Montreal Canadiens: 2020-21 Report Card Grades For Every Player

. . ERIC STAAL. B -. Eric Staal was a tough player to grade considering his regular season was extremely disappointing while his playoffs were very good; as a result, I figured they cancelled each other out. In the regular season, Staal was on the ice for 2 5v5 Habs goals for and 11 against, which was the worst GF% on the team. That figure jumped to 45%, tied for third amongst forwards in the playoffs. His 50.91 xGF% in the playoffs was fourth amongst forwards, while his regular season’s 44.64% was also the worst on the forward corps with at least 100 5v5 minutes played. From an advanced stats perspective, Staal was the team’s worst regular forward in the regular season and was among the four or five best in the playoffs. This is also reflected in his point totals. While his debut OT winner is a goal I will forever remember (being very connected to Thunder Bay and growing up a fan of the Staals as a result), he only notched one goal and one assist in his 20 other regular-season games in the Tricolore, he was also a minus-10 with the Habs and a minus-30 overall, tied for second-worst in the league. In the playoffs, Staal scored 2 goals and 8 points in 21 games and was a minus-2. While Staal will, in all likelihood, retire or sign in either Minnesota or Carolina, I’d quite like to see him return as a 13th forward next season; his fourth line with Perry and Armia was quite revelatory in the playoffs.

. JAKE EVANS. A. I have a real soft spot for Jake Evans; he has worked his tail off to get to the NHL after being selected in the 7th round and doing his four years of college at Notre Dame followed by nearly two full seasons in Laval before cracking the Habs’ roster at the end of last season following the Nate Thompson trade to the Flyers. Expectations were for him to just be a decent fourth-liner this season, and in my mind, he has proven that he can be significantly more than that. I still think there’s offence to be unlocked in him, but whether or not that happens, Evans is already looking like a Danault-lite. Evans only played in seven games these playoffs, but his ice-time surpassed 16:45 in four of those games. I also thought his best performance of the year came on his birthday, on a line with Brendan Gallagher and Phillip Danault, in which he scored the insurance empty netter but was concussed by Mark Scheifele’s predatory hit on that very wraparound goal. Evans finished both the regular season and playoffs at over 50% in faceoffs and in his 17:21 of playoff PK time, the Habs did not concede once, a stark contrast to the regular season when the Habs conceded 16 goals in his 86:40 on the PK. Speaking of not conceding on the PK in the playoffs with Evans on the ice, the Habs scored three goals and conceded none in Evans’ 108:40 in the playoffs, his xGF% also stood at 53.46, good for third among Habs forwards having played at least 80 5v5 minutes. In the regular season, his GF% stood at an even 50 and his xGF% was at 50.36. All in all, it was a very good season for Evans and I see him as a great fit with Danault and Gallagher next season if his ability to play centre is not needed on the fourth line, a role I’m hopeful Ryan Poehling will be able to fill..

I know a lot of people adore Jesperi Kotkaniemi and believe he will be a great 1B centreman on this team a few years down the line, I also know a lot of people are really low on him and would like to see him moved while his value is still high since they think his upside is limited. I find myself falling between the two camps. I think Kotkaniemi has the tools to be a really solid second-line centreman in this league for a long time, growing into the role of a power forward with a wicked shot, all the while quarterbacking the second powerplay unit. He only turned 21 in the last week and has a lot of time to figure his game out. That being said, KK didn’t really demonstrate the ability to take control of a game this season that Nick Suzuki did, he either faded into the background or demonstrated great playmaking while not exactly driving the offence on his line. My worry with KK is that he has yet to figure out how to use his wicked shot, as he needs a really long time to get it off, time he isn’t given in the NHL, and that he has shown so much inconsistency offensively. I just think these limitations will end up preventing him from reaching that star level. In the playoffs, Kotkaniemi’s advanced metrics come in around 8th best of the 12 forwards to have played over 100 5v5 minutes. He did however score 5 goals, tied for second on the team; while these goals prompted a decent amount of media attention as his 9 playoff goals before hitting the age of 21 were on par with Gretzky and Crosby, this was fueled by a career playoff shooting percentage of 23.08%. For context, his career regular-season shooting percentage sits at 7.97%, so his playoff goalscoring rate is unsustainable. As a whole, Kotkaniemi showed some progression in his playmaking and vision from last season and his results, especially in the regular season (5 goals, 20 points in 56 games) were hurt by the constant shuffling of his linemates. If he’s given consistent linemates with some offensive acumen (such as Drouin and Anderson) next season, his totals should jump and we should be able to form a fuller opinion on the young Finn’s play.. . . JESPERI KOTKANIEMI. B

