Ups and Downs: Week 26

Somehow the Senators managed to win two out of three games this week, despite also being mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Shutting down a playoff-bound Wild team was especially impressive.

Biggest gains: Fredrik Claesson

It was slim pickings for biggest gains this week, but I picked steady/ready Freddie because he's been so steady. It's not hard to look good paired with Karlsson, but Claesson makes it look easy. Does it mean he gets a real NHL shot next year? It's hard to tell, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Wideman and Claesson in a fight for the final defensive spot. After all the time he's put in, I think he deserves it.

Biggest losses: Ben Harpur

Not sure why he got called up, but he's proved all the doubters wrong by not looking NHL-ready at all. His decision-making is slow, his skating isn't great, his positioning is off, and his puck skills are lacking. There may be some early NHL nerve issues, but I think he's just showing more of what he showed in Binghamton -- he has a lot to learn. When you look like Jared Cowen with less offensive skill, things don't look so good. The bright side is, management has to see how out of place he looks and keep him away from the NHL for another long while.

Goaltenders	Trend	Notes
Craig Anderson		Was perfectly fine against Minnesota
Andrew Hammond		Stellar against the Jets, and it's hard to fault him for allowing three powerplay goals against the Flyers
Defensemen
Mark Borowiecki		Keep rehabbing that knee
Cody Ceci		Three points in three games, and to my eyes at least his defensive game is looking better
Fredrik Claesson		See Biggest Gains
Ben Harpur		See Biggest Losses
Erik Karlsson		Not bad if Scotty Bowman thinks you should win the Norris
Michael Kostka		He's been nice and unnoticeable, which is just what you want from the journeyman
Marc Methot		Kind of disappointing how bad he looks paired with Ceci. Why is nobody talking about Methot's down year?
Dion Phaneuf		Done for the season
Chris Phillips		Hi Chris!
Chris Wideman		Struggled pretty badly this week, though it's not his fault he had to carry Harpur
Patrick Wiercioch		Out with injury. Seems to be suffering from a case of "won't be qualified"
Forwards
Alex Chiasson		Worried his decent production down the stretch will lead to a dumb contract extension in the off-season
Ryan Dzingel		Remember when Dzingel was the new hotness?
Dave Dziurzynski		Remember when he was playing for this team?
Scott Gomez		Definitely didn't expect him to get healthy-scratched once this week
Mike Hoffman		Playing like he needs to score to guarantee his NHL future. He'll have one for sure, just not sure if it's with this team
Curtis Lazar		A perfectly adequate fourth-liner. Glad he was rushed to the NHL so he could hit that ceiling in a hurry
Clarke MacArthur		Done for the season
Chris Neil		The worst of Neil came out on Saturday, the rest of his week was fine.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau		"Only" scored three points this week
Nick Paul		Can anyone explain why he's looked like a better NHL player than AHL player?
Matt Puempel		Actually has been noticeable in the offennsive zone. I'm reaching a lot to give him an up arrow, but with Prince gone, I want him to succeed
Bobby Ryan		Three points gets him an up after an eight-points-in-24-games stretch in which he was so cold, Foreigner was threatening to sue
Zack Smith		If a week occurs in which Smith scores only one goal, did the week really happen?
Mark Stone		Hopefully he heals up in a hurry. He's gonna look great on the top line at the World Championships
Kyle Turris		Here's hoping for some good offseason training
Mika Zibanejad		Anyone else think Z-bad needs to work on his shooting accuracy over the summer?

Special thanks to our friend winterion at Japers' Rink for our icons!