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Player grades are silly, but here they are anyway

Report cards: Who graded the best? ” LA Kings Insider

The Kings player evaluations for 2010-11 are complete, and each of the polls had well over 1,000 votes, with several topping 2,000, so that’s an excellent sample size. How did the grades come out? […]

A: Jonathan Quick, Anze Kopitar, Justin Williams, Willie Mitchell, Kyle Clifford.

Agreed.

B+: Alec Martinez, Rob Scuderi, Dustin Brown, Matt Greene.

  • I’d give Martinez an A relative to expectations.
  • I’d give Scuderi an A because he was playing with Johnson.
  • I’d give Greene a B because of his playoff penalties.

B: Jarret Stoll, Ryan Smyth, Jonathan Bernier, Jack Johnson, Brad Richardson, Drew Doughty, Andrei Loktionov, Michal Handzus, Trevor Lewis, Brayden Schenn, Davis Drewiske.

  • Stoll had a career year. A.
  • Ryan Smyth scored 20+ goals and got tired, then got a second wind. A-.
  • Jonathan Bernier. C, to start the season. B, in the middle. A, after the break. So, yes, B, on average.
  • Jack Johnson, A to start, B to finish…I’d go with B+/A-.
  • Doughty, I would give him an A-. Played against significantly tougher opponents while playing with significantly weaker teammates. Played about half of every game.
  • Andrei Loktionov, a B on the wing, and A at center…B+/A-.
  • Michal Handzus…relied on to do just about everything, especially after Kopitar was hurt. Kings almost won that series. Yeah, his numbers dipped a little. And he missed Frolov. B+.
  • Trevor Lewis gets an A. No lower than an A-. Progressed all season and peaked in the playoffs.
  • Brayden Schenn gets an I.
  • Drewiske gets a C for not playing as well as last year.

C+: Wayne Simmonds, Oscar Moller, Jake Muzzin, Kevin Westgarth.

C: Dwight King, Scott Parse, John Zeiler, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Peter Harrold.

F: Dustin Penner.

This is where it gets annoying.

  • Simmonds and Ponikarovsky. Both were relied upon for much tougher defensive assignments, against the toughest opponents, with more defensive zone starts, with weaker teammates, and — SHOCKINGLY — their offensive numbers plummeted. Sort of like Frolov under Terry Murray. See a pattern? I give them both an A for defense and a B for offense, though really it’s not their fault. B+, B+.
  • Oscar Moller, a C+? My question would be, why is Oscar Moller, who is supposedly (according to people who would give him a low grade) a problem defensively, getting tougher defensive assignments than Kopitar, who is supposedly our best defensive forward now? Could it be that Murray gave Kopitar and Brown easier shifts all year, while saddling the bottom six with the hard d minutes? (and then complains about them not scoring…)
  • Jake Muzzin was great and then got overwhelmed a bit. Given that pretty much no-one (but me) thought he would make the team, and given that he looked excellent for a few games, I would give him an A with a little bit of B at the end there. B+.
  • Parse had great numbers for his five games before the surgery. He gets an Incomplete, for obvious reasons.
  • Dwight King…what was he supposed to do? Under the circumstances, I give him a B.
  • Peter Harrold played great every other month when they dusted him off to play. It’s not his fault he’s scratched every game. He stayed prepared and didn’t hurt us. A.
  • Penner. Incomplete. But if I have to pick a letter, I would give him a A for the first few games, a B- in the middle when his line fell apart, and a B- in the playoffs for not putting the team on his shoulders. But, seriously, I don’t think dropping out of the sky into Terry Murrayland is easy.
  • Zeiler. He did what was asked of him for a handful of games. A.

Talking Points