net, have all missed a beat. Patrice Bergeron, who currently leads the team in goals (16) and points (37), has been carrying the team, at both ends of the ice. The secondary scoring of the Bruins has been almost non-existent, as they hope to get more out of the likes of Reilly Smith and David Krejci. The one story burning up as of late is the youngster David Pastrnak. With 5 goals in 19 games, and a +7 rating, Pastrnak has proven to the big club that he is not only the future of the Black and Yellow offense, he is closer than we think.
DEFENSE: C-
Outside of Torey Krug and Dougie Hamilton, the defense in Boston has been lackluster. Zdeno Chara’s age is showing more and more as the season progresses. His foot speed has drastically decreased and he is no longer the offensive threat we once knew him to be. Dennis Seidenberg has had an up-and-down season, showing signs of brilliance in the neutral zone before becoming a complete non-factor. Kevan Miller, defensively, has been one of the more consistent Bruin, while Adam McQuaid and Matt Bartkowski continue to struggle.
GOALTENDING: B
Tuukka Rask is viewed as one of the better goalies in the league and this season, he’s had to keep up that reputation in order to keep Boston afloat in the standings. His 2.32 goals against and .922 save percentage leaves him at about middle of the pack, which is no fault of his own as he’s played phenomenally behind a sub-par defensive core. In most of the Bruins losses, Rask was never a factor in defeat. Niklas Svedberg has seen some games as well, although his record and statistics this season have left the Bruins desiring a bit more.
COACHING: C
We took a lot of heat for suggesting Claude Julien’s firing before season’s end and perhaps it was a slight exaggeration, given his team was injured during their long stretch of losing. However, it’s the in-game decisions, or lack thereof, that have left Bruins fans ripping the hairs out of their head. In games where his team has been trailing, Julien has held a stubborn stance with keeping his lines in tact, and when he decides to change things up late in the game, it’s with confusing alterations like sticking Chara up on forward. The team has also shown an inability to put away their division rival in the Montreal Canadiens, going 0-4 this season and losing all games in regulation. The team’s inability to adapt in-game has left the Bruins struggling to hold on to a playoff spot.
MANAGEMENT: B-
Peter Chiarelli has been somewhat quiet on the front, but his one decision to keep David Pastrnak up with the big club has been an excellent decision to date. With the trade deadline looming, Chia will need to make a few tweaks to the team, including some help in the top-6 for scoring and perhaps a minor addition to their blue-line. This will ultimately determine whether the Bruins make the playoffs, and Chiarelli doing his job well enough to keep the negative remarks against him to a minimum.
5. FLORIDA PANTHERS – (24-19-11)
OFFENSE: C+
Heading into the second portion of the season, it was quite evident that the Florida Panthers were a team that didn’t score much and would have to rely on gritty play and sound defense in order to remain in the hunt for a post-season appearance. Thus far, the Panthers have been in a battle with the Boston Bruins for positioning. With Nick Bjugstad leading the charge in both goals (19) and points (34), the team’s production falls off after that, with defenseman Aaron Ekblad and Jonathan Huberdeau filling out the top-3 in points (31 each). The Panthers have had to rely on secondary scoring and have gotten timely goals from the likes of Aleksander Barkov, Jimmy Hayes and Brad Boyes. While they don’t score in heaps, they score when it matters.
DEFENSE: A
The aforementioned Aaron Ekblad has been sensational this season, and the story of the Florida Panthers defense. A front-runner in the Calder race, along with Filip Forsberg of the Nashville Predators, Ekblad leads the time in every offensive statistic this year. The Panthers have a solid group of young defenseman aside from Ekblad, such as Dmitry Kulikov, Erik Gudbranson and Dylan Olson, while veterans Willie Mitchell and Brian Campbell have been the perfect mentors to the youth. If you ain’t scoring, you better hope your defense can bail you out and in most situations, the Panthers defense has been incredible.
