Erik Johnson- 74games, 9goals, 28assists, 21:20 a night. Is going to be a force for many years. Has the all-around game and size to become the best D-man in the NHL in the future.
Tyler Myers- 75games, 11goals, 34assists, 23:47 a night. He and Ryan Miller have carried the Sabres this season. Sits 10th right now in scoring for Dmen and is 6-8 225lbs, has a very bright future in front of him.. Marian Gaborik- 70games, 40goals, 40assists- Not suprising his stats but the fact he has remained healthy for 70 games. Best UFA signing of the NHL offseason forsure.
Chris Stewart- 70 games, 28goals, 33assists-- Has really blossomed this season, is now a topline powerforward has potential all-star written all over him. Matt Duchene- 76games, 23goals, 29assists- Is going to be a dynamic player for alot of years.. Has the skating to be a top 10 scorer for alot of years..
Brian Elliot- 28-17-3,,, 2.53 GAA, 910 Save%. Has played very well and seated P.Leclaire on the bench full time..
Jimmy Howard- 33-15-9,, 2.27 GAA, 925 Save%.. Has been one of the main reasons the Red Wings have been able to battle through all their injury's this year..
Disappointments-
Jay Bouwmeester- 76games, 3goals, 24assists, 26:03 a night. Lots of minutes but paying him almost 7 million NHL, The Flames im guessing figured they were paying for alot more than 3 goals after Jbouw had 15goals the two previous years.
Jonathan Ericsson- 56games, 4goals 9assists- 17:02 a night- Expected much more from this 26year old Dman, had alot of high praise coming into the season and with the injury's the Wings had would have figured he would have played a more prominant role. Still has good skill's but just didnt put them together this season.
Steve Mason- 20-23-8,, 3.13 GAA, 898 save%,, Has had a bad bad season, hopefully he's not another Jim Carey.. But has really struggled this year..
Carey Price- 13-19-5,, 2.80 GAA,, 912save%,, Lost his job this year, nothing else needs to be said..
Brad Boyes- 76games, 13goals, 27assists-- Goal production way down from 33 and point total way down from 72 last year NHL.. Has been one of reason's Blues will miss the playoffs.
Andrew Cogliano- 76games, 9goals, 16assists-- After two straight 18goal seasons Cogliano took step back this season, Maybe MacT was right when comparing him to Todd Marchant.. Eww saying MacT was right on something is tough to do.
Everyone add their own in.. hopefully be decent thread.
HOTLANTA wrote:Marian Gaborik- 70games, 40goals, 40assists- Not suprising his stats but the fact he has remained healthy for 70 games. Best UFA signing of the NHL offseason forsure.
Best UFA signing would be Mikeal Samuelsson, a 30 goal scorer at a third of the cost of Gaborik?
Biggest surprises have to be Carolina dropping off the face of the earth with basically the same team, and Pheonix trying its best to be the inspiration for the next Major League movie.
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Surprises: Doughty- It's hard to say that a top 2 pick could be a surprise, but based on the fact that he may already be the best dmen in the NHL I think he jumped a lot from his rookie season.
H.Sedin- Any time a swedish sister leads the entire league in scoring, or is at least ahead of either Crosby or AO it would constitute as a surprise. Considering he's NEVER been more than a PPG in a season I think a projected 114 point season would be a huge surprise.
Latendresse- Having a 25 goal season doesn't sound like it would be much of a surprise, however if you watch this guy play for a while you'll quickly realize that 25 goals is a huge surprise- he's terrible (or at least I thought he was).
TJ Galiardi- When you think of 19 year old rookies having 40 point seasons you don't really think of guys like Galiardi coming to mind but he's proven his worth int he league as an elite PKer with the 4th most time on the PK in the entire league.
Anton Vermette- 63 points and counting for the former senator write off.
Disappointments: Mueller and Stempniak would have to be top candidates before their deadline team changes.
Setoguchi- coming of a 65 point 31 goal season, his current 34 point season is far from impressive.
Boedker- After a great rookie season at 18 and proving his worth to an NHL club, he took a big step back not even becoming a full time player. Really disappointed in how Tippet develops young players. Look at the rest of the youth there (mueller, turris, boedker) ect..
Toronto Maple Leafs- Not only do they suck, but they threw away their future for...phil kessel
David Booth- Obviously injuries play a big role but it sucks to go from 60 points and 30+ goals to 8 goals in 28 games.
I agree with most of Kirk's list but a few exceptions: 1) EJ being a surprise. How do you consider a former #1 overall pick who doesn't even get that much ice time and who most would have projected him to be 4 years after being drafted? I mean you look at where guys like Doughty, Myers ect are only 1 or 2 years after drafted I think he's not as good as you think. 2)I think Afinogenov was the best offseason signing due to the contract vs Gaborik but you're right staying healthy for a full season was a joke.
I agree with you that Stewart and Myers are likely the biggest surprises of the season.
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