. PHILLIP DANAULT. A. Without Danault, this year’s playoff run would likely have ended by Game 5 of the Toronto series. His shutdown ability has never been more heavily leaned-on than it was in the 22 playoff games and I don’t think a forward with a single goal and four points has ever received this much positive media attention for their performances. While the Canadiens conceded 6 goals and only scored 4 with Danault on the ice at 5v5 in the playoffs, those 6 conceded goals came against lines comprising some of the most talented offensive players in the league and in 330 minutes of ice time. On a per 60 basis, the Habs conceded just 1.09 goals when Danault was on the ice, and this against the league’s best players; he was defensively phenomenal, to the point that when Tampa succeeded in matching the Point-Kucherov line with any line but Danault, and usually the Suzuki line, the Habs’ net was filled with pucks, but once Danault was given the matchup, the goalscoring dried up, curious… Danualt’s season ended on a real high, but it didn’t start that way, with many fans wanting to see him scratched at times as a wake-up call. Still, Danault’s regular-season possession numbers were ridiculously good and his impact in the playoffs is immeasurable. The Habs need to sign him; I don’t care that Jake Evans and Ryan Poehling could take on the bottom-6 centre positions on the cheap, players that force the opponents to tirelessly work matchups in the playoffs to allow their stars to produce are rare and tremendously valuable. The way I see it, the Habs could easily trade Danault for a great return if he gets pushed way down the depth chart by younger centremen, but until such a time comes, Danault is integral to this group and easily worth up to $5.75 million per season on a six-year deal. Sign him Berge, please..

A +. I was on the edge between A and A+ for Suzuki, but he ends up being the only player to retain an A+ grade from last season. I was a little bit hesitant because Suzuki went through a major slump in the midseason (2 goals and 6 points in 23 games), but he really cemented himself as a #1C in the playoffs and giving him anything other than an A+ felt wrong. Suzuki matched last season’s point total of 41 in 15 fewer games and he scored two more goals. While Suzuki shared the team lead in points last postseason with 7 in 10 games, he held the sole lead in goals and points these playoffs with 7 and 16 in 22 games. Suzuki’s creativity and true dual-threat ability as a passer and a shooter were on full display and his chemistry with Cole Caufield bodes extremely well for both the next year and the next decade. His playoff advanced stats were very middle of the pack among Habs forwards, but do consider the impact that a very high quality of competition would have on his numbers, especially since he spent most of his time alongside pre-rookie Caufield; good as they are, they’re exploitable. While his xGF% of 54.46 in the regular was fourth among forwards, his other metrics were also middle of the pack. One thing Suzuki has really improved on since last season has been his powerplay ability, the first unit really flowed through him all year; he was both the unit’s most dangerous passer and shooter, the latter title he may well lose to Caufield next season. While Suzuki’s skating has really progressed to NHL-average, if he can train to find that extra gear in the offseason, I think his progression to 1C may go all the more smoothly. His offensive abilities are clear for all to see and his defensive game is already at an elite level, the only aspect of his game in desperate need of improvement would be in the faceoff dot. his faceoff percentage fell from 46.28% last year to 43.97% this season. In the playoffs, that figure did rise to 45.73%, but it still needs to get a good boost, especially if he wants to complete his elite defensive game.. . . NICK SUZUKI

Next. Cole Caufield for Calder 2022. dark