GOALTENDING: C+
Roberto Luongo has struggled in the second portion of this season, unable to string more than three wins together. In the month of January, Luongo posted a 4-5-1 and finished with a sub-900 save percentage in five of those games, allowing 26 goals during that run. This month looks to be more or less the same, as Luongo currently holds a 2-2-1 record, allowing 13 goals. In order for the Panthers to continue fighting for a playoff seed, they’ll need to be able to count on their starting goaltender in order for that to happen. Meanwhile, Al Montoya hasn’t been much of a story, putting up an .899 save percentage and winning just 4 of his 10 starts.
COACHING: B
If Florida continues to win from this point on, head coach Gerard Gallant deserves some praise. Gallant has kept the team believing in themselves and pushing through each game with a solid 60-minute effort. Their forechecking game has been quite notable, while their defensive structure in the neutral zone has allowed for them to keep the puck out of their own end, while transporting the puck up ice with ease. Gallant has also gotten Huberdeau’s game back up to where it should be, although that’s to no surprise as Gerard has experience in coaching the youngster, back in their days with the Saint John Sea Dogs.
MANAGEMENT: C+
There isn’t much to discuss on the front of Dale Tallon, who is currently deciding if the team should look into adding a piece or two to help them improve their place in the standings, or if he should just keep things in tact and whatever happens, happens. The one glaring weakness is scoring and with word coming out that Sean Bergenheim has requested a trade out of Florida, there may be a trade in the works that could potentially add some help to Florida’s top-6.
6. OTTAWA SENATORS – (21-22-10)
OFFENSE: D-
The biggest struggle for the Ottawa Senators this season continues to be their offense. It appears they’ve found a way to lose their footing a bit, and struggle toproduce offense and score goals at times. Although the likes of Bobby Ryan and Kyle Turris continue to work hard, a couple of players in Mika Zibanejad and Milan Michalek have been disappointing to say the least. Zibanejad still doesn’t look like he fits the mold to be a second line center, as many have hoped, and Michalek has been an awful wonder for the team. If you can’t score, you can’t win.
DEFENSE: C+
The defense for Ottawa has improved since the return of Marc Methot but they still need a lot of work in their own zone. More often than not, they’ve been out shot and out scored. Can they improve? Yes, certainly. Will it happen this season? Probably not as it appears Ottawa will most likely be sellers at trade deadline. It also appears likely that Methot will be one of the players on his way out of town as he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer.
GOALTENDING: B
Up until getting injured, Craig Anderson has been fantastic for Ottawa. If it wasn’t for him, the team would find themselves further down the league standings. Robin Lehner on the other hand appears to be struggling, and some are questioning if he will ever be capable of taking over as the number one goaltender for the team. The young goaltender has a lot of growing to do and may still get there, but it’s quite obvious that he isn’t ready to lead the team yet.
COACHING: C
Paul MacLean wasn’t able to find a way to make this team succeed and that’s why he lost his job as head coach. Dave Cameron for the time being is the head coach and under his ruling, the Senators have looked just about the same. Still a .500 team that is doomed to miss the playoffs. The best thing for Cameron right now is to make sure he keeps the chins up of the players that will be here for the long haul and hope to get off to a better footing next season with a fresh start.
MANAGEMENT: B-
Management hasn’t made any moves since the off-season. They have however made some good decisions in keeping Curtis Lazar up to play in the NHL, as opposed to the WHL, and letting him play in the World Juniors. Another good decision by GM Bryan Murray and company, was sending Colin Greening down to the minors and calling up Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Sure, Pageau hasn’t been a huge sensation for the team but he’s certainly looked a lot better than Greening. The next step in moving forward is actually to take a step back and sell off the pieces that just don’t fit anymore at trade deadline. Obtaining good future returns for Methot, Neil, and others is critical.
7. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS – (23-29-4)
OFFENSE: D
Through December, the Leafs remained one of the most potent offensive teams in the NHL. However, almost from the moment Randy Carlyle was fired, the team’s stars like Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk fell off a cliff. Despite not playing particularly terribly throughout their 11-game losing streak, the Leafs’ new inability to score has damned them to yet another season without playoff hockey.
DEFENSE: C+
Inversely from offense, the Leafs began playing responsible, defensive hockey when Peter Horachek took the reins as coach. They’ve managed to cut down on shots against significantly, and every player on Toronto’s roster has a CF% above 50 under Horachek. While they’re still not winning, for once the Leafs are actually stronger defensively than offensively.
GOALTENDING: C+
Unlike previous seasons, neither Jonathan Bernier nor James Reimer has been putting up elite-level numbers, or stealing an unreasonable amount of games. Bernier’s season has been riddled with minor injuries, leading some fans to believe he may not be cut out for a permanent starter’s job. Either way, the Leafs’ struggles haven’t been the fault of their goalies, but they certainly haven’t propped them up.
COACHING: C+
The Leafs’ possession numbers have improved dramatically since Peter Horachek took over. The players seem to like him much more than Randy Carlyle, and are more adaptive to his systems. He’s also shown a willingness to juggle lines, being far less stubborn than Randy Carlyle. However, there’s no looking past the fact that the Leafs’ franchise-record 11-game losing streak was during Horachek’s tenure, and the fact that they remain a lottery team.
MANAGEMENT: B-
Recently, rumours surfaced that team president Brendan Shanahan has been authorized to completely rebuild the Maple Leafs, burning everything to the ground first. This is promising news for fans, as the team has been stagnant for a while now. Management also made the right call in firing Randy Carlyle, although that was perhaps a move that should’ve been made last summer. Dave Nonis remains GM, but time will tell whether he or Shanahan is really behind the Leafs’ moves. The approaching trade deadline will be interesting, as they’ll likely try to move several pending UFAs (like Cody Franson, Daniel Winnik and Mike Santorelli).
8. BUFFALO SABRES – (16-36-3)
OFFENSE: F
The Sabres have come close to being a complete failure of a hockey team. The team is near historic lows in possession and shots for. Zemgus Girgensons leads the Sabres with just 14 goals, and that total tells a lot about their offense, or lack thereof. The recent trade of Drew Stafford, while adding Evander Kane (who is on injured reserve) won’t do anything to help the team this year, but may provide dividends in 2015-16. Cody Hodgson, who signed a big deal recently, has been a complete disaster.
DEFENSE: D
Andrej Meszaros and Andre Benoit are two guys who are helping this team tank, everytime they get in the lineup. They are the two worst players on the team, and are not really capable of playing against NHL level forwards. Problemsn in getting the puck out of the zone extend throughout the defensive group though Nikita Zadorov and Rasmus Ristolainen are young and should improve in time. The Sabres best defenseman, Tyler Myers, was moved in the Evander Kane deal, and its way too early to know what Zach Bogosian will do for the Sabres.
GOALTENDING: B
The best part of this team has been its goaltending. When the Sabres have won, it usually comes on the back of an outstanding performance from Jhonas Enroth or Michael Neuvrith. Enroth was traded to the Dallas Stars this week. While his numbers, .903 SV% and 3.27 GAA aren’t really convincing but you can clearly see he played his heart out for a team that didn’t always give him the best support.
COACHING: D
Ted Nolan is trying, but nothing seems to be working. Using the coaching style he led team Latvia to success with limited talent and now is trying to do the same thing with the Buffalo Sabres. That said it just isn’t working over the long NHL season.
MANAGEMENT: B
GM Tim Murray has sat down listening to what’s going on around, until he finally blew up. The most talked about trade in recent years has happened long before the NHL’s Trade Deadline day. The Sabres moved Stafford, Myers, along with prospects Joel Armia, Brendan Lemieux and a late first round draft pick to the Winnipeg Jets to acquire Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian who they hope will help the team step out of the rebuild a little sooner than expected.
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