The Red Wings have reached the 1/4 mark of the season. Overall things are going relatively well as the team has the second-highest point total in the NHL. But the defense and goaltending from Chris Osgood haven’t been as good as you’d like to see. Here are my grades for each player thus far. And since the Big Three as we know them might not be around after the new year, I’ll compare each player to a car.
First Line
Pavel Datsyuk: A
Datsyuk has been superb while playing on a line alongside Tomas Holmstrom and Marian Hossa. He is tied for the team lead with 13 assists and is +7. He’s right behind Hossa for highest goals for total while on the ice [even-strength] and has the lowest goals against at even strength amongst the forwards who actually log time against tough competition.
As far as specialty teams go, Pavs is 3rd when it comes to points and primary assists per 60 mins while on the power play. Datsyuk is also playing big minutes on the PK but isn’t facing the toughest competition while short-handed.
Car: Porsche. Pavs is slick and nimble…and small.
Marian Hossa: A
Hossa obviously knew he’d be a good match for Detroit’s style of play and he’s fit in seamlessly. Hossa leads the team in scoring and in goals scored per 60 minutes at even strength.
He’s also leading the team in Goals For per 60 mins while on the ice on the power play and is generally out there facing the toughest competition while playing on the PK.
Car: Ferrari. Fast, dangerous…and looks great in Red.
Tomas Holmstrom: A-
At the beginning of the year I thought it would be a good idea to move Homer off the top line. That’s clearly not the case as he’s held his own playing alongside Hossa and Datsyuk. Holmstrom’s on pace to score 30 goals this season and leads the team in goals per 60 mins while playing on the power play.
Car: Ford pickup truck. Can take a beating and still get the job done.
Second Line
Henrik Zetterberg: B+
Hank has seen his productivity drop off a bit now that he’s been put on a line with Johan Franzen and the rotating winger. Jiri Hudler, Dan Cleary and Mikael Samuelsson have all played on the second line. Z is still a solid goal producer, as he’s fourth on the team in goals scored per 60 EV and 2nd in points produced per 60.
The area where his game seems to have dropped off is goals allowed while his line is on the ice. This is one case where plus-minus can be misleading as Jiri Hudler started out on the second line but was dropped down from a scoring line. His two most common linemates early on - Mule and Hudler - rank right behind Kris Draper for the most even-strength goals allowed per 60 minutes. Dan Cleary has also been out of the lineup for a while and he would no doubt help to cut down on the EV strength goals allowed.
When it comes to the PK Hank has been out there facing the toughest competition. Z has been excellent with the man advantage as he’s 3rd for most goals scored per 60 mins.
Car: Corvette.
Johan Franzen: B
The Mule has been an offensive force. At one point he’d scored 37 goals in 44 games dating back to last season. The budding power forward is behind only Marian Hossa when it comes to goals scored per 60 mins at EV strength. And he’s right behind Homer when it comes to goals scored per 60 mins while on the power play.
The Mule made the team based on his solid two-way play but right now it’s his offensive prowess that makes him stand out. He isn’t a big contributor on the PK and his line has struggled a bit at even-strength.
Car: Hummer. The guy isn’t glitzy at all, he’s just big and good at what he does and is very difficult to contain.
Mikael Samuelsson: B
Samuelsson is the one player forward Wings fans love to hate. Not being nearly as offensively dangerous as most of Detroit’s scoring line forwards, he nonetheless finds himself on a scoring line due to his two-way play an an injury to Dan Cleary. Sammy has taken the spot on the second line and performed reasonably well.
He’s fourth on the team in points generated and has a decent 2.55 goals allowed average per 60 mins of EV strength ice-time.
Car: He’s the Volvo of Detroit’s scoring line forwards: bland and uninspiring but also reliable and dependable.
Third Line
Valterri Filppula: B
Filppula centered the third line at the start of the season. His line has been juggled with Dan Cleary moving out of the lineup due to an injury and Mikael Samuelsson being bumped up to the second line, but he’s fared pretty well. His scoring at even strength is middling which is to be expected but he’s been one of Detroit’s better PK’ing forwards when it comes to the quality of competition he faces while short-handed.
Car: Saab. He’s got some nice moves and solid speed but he’s not quite a sports car. Oh, and he’s really safe given his excellent two-way play.
Dan Cleary: C
Cleary has been out of the lineup with an eye injury, so it’s tough to give him a grade given his limited ice time. But he was being outscored at EV strength while playing with some pretty high-quality teammates. Hopefully he’ll perform better when his eye is completely healed, as seeing clearly is kinda important.
Car: Ford Mustang.
Jiri Hudler: B+
Huds started the season on the second line but was booted from a scoring line spot as he struggled to generate points and saw his plus-minus plummet. Once he saw his minutes decrease and the competition level ease up he started producing points again.
It’s pretty clear that Hudler is at his best playing on the 3rd and 4th line while contributing on the power play. He’s generated 11 points during the month of November, putting him over a point a game for the month. That makes him 4th in points produced at EV strength per 60 mins.
But where he really shines is with the man advantage. Hudler leads all Detroit forwards in points per 60 mins while on the power play. His fans insist this means he should be playing on a scoring line. This didn’t work out so well earlier this season but with his excellent production playing softer minutes he is sure to get more shots at a scoring line spot when the opportunity arises.
Car: Smart Car. Their devotees love them but there are plenty of people who think the car is really just a glorified golf cart.
Fourth Line
Kris Draper: C-
Kris Draper has gotten off to a really slow start. He has a team-worst -8 plus-minus rating and isn’t generating any offense at all. He had a nice block to prevent a goal against Calgary but overall it hasn’t been pretty.
He’s still a solid faceoff guy and logs solid ice time while short-handed but he’s really starting to struggle while playing at even-strength.
Car: Ford Taurus. Wildly popular and successful over the past 20 years.
Darren McCarty: C
D-Mac is this year’s version of Aaron Downey. But McCarty has much better hockey sense than Downey so he’s able to contribute in other ways than simply using his fists. To be sure McCarty has thrown down plenty this season and has more or less held his own [2-2-1 to date].
Car: A Camaro that was once up on cinder blocks but now has a new set of tires and a rebuilt engine.
Kirk Maltby: B-
I have to give Maltby credit as I’ve been pretty harsh on him during these report cards over the years. He’s even in plus-minus and he’s even generating some offense. Two goals and one assist thus far…nice work. The most important thing is that he’s kept the goals against low while playing at even strength. He isn’t much of a PK’er anymore but he still gets some ice time.
Car: Jeep Wrangler. Designed for off-road dirty work. Not stylish but effective.
I’ll grade the d-men and netminders in another post.
Red Wings
November 25th, 2008
Categories: Red Wings . Author: Dave . Comments: 1 Comment