2023-24 Ottawa Senators Grades
It's time to hand out our grades
Most teachers will tell you that the worst part of the job is the marking. As sports fans, though, there are few more universally enjoyed pastimes than rating our favourite players. It's that time of year again: report cards.
Here at Silver Seven, for as long as we've been handing out player grades the debate has raged as to how, exactly, one should evaluate the players. Are we grading versus our pre-season expectations? Or is it based on their overall performance versus the league in aggregate? Should we consider the role they're being asked to play?
There is no simple answer to the above, but I suppose I'd recommend a mix of their overall performance with some bonus (or deduction) based on circumstances. To use everyone's favourite small Swedish defenseman, it would be unreasonable to expect Erik Brännström to score 40+ points playing on the third pair and with virtually no power play time. That would be silly.
At the same time, if he'd played better then maybe he would have made it onto a top pair and the power play. So, context matters, of course, but absolute performance also carries weight. For what it's worth, Branny gets a B+ from me: performed very well in the role that was asked of him, but I'm not going to give an "A" to a guy who only plays on the third pair.
Voting closes Monday, April 29th at 10PM EST.
Vote, Vote, Vote!
