If you missed yesterday's post, well for one go back and read it, and secondly here's a recap of how I am rating the players:
For our purposes, anyone playing in 10 games or more, or 1/4 of the games played will have a grade. I will break them down by positions and each player will receive a grade for "offense" and a grade for "defense". I will average these scores together and possibly bump a bit one way or the other for "intangibles", i.e. leadership, PK ability, ability to stay healthy, etc.
The scale is 1-10. 10 being outstanding, 5 being average, and 1 being bad. First score listed is Offense, second is defense, 3rd is overall grade with additions/deductions.
Off we go!
#2 Nick Ross (11 Games 0G-2A-2Pts +1 0PIM)
-OFFENSE- 4 Nick is your standard "stay at home" defenseman. With that said, he's confident and smooth coming out of his end and makes smart decisions at the blue line. Not much of a threat to score.
-DEFENSE- 8 In his limited time, Ross has impressed me with his decision making, physicality, and positioning. There are full games where I never noticed him on the ice. To me, that's exactly what you hope for from a defensive d-man. No glaring mistakes. Steady player with a good upside.
-OVERALL- 6 Nick has racked up the frequent flier miles between Vegas and San Antonio and is often the lone healthy scratch among the d-men. He does a good job when called upon.
#5 Maxim Goncharov (38 Games 4G-12A-16Pts +9 38PIM)
-OFFENSE- 8 Superb skating ability for his size. Very good passer and has a bomb for a shot. Shows great patience in the offensive zone and has no problem going tape to tape on streaking offensive players. Had a stretch where he was forcing shots, often shooting into shin pads leading to breaks the other way. Seems to have remedied that lately.
-DEFENSE-7 Solid in his own end. Uses his 6-4 215lb frame very well. Physical at times and isn't afraid to lay the body check. Can sometimes make questionable decisions with the puck leading to turnovers, but has vastly improved in the last month. Takes bad penalties from time to time.
-OVERALL- 8 Extra .5 for his ability to run the PP so effectively in his rookie year. Seems to be adjusting to the North American game. I think he was uncomfortable the first couple of months with both the size of the ice and the level of play, but has really turned the corner in the last month or so. I expect a big second half from Max.
#7 Jeff May (22 Games 0G-3A-3Pts +4 23 PIM)
-OFFENSE- 4 Not much of a threat. Good passer and average skater. Won't score many goals at all.
-DEFENSE- 8 Another guy that is solid and steady in his own end. Strong kid that does a good job of keeping play to the outside. Rarely gets beat to the net and makes good decisions to get the puck out of his end.
-OVERALL- 6 Battling injuries and is missed on the blue line. Plays well when he is in and is a good asset at this level.
#28 Michael Stone (40 Games 1G-9A-10Pts -5 8 PIM)
-OFFENSE- 7 Good PP contributor. Decent passer out of his own zone and has a scary shot. Scary in the sheer speed of the shot and scary that no one has any idea where it might be headed.
-DEFENSE- 4 Needs work. Plays way too tentatively at times and makes some really questionable decisions in the neutral zone. Doesn't use his size and reach to his advantage. Has trouble "turning and burning" after making a turnover or bad pinch attempt. Has looked better the last 2 or 3 games. The coaches may have identified something.
-OVERALL- 5.5 He's young. The foundation is there. He just needs to make better decisions with the puck and he could end up a solid contributor.
#43 Nolan Yonkman (19 Games 0G-2A-2Pts +4 43 PIM)
-OFFENSE- 3 Not a threat, but wasn't brought in to score. He's huge and slow. A defense first d-man.
-DEFENSE- 9 Uses his size extremely well. Does a fantastic job of keeping players out of the middle of the zone. Mean and nasty and can really throw his weight around.
-OVERALL- 7 I bumped him up a full point because I can't fault a guy too much for having no offensive game, when the team brought him in to prevent goals and he does a great job. Also a good leader and effective at keeping other teams goons at bay.
#51 Jonas Ahnelov (23 Games 0G-0A-0Pts -5 4 PIM)
-OFFENSE- 2 Good skater. That's about where the praise for his offense stops. Marginal passing ability. He does have a surprising shot, but it's inaccurate and he rarely uses it.
-DEFENSE- 5 Jonas has had shoulder issues two years in a row now and it seemed like that may have impacted his play early on. He shied away from contact and played tentatively. He has improved lately, but still makes far too many mistakes in his own end with and without the puck. Can really lay a check when he's into the game.
-OVERALL- 3.5 Disappointing season so far for Ahnelov. He is improving, so hopefully he can put a nice stretch of hockey together here in the second half.
#61 Chris Summers (40 Games 1G-7A-8Pts +9 36 PIM)
-OFFENSE- 7 Effortless skater. Sneaky with the puck and a great passer. Doesn't use his shot as much as I would like. Very effective at joining the offensive rush. A real fun player to watch.
-DEFENSE- 9 Rock solid in his own end. Also exceptional at getting back when caught out of position. Good with the body and really good with pokechecks and defensive stickwork. Plays well beyond his experience level.
-OVERALL- 8.5 1/2 point bump for being so consistent defensively in his rookie year. Would like to see a little more consistency offensively, but it will come.
# 73 Garrett Stafford (34 Games 9G-21A-30Pts +2 43 PIM)
-OFFENSE- 10 You can't lead the AHL in scoring for a defenseman and be bad. He is an excellent puck mover and passer. Great skater and has amazing vision. Patient and steady. Lethal on the PP.
-DEFENSE- 7 I heard a lot of negative chatter about Stafford's defense coming into the season. I have been pleasantly surprised by what I have seen. He's not the biggest or best d-man on the team, but he does his job effectively and quietly. No complaints.
-OVERALL- 8.5 Great addition to this team. Deadly offensive player and playing a solid defense. The Summers/Stafford combo is top notch in my opinion.
Goalies will get just one overall grade. It will combine a number of elements including overall gameplay, consistency, and stats.
#33 Matt Climie (16-7 2.35 GAA .923 Save% 3SO)
-OVERALL- 8.5 Matt has been a solid goalie for a majority of the season. He had a bad stretch in December but has followed that up with consecutive wins over Texas and Houston allowing just 1 goal between the two games. He's quick and smooth in the crease and makes smart decisions out of the crease. He shows great confidence and has all the makings of a bona fide #1 AHL goalie.
#35 Al Montoya (7-7 3.09 GAA .893 Save%)
-OVERALL- 4 The numbers show a bad goalie. But if you look at it game by game, Al has played well in several games and has even stolen a couple games the Rampage should have lost. He's also played well in some and took the loss because the offense, or defense, or both, decided not to show up. He has also had some stinkers and is routinely good for 1-2 bad goals per game. Al has a confidence issue and once he and the team give up a couple, it's not uncommon for the proverbial wheels to fall right off. I still think Al has NHL level skill if he can get over his confidence issues. I'm not sure a team full of young defenseman, who are prone to make mistakes, is in his best career interest. But he is, so he needs to fight through that and play up to his skill level.
Well, that's it for now. It will be fun to compare the numbers after the season to see any advancement or regression. Thanks for reading and LET'S GO RAMPAGE!!!
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