Final Grade: Daniel Winnik

And if fails on the 3rd line, Sandie has a nice spot in Canada getting warmed up for him.

Winnick is one of those guys that gets a higher grade in the context of his roll but if you are talking in terms of overall team he gets an average grade. Thus goes the bottom 6 grading.

Pretty good defensive positional-wise, doesn’t hit enough, doesn’t score. I’d have given him a c- but that’s just quibbling. I expect him to have a career year next year—if only beacause of that UFA bounce.

I’d like to petition for an increase of one letter grade for his ability to keep a constant stubble beard all year. That’s not easy.

Biggest weaknesses: Refusal to finish checks and definitely wins the award for most dreadfully long shifts.

Biggest strengths: Had some memorable games and does show some promise. Ability to cycle the puck in the offensive zone on the rare occasions when the Avs occupied said zone.

I thought for sure that the fan favorite/imaginary tough guy would get at least a B. I don’t even know you people any more.

To be completely fair, I wonder if this is a case (one of many) where the eye test fails. I think Winnik’s Corsi numbers are pretty good (I think Jibs or DDC dug something up about that). Also, Phoenix’s PK was really good his last season there (although that might go back to the adage that your goalie is your best penalty killer). I can’t bitch about Winnik’s salary or how he’s performing based on expectations from his initial draft position, or what we gave up for him.

But there’s something that’s just not quite there for me. Again, this could simply be the eye test failing, but it seems like he changed his game from the beginning of the season, after he started having a bit of offensive success, and he got away from what I think a 3rd-liner should do. He really wasn’t very physical (again, that could be my bias that because the guy looks like a caveman that he should hit like one, too, but I expected more from him than 15 minors and 1 sucker-punch fight). It seems to me that he takes long shifts, and that’s selfish (and again, maybe that my bias, because his number say his shifts weren’t terribly long). I’m OK if Peter Forsberg takes a long shift. Not OK when it’s Winnik, so get the fuck off the ice and know your role, 3rd line guy. The PK sucked (although, again, I think his Corsi numbers were OK). I just wasn’t really feeling it with him.

While we’re here, I’m just gonna throw out a quick comment about Holos. Like every single Avs player (except Brad May), I want Holos to succeed. I imagine it can’t be too easy for a Norwegian to make a transition to the NHL. It’s not like he has a lot of fellow countrymen to talk to about the NHL experience. He’s a young guy and, in addition to trying to play his best hockey, he’s also trying to get used to the country, the city, and the lifestyle. Culture shock, I’m sure, and I wonder who helped him with that? Toward the end of the season, I actually thought he played fairly well in some games (although not nearly as awesomely as his fan boys and girls thought). If Holos is good enough to win a top 6 spot on this team, then I’m gonna cheer my ass off for the guy. What I don’t like, though, is the way that fans shit on other guys and make them scapegoats…and then compound it by playing up how great another guy is, even though there’s absolutely no proof of that. Holos isn’t even the worst example – at least he played a few games before his fans started crowing. It’s especially bad when the crowing starts about a guy who played all of three games in the NHL, yet he’s already supposedly better than guys who have played 100+ games.

I think at times we expect too much from out 3rd/4th line players and too little from our 1st/2nd line players.

Winnik TOI per game was 16:33 average. A tad heavy for a 3rd liner but not crazy. 11 goals and 26 points.

Just to compare what we know was a good if not great line… Yelle/Podein/Messier.

Yelle ©: Avg TOI 14:28 (2001) and 15:51 (1999). Only played 50 games in 2001 and had 4 goals and 14 points. In 1999 he played 79 games and had a modest 8 goals and 22 points with more ice time per game to boot.

Podein (LW): Avg TOI 14:12 (2001). In 82 games he had 15 goals and 32 points. In a full season’s work he averaged around 11 to 15 goals and 8-18 assists.

Messier (RW): Avg TOI 12:16 (2001) and 15:15 (2002). In 64 games in 2001 he had 5 goals and 12 points. In 74 games in 2002 he 5 goals and 15 points.

So while I had some negative feelings about Winnik’s play this season, in the end he was relatively productive with all the crappy play surrounding the entire team. Winnik is producing at nearly the same clip as other current 3rd line guys making themselves famous right now like Higgins,Malhotra,Torres and Lapierre.

Bottom line is that while 3rd/4th liners are important role players and some times vital in the playoffs (shout out to cup champs Chris Dingman and Dave Reid!!) the reality is that the top two lines carry the water. Especially when it comes to regular season success.