Grading Michael Pezzetta's season

Michael Pezzetta is one of the players that Montreal Canadiens fans love because he leaves it all on the ice.

He might score a goal or set one up for an assist every five or six games, but that isn't what he is in the lineup for. Let me rephrase that, he is certainly encouraged to put the puck in the net, but if he doesn't it isn't awful. Pezzetta is paid to bring energy to the team, hold opponents accountable should they take liberties with his teammates and finish his checks.

Pezzetta is sort of a glue guy, he brings everybody together because he would run through a wall for every one of them. While he isn't the biggest or strongest guy, he doesn't back down from anybody and his teammates appreciate him for it. It takes a special kind of player to go into a battle where you are heavily viewed as the underdog and just dive in head-first.

That is exactly what you can expect from Pezzetta, to go hard every shift. So while he will never fill the scoresheet or dazzle with his puck skills, you know exactly what you're getting when he is dressed to play. He has played fewer games per season in the American Hockey League than in the National Hockey League, but his point pace is roughly the same regardless.

I do believe that he deserves a place in the lineup for now, but because of the younger, more skilled players on their way up, he may lose his spot. At the end of the day, the goal is to score more goals than the other team, and unfortunately, he doesn't do that. So, this may be one of his last seasons with the Canadiens, with the youth pushing through the system.

Pezzetta has likely reached his ceiling, unless he uncovers a penalty killing prowess in his game, then that would changes things. But that is an unknown - in terms of grading what he did this season specifically, I think a B grade is fair. He doesn't hurt the team when on the ice and while he could improve his point production, I don't think that it would be by more than another five points maybe.