(using cloned's list here)
Jordan Eberle: A; Massive breakout year. I expected good things from him, but he delivered GREAT things. His shot is as brilliant as his mind for the game. He's already beaten most expectations. I can't wait to see what he brings next year
Taylor Hall: B-; Hall is probably going to get a letter sooner rather than later. He's becoming a heart and soul guy who has the skill to back it up. His injury issues were a bit of a setback this year, and he still needs to work a bit on his finishing ability in certain situations, but he's a beauty nonetheless.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: B; Considering he's a small 18 year old rookie watching him play strong against bigger guys and dish out some wicked-sick passes is great...he also has an underrated shot. He needs to work on a few things, like faceoffs and being a bigger impact player on the road, but he's only going to get better, and that should scare opposing players.
Ales Hemsky: D; the D is being generous but he's been better since his contract extension. Otherwise, a pretty disastrous season for him and I hope he rebounds.
Ryan Smyth: C+; he did what he was asked to do for the most part but at his age and physical wear and tear he was asked to do too much this year. Otherwise I'm glad to see him back.
Shawn Horcoff: C ; Horcoff wasn't terrible, but his skillset appears to be deteriorating at a fairly rapid pace. he's still useful as a 3rd line centre, but he can't be called upon for anything more than that.
Sam Gagner: C ; a small step forward for Gagner this year. He's still way too inconsistent on the nights when he's not in top-form and he goes on some pretty crazy offensive droughts. I really like his smarts and hustle and I hope he can capture some consistency, but if he can't then he has no place on the team going forward. He still feels like too much of a stop-gap and NOT a permanent solution.
Ryan Jones: B-; Given his role I think he performed admirably, although he, like the rest of the team, had a bad stretch here and there. still, he's not too far from a 35 point season and Has shown he can, for short stints, move up the lineup when called upon. I like his role as a depth scorer.
Eric Belanger: D+ ; His inability to get anything going offensively is a real downer on his grade. His faceoff %age and being a part of a decent PK saves him, and I am hoping he rebounds. he does need to be a lot better in terms of production though, so his season has been a disappointment.
Magnus Paajarvi: F; I feel really bad for him having such a crummy year, but let's call a spade a spade; it was a failure of a season as an NHLer for poor Magnus.
Linus Omark: D-; he doesn't really have a place on the team right now and has only shown marginally better than Magnus at the NHL level.
Ben Eager: D; I expected more but I also don't know if he's being utilized properly either. We have seen flashes of the Ben Eager that got the contract, but it's not enough.
Lennart Petrell: C; petrell has done what he's been asked to do. He could be a little more productive perhaps but as a 4th-line energy plug he's perfectly fine for it.
Darcy Hordichuk: D; I like him as a player on the team, he's not really that used either. I almost didn't grade him but meh.
Anton Lander: C; He didn't do any better or worse than expected. He's clearly able to play at the NHL level but needs time to be able to EXCEL at the NHL level. Hopefully a strong playoff campaign in OKC and a good off-season program helps him take the next step.
Teemu Hartikainen: C-; I thought he might have been able to plug into the lineup this year from the start, so that was disappointing. He clearly is a strong finisher, but he definitely needs to start strong as well if he's going to be in the NHL. However, he has played well recently so that gives me hope.
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Ryan Whitney: C-; part of it is injury, part of it is lacklustre stretches. A healthy Whitney should be able to do better next year.
Ladislav Smid: A; totally beat my expectations. His contract looks like a steal now practically. I love the way he's developing into an effective shutdown guy.
Jeff Petry: B; I almost gave him a minus for the first half of the year but he's been such a force in the 2nd half that I've definitely bought into the hype. He plays all situations and chews up 25+ minutes a night and looks like he's well on track to be an impact player on the top pairing for the Oilers.
Andy Sutton: C+; sutton's skillset is limited but I thought he made the most of what he has. he took a few poor suspensions this year but otherwise was just as advertised.
Cam Barker: F- (times infinity); I hated this signing at the start of the year and I now feel it was entirely justified. One year deal or not he is a wasted roster space and is easily one of the worst (if not outright worst) signing of tambellini's tenure. Terrible hockey player. I never want to see him in Oilers' silks again.
Corey Potter: C-; STRONG start to the season, faded at the end, but he's still a useful bottom-pairing guy who is useful on the PP. I hope he is a little better next year.
Nick Schultz: B; better than advertised. He is exactly what that 2nd pairing needs. Low-event minute soaker who will support whomever he plays with AND can contribute at the other end when an opportunity knocks.
Colten Teubert: C; considering he's a depth callup I thought he's done somewhere between "okay" and "fairly well" in his stints. He is pretty much as advertised, with some room to grow.
Theo Peckham: D; not a disaster of a season but a real step back. Peckham needs to step it up or he'll be passed by teubert on the charts.
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Devan Dubnyk: B-; Dubnyk didn't play much at the start and struggled at times to be consistent, but he's found his game lately and looks like the clear-cut number 1 (barring a trade for a better option). i hope he's the starter next year.
Nikolai Khabibulin: C-; It might be generous, but Khabbi played AWESOME at the start. Frankly, I think he was played far too often, but as a veteran backup he's fine, although his inability to get wins in the last half of the year is troubling.
OVERALL TEAM GRADE: C-.
I expected a somewhat stronger campaign from the team. I'm not happy with a 29th place finish, but they have clearly shown improvement over last year, which still earns them some recognition.
) than everyone but Petry, and it's silly to have him so low.
