Chirps from Center Ice

So I managed to sneak away from Thanksgiving for a second to pass out some First Quarter Grades. The Penguins are 10-5-1-3 and currently lead the East Division with 24 points and sit second in the Conference overall.

We will break this down by Forwards, Defensemen and Goaltenders. Anyone who played gets a grade. Here we go:

Forwards:

Nick Petersen: In 12 games, Petersen shows 3-2-5 and a +6. Coming off of a concussion suffered in the rookie tournament in Ontario is learning the pro game. Out of all the rookies probably one whom the coaching staff trusts the most. Going to be fun seeing him develop. Grade: B

Brian Gibbons: In 18 games, Gibbons shows 5-8-13 and a +3. Small, quick, nice hands, will score some big goals. One of head coach John Hynes’ guys from the USA Hockey Development Program. Grade: B+

Ben Street: In 16 games, Street is 4-9-13 and a +6. Is our best option to score most nights. Took a while for him to find a goal and got two versus Syracuse this past Wednesday. Still a key contributor to this team. Grade: A

Zach Sill: 18 games played and shows a 2-1-3 and +1. Grit and guts centering a fourth line most nights. Not afraid to hit anyone.  He’s what you want your fourth line center to be. Grade: B

Colin McDonald: In 18 games has 4-12-16 and a +6. Was brought in for scoring after scoring 42 goals for Oklahoma City last year. I think he’s getting warm. If he gets on a roll, watch out. Grade: A

Geoff Walker: 12 games is 3-3-6 and even. If a chart was shown on a player’s performance Walker would be heading down right now. Coming off of a slight concussion. Walker is going to need to turn things around else he’ll get left behind. Grade: C+

Jason Williams: In 14 games, shows 3-10-13 and a +3. Runs the power play unit. More of a setup guy but I think he’s another guy that if he gets warm, he will get hot and may start scoring a lot of goals. Grade: B+

Bryan Lerg: 19 games for Lerg, 8-8-16 and +8. Is the teams best player. Can do it all for the team and is just an overall complete player. Got cold for a bit but that is a casualty to other teams scouting. Grade: A

Ryan Craig: 12 games, 2-1-3 and a +3. Craig had knee surgery and was back in two weeks, well before schedule. Most nights is the heart and soul of the team. As the captain, the leader of the team on the ice and off. Higher grade because of his quick recovery from surgery. Grade: B+

Matt Rust: 4 games 0-3-3 and +2. Has been hurt. Plays hard every night, or, plays like he doesn’t want to get shipped to Wheeling. Gotta love that. Grade: C+

Brandon DeFazio: In 17 games, is 2-1-3 and even. Most nights is a fourth /checking line winger. Coaching staff trusts him out there. Grade: B

Eric Tangradi: In 16 games is 8-6-14 and even. Is the teams first callup. Lots of eyes on this prospect. Can’t argue with performance. Only behind McDonald and Lerg in points on team by two. Grade: A-

Paul Thompson: 15 games, 3-4-7 and +6. Another first year rookie learning and adjusting to the pro game. He will make some mistakes but will learn from them. Grade: B-

Ryan Schnell: 4 games, 0-1-1 and +1. When here, is either a scratch. They want to have Schnell be the gritty fourth line banger. Sill and DeFazio are ahead of Schnell in this department however. Grade: C-

Niko Dimitrakos: After Keven Veilleux went down for the season with a knee injury, Dimitrakos was brought in and has played every game. 5-3-8 and a +3. Would Veilleux have the same numbers in the same amount of games? Probably not. But Dimitrakos is an adequate fill-in. Grade: B

Defensemen:

Joey Mormina: In 19 games, shows 2-1-3 and a -1. The -1 is a bit of a surprise, but Mormina is on this ice most nights against the oppositions best players. Grade: B-

Carl Sneep: Second year defenseman has played 18 games, 0-7-7 and a +7. He’s on track to be in Pittsburgh within the next two years provided he stays the course and doesn’t stray off track. Grade: A

Philip Samuelsson: 16 games, is 1-2-3 and +7. Sometimes seeing him play you’d think he belongs in Wheeling. I still think that once the defense in Pittsburgh heals up he will get sent down. Trial by fire so far for the rookie. Grade: B+

Cody Wild: Has played 11 games as has yet to register a point. Is +2. If Pittsburgh has a healthy blueline Wild isn’t even here in my opinion. Grade: C-

Robert Bortuzzo: 9 games, 1-2-3 and a +5. Plays shutdown defense. Played one game in Pittsburgh. Loves to block shots. You want him on the ice when the game is on the line. Grade: A-

Alex Grant: 7 games, 0-1-1 and +3. Really belongs in Wheeling. Is usually the scratch. Being a scratch and not playing and not making mistakes is really killing his development. Grade: D

Alexandre Picard: Teams best defenseman. 1-4-5 and a +10 in 10 games. Played up in Pittsburgh before returning this past week. If the other defenseman take Picard’s lead Wilkes-Barre could allow fewest goals in the league easily. Grade: A

Simon Despres: 19 games, 3-3-6 and a +2. Will be in Pittsburgh in a few years. Some nights looks great but has a tendency, at least to me, to take a few shifts off. More seasoned opponents feed off this and take advantage. Grade: B+

Gone but not forgotten…

This list is a group of players either up in Pittsburgh, or hurt. No Grades here.

Brian Strait: 5 games, 1-3-4 and a +6. Was called up to Pittsburgh and hurt. I can’t wait for him to get healthy and return. Some night’s his absence is as loud as the arena crowd.

Cody Chupp: 6 games, 0-2-2 and a +2. Is in Wheeling. Never saw anything above the fourth line. He’ll be back I think.

Dustin Jeffrey: In a two game conditioning assignment had one assist and was even. I think he dinged his knee up again at some point because he is back on injured reserve in Pittsburgh.

Devin DiDiomete and Steve MacIntyre: DiDiomete played two games and was shipped to Wheeling then was released. MacIntyre came down on conditioning and played four games and didn’t register a point but did this.

Goaltenders:

Scott Munroe: Has appeared in 6 games. Has two shutouts, a 2.25 GAA with a 0.904 SV%. Is a decent replacement to Thiessen and can be as good. Grade: B

Brad Thiessen: Has appeared in 16 games. Two shutouts, a 2.50 GAA and a 0.901 SV%. Will be in Pittsburgh next year. Numbers aren’t where he wants them to be. Expect him to change this in the next quarter and be back up among league leaders in GAA and save percentage. Grade: B

So there you all have it. Hope you enjoyed reading. If you agree, disagree or want to comment, please feel free.

Let’s Go Pens!