Grading the 2011-2012 Toronto Maple Leafs

So another year... and another season out of the playoffs.

Here's Globe and Mail report card. Now, I have read it and agree with a few and disagree with some. Here is my grades:

Forwards:

Phil Kessel: A-
37G 45A 82P
For all the people that says he can't play defense and he's a one dimensional player. You can't fault what he has done this season. He scored 82 points... last person I can remember that had that many point was some guy name Mats Sundin. Sure, his -10 is terrible but he's expected to score and he delivered with 37 goals.

Joffery Lupul: A+
25G 42A 67P
The toss in for the Gardiner deal. I would say it worked out pretty well. Lupul was more then what we expected as a 1st line winger and was the perfect compliment player to Kessel on the other wing. Lupul would have likely scored another 10-15pts in 16 games he missed due to injury.

Mikail Grabovski: B+
23G 28A 51P
The only thing that prevented Grabo from a grade A was his points total. He was great offensively and defensively, always entertaining. The perfect no. 2 guy. Now that he signed a 5 year contract, let's hope he can keep up with the points total and more.

Tyler Bozak: B
18G 29A 47P
Ping-ponged between 1st and 3rd line. He did pretty well as a substituted no. 1 centre but those numbers just won't do it. He is skilled and sound defensively. However, if we stay with Bozak as no. 1 again, he HAS to break into 60 points mark and improve that +/- number.

Clarke MacArthur: B-
20G 23A 43P
He sort of took a step backward but still reliable player. I'm hoping to see he will crack 50 points next season.

Tim Connolly: D+
13G 23A 36P
I contempted between D+ and C-. He was brought in to fill the no. 1 centre role temporary and did it fail miserably. He then fell into no man's name and started playing wing. He was a -14! Good news, we only have him for another year. Bad news, we have him for another year.

Nikolai Kulimen: D
7G 21A 28P
The ONLY thing that keeps me from failing Kulimen is the fact that he plays well defensively. The fact that he couldn't even score 10 goals doesn't mean he didn't tried. The whole season, he tried everything but just couldn't put it into the net. But even if he doesn't score, you will he will back check.

Joey Crabb: B-
11G 15A 26P
Started with Marlies then found a spot with the Leafs. He filled the 3rd and 4th line role perfectly and scored the occasional important goals. No complains here.

Matthew Lombardi: C+
8G 10A 18P
I may be generous but no one knew exactly what to expect from Lombardi this season after missing 80 games last season from concussion. He played mostly on the 3rd line and was a good penalty killer with his speed.

Matt Frattin: C+
8G 7A 15P
For the 56 games the played, the totally can be more. He had a difficult time to start the season and was sent to Marlies. Once he came back up, he looked different. The potential is there and will be interesting.

David Steckel: B
8G 5A 13P
We got him to do what he was suppose to do, win faceoffs. I don't expect goals from this guy but he did his job, win faceoff on penalty kill and on occasional played on the powerplay to win the faceoff.

Mike Brown: B-
2G 2A 4P
Injuries limited him to 50 games but he was effective in the 50 games. He has speed, can put in the occasional goal, will fight, kill penalty.

Colby Armstrong: F
1G 2A 3P
He just can't seem to get a break with the Leafs. Another season filled with injuries... the Leafs missed his leadership though.

Jay Rosehill: D
0G 0A 0P
Well, a less skilled version of Mike Brown or a more skilled version of Colton Orr. Would have been nice if he scored some points but he is what he is - a 4th line tough guy.

Phillipe Dupuis: F
0G 0A 0P
Why did we sign him to begin with? It certainly was NOT for the powerplay. Banished to the Marlies for Darryl Boyce, who was claimed off waiver by Columbus (curse you, Columbus!!!).

Ungraded:
Nazim Kardi
5G 2A 7P
Look, I love the kid. I am rooting for him. He has the skills and I think he sometime have defensive lapse... I want to see Kadri gain a bit more weight and start throwing it around.

Joe Colborne
1G 4A 5P
Still developing. He needs to learn to use his big body at centre. It takes time.

Colton Orr
1G 0A 1P
Only played 5 games and got sent to the Marlies. He is only typical tough guy.

Ryan Hamilton
0G 1A 1P
Feel good story of the year. Played 2 games with the Leafs and got one point. He finally got to play his first NHL game and in one game, he certainly "took care of business."

Carter Ashton
0G 0A 0P
Got from Tampa Bay for Keith Aulie. We will have to see what type of player he'll be.

Defence:

Dion Phaneuf: B
12G 32A 44P
I know I'll get crap for this. Fans and media put too much into Phaneuf as captain. I think he's done a fair job. You can't blame him totally for the February slide. He did get the points and flashed of brilliance. He just needs find consistency and crack the 50 points mark.

Jake Gardiner: A
7G 23A 30P
Where did HE come from? He was not expected to even BE in the Leafs lineup. He really picked it up the 2nd half and show the potential of what he will be. If he doesn't run into the sophomore slump, I expect Gardiner to score 5 more goals and maybe 10 more points. He may definitely be a lock for 40-50 points next season.

John-Michael Liles: B-
7G 20A 27P
Brought in to quarterback the powerplay. He was doing well until the injury and was never the same. He's signed for 3 years and will be an important leadership voice.

Luke Schenn: D+
2G 20A 22P
Too much up and down this season. His inconsistent play is why he's a C-. Some nights he's awesome, and some nights he looks lost. We need him to be the human eraser that he is.

Cody Franson: C-
5G 16A 21P
I liked Cody Franson. He should be on the first powerplay with Phaneuf and they can have all the one-timer they want. He needs to find his confidence again.

Carl Gunnarsson: B+
4G 15A 19P
He's the rock for Phaneuf. He covered for Phaneuf if any mistakes are made. Although, I thought he can score a few more.

Mike Komisarek: F
1G 4A 5P
I dislike Komisarek. I'm not going to hid that. However, watching him play was as bad as watching Aki Berg or Cory Cross play. He can't do anything right. He makes WAY too much money to warm the press box.

Goaltenders:

Jonas Gustavsson: C
17W 7L 4T 4SO 2.92GAA
He was too inconsistent. There were flashes of brilliance but you can't seem to figure out what you will get the next night. He had the opportunity to take the no. 1 job and ride with it. It's almost like he got on and fell off.

James Reimer: C
14W 14L 4T 3SO 3.10GAA
Almost the same story to Gustavsson. He looked really good in the first game but once Gionta (And I'm still wondering why that wasn't a penalty) elbowed Reimer's head, he hasn't been the same. Hopefully a full off season, he will be back into form for next.

Ben Scriven: B-
4W 5L 2T 0SO 3.13
Ben is like the Reimer of 2011-2012 - coming out of nowhere to show that he belongs. It's hard to say with just 12 games but he helped the Leafs weather the storm back in Oct when Reimer went down. There's still some holes in this games, might need another year in AHL.

Jussi Rynnas: N/A
0W 1L 0T
Can't grade a guy who only played 2 games but definitely will be back the Marlies next season.

So, here we are. Those are my grades. Now the Leafs have the 5th pick in this year's draft... obviously, Yakupov will already been chosen. But I'd like to see one of these names: Mikhail Grigorenko (Grabo and Grigo... that'll be fun), Filip Forsberg (no relation to THE Peter Forsberg), Matt Dumba (do all D-man).