We’re past the halfway mark of the NHL season and now’s a good time to dole out first-half grades.
The Boston Bruins are tied for first overall and that’s reflected in most of the marks. But while some are at the head of the class, there are a few players in the “needs improvement” category. Here are the grades and, keep in mind, role and expectation matter. If the marks can stay this good for the end-of-season report card, then that means they’ll be playing a lot longer than they did last season:
FORWARDS
David Pastrnak, A+: The 25-point gap between Pastrnak and the next-highest Bruin scorer puts him squarely in the Hart Trophy discussion.
Brad Marchand, A+: He’s jumped into his new leadership role, fought through a tough transition after the retirement of longtime centerman Patrice Bergeron and is now making a compelling case for the Hall of Fame.
Charlie Coyle, A+: No longer deferential to the stars around him, Coyle is showing he’s more than capable of filling a top-six center slot. He’s essentially replaced a Hall of Famer and, team-wise, there’s been little drop-off.
Trent Frederic, A–: There is not a role Frederic hasn’t filled, from fourth line to first, penalty kill to power play and any of the forward positions. He’s in line to set personal scoring marks and leads all forwards at plus-17.
Pavel Zacha, B+: At 10-20-30 totals, he’s slightly behind his scoring rate of 21-36-57 from a year ago, but he’s held down one of the two top-six center spots admirably. He may not bring a wow factor every night, but he wins battles and generally makes good decisions.
Morgan Geekie, B-: Another good Don Sweeney find, Geekie has added a heavy, hard-to-play-against element to the lineup. Still needs to pick up his faceoff percentage (44.2%) if he’s playing center.
Danton Heinen, B-: Invited to camp on a tryout, Heinen had to wait a couple weeks into the season for a league minimum deal and he’s played like a grateful soul ever since. His versatility has allowed coach Jim Montgomery to plug him anywhere in the lineup and he’s bringing more tenacity on the puck than in his first tour of duty.
Jake DeBrusk, B-: DeBrusk has played a good two-way game all season but part of his mandate as a player is to score goals. He’s doing it now, but it took him a while.
James van Riemsdyk, B-: Maybe it’s being greedy, considering his $1 million price tag, but it would have been nice to have seen a few more goals with all the net-front chances he’s had. He’s at a career-low 7.9% shooting percentage.
Matt Poitras, B-: The 19-year-old provided a spark early just by making the team and he looks like a terrific prospect. His production has tailed off and hasn’t had much impact since coming back the last three games from a shoulder injury. The break should be good for the kid.
Jakub Lauko, C+: The brutally long stretch without a goal to start the season takes him down a couple of pegs. But he brings energy pretty much every night and he leads the Bruins in hits-per-60 minutes (21.89).
Oskar Steen, C-: Steen is right behind Lauko in the hits department, which is a requirement for his fourth-line role. But he’s not much of a threat offensively (1-0-1 in 30 games).
John Beecher, C-: The rookie started out well and had been strong on the faceoffs, but consistency issues cost him his NHL job for the time being, with the more experienced Jesper Boqvist recently overtaking him. He’s in Providence now essentially because he was waiver exempt.
DEFENSE
Brandon Carlo, A+: Carlo has been a rock as a defense-first blueliner. He’s fifth in the league in plus/minus at plus-23 while starting in the offensive zone just 22.6% of the time. While he’ll never be considered an offensive defenseman, his instincts in the O-zone continue to improve.
Charlie McAvoy, B-: The Bruins’ top defenseman seemed a little skittish after coming back from a four-game suspension for a high hit. From Nov. 18-Dec. 23, he was minus-14. But like the rest of the team, he’s been on a tear since Christmas (plus-20) and, with 7-26-33 could yet surpass his career highs in goals (10) and points (56).
Parker Wotherspoon, B-: He’s played only 20 games, so there’s still time for him to turn into a pumpkin. But the long-time AHLer has given no signs of that. Not the biggest guy, Wotherspoon has brought some much-needed physicality and edge around the front of the net.
Hampus Lindholm, B-: With the exception of one very bad pinch, Lindholm’s game has been on the upswing. Still, he had a very slow start for a player who needs to provide some offense from the back end. He didn’t notch his first point until Nov. 4 and first — and still only — goal till Nov. 14.
Matt Grzelcyk, B-: It hasn’t been an easy year for the undersized D-man, who has had to battle through injury again. He started off well, especially with his added penalty-kill duty, but had some issues when he returned from injury. His game is starting to round back into form.
Mason Lohrei, B-: The fact that Lohrei is the most intriguing defense prospect since McAvoy should not blind us to the fact that he’s still challenged in his own end. But there’s a sense he’s only scratched the surface of his offense and stick skills. Not sure he’s ready to help this team come playoff time this season, but there’s reason for the B’s to be excited.
Kevin Shattenkirk, C+: The price ($1 million) has certainly been right and, as expected, the crafty veteran can provide a boost to the offense. His goal total (five) is the second-most for D-men behind McAvoy. But he’s too often caught in extended shifts in his own zone, which is reflected in his minus-4 rating.
Derek Forbort, C-: You have to wonder if the PK warhorse will be able to get his health back this year. He spent almost two months on LTIR with a troublesome groin injury and had to sit out the last game before the break. Through it all, he still managed to be plus-12 in 24 games.
GOALTENDING
Jeremy Swayman, A+: Tied for the league-lead in save percentage (.924), he’s giving indications that he might be able to carry the load in the playoffs if the decision-makers decide to veer from their expected plan of keeping the rotation in the playoffs. Still, he’s played just 27 games and, despite getting four straight starts recently (3-0-1), it’s fair to still wonder how much the rotation has helped him.
Linus Ullmark, A-: His basic numbers (.913, 2.78 GAA) are well below his Vezina stats of last season (.938, 1.89), but more often than not he’s made the timely saves. As of now, Swayman would get the G1 start in the playoffs, but Ullmark has been a valuable piece of the puzzle thus far.
COACH
Jim Montgomery, A-: He’ll ultimately be judged on what happens in the playoffs, but no one expected this team to be where it is now, not after all the high-end player losses. The line juggling can be maddening at times, but he’s basically pushed the right buttons. As he himself said recently, Montgomery could have fallen asleep behind the bench last year and been an All-Star coach. This season has been much, much different — and he’s an All-Star again.