We're one quarter of the way through the season and it's report card team. Which players have gone above and beyond and which ones have disappointed? I'm going to tell you.
Brian Bickell C+
Bickell gets a C+ because he did well earlier this season, but has played terrible hockey lately. He has some great linemates and prove that he could score early in the season. Lately, he looks awful and will likely be replaced by Ben Smith on the third line as soon as Frolik comes back.
Dave Bolland B
Bolland was also very good in the beginning of the season, but has had a few injuries and hasn't produced as much since he's been back. His line was the best one on the team for the first two weeks of the season, but hasn't scored as much since. Bolland is still trolling and being awesome, but doesn't quite get an A because of the injuries and fall off of his line.
Andrew Brunette B-
Brunette was signed to improve the Blackhawks power play, and technically has done that. The Blackhawks power play has struggled, but with 4 power play goals this season, Brunette has improved the power play by getting his butt in front of the goalie and getting some ugly goals.
Daniel Carcillo B+
When Carcillo was brought to the Hawks, many people, including myself, was not on board and thought that he would be a punk that would be suspended most of the time and not really contribute to the team. He has surprised, though, he is now on the second line that is centered by Kane and has been a solid contributor in the top 6. This is much more than people expected, but he doesn't get an A because he has had some bad games including the first game against the Canucks.
Michael Frolik B-
Frolik has played better this year, but still isn't getting the puck in the net. Along with his other linemates, he played well in the beginning of the season. Now he's injured, but should be back soon. With the possibility of a new linemate when he comes back, maybe he will start to produce again.
Marian Hossa B+
Hossa was great with Kane at the beginning of the season, but has been moved up to the first line. He's now with Toews and gets his chances, but hasn't been producing as much. Hossa always plays well and plays hard. I'm really happy that he hasn't had any injuries yet this year.
Patrick Kane A
Kane has adjusted to his new position very well. I was one of the doubters of putting him at center, but he has proved that he plays the position very well. He wins faceoffs, plays defense pretty decently, and dishes out the puck very well. Kane matured and improved his game a lot over the summer and is now a true leader on the Blackhawks. He is probably the player that I'm most impressed with this season.
Marcus Kruger B+
Kruger stepped into the role he was given on the Hawks very well. When Bolland was out, he played well and tried to produce. His efforts kind of killed the momentum of that line, but he still played good hockey. I think he has a lot of potential and the more experience he gets, the better he will be.
Jamal Mayers B+
He's been basically exactly what I expected. He has done well on the fourth line and has gotten in some fights. Him and Carcillo are doing a good job at enforcing and also contributing on offense and playing defense. He's been a nice addition to the Hawks and I'm glad he's here.
Patrick Sharp C+
Sharp got off to a bad start this season, but improved a little bit. I'm still not impressed with what he has done so far this season. Last season he went above the expectations and scored the most goals on the Blackhawks and maybe that's why this season looks so bad, but I just think he is underachieving this year. He can do a lot better than he is doing right now.
Ben Smith A-
With only a few games in the NHL this year, it's hard to say whether he has been good or not. He could have a good chance to produce with good linemates. There will be more to say about Smith after he has some more games under his belt.
Viktor Stalberg A
Stalberg has played much better than I expected this season. He has been playing on the first line and has actually been playing well. He is scoring goals and is accenting Jonathan Toews very well. Toews is being a good captain and center by using Stalbergs strengths, speed, very well. Thanks to Toews, Stalberg has become the player that most Blackhawks fans hoped he could be, but never thought that he would actually become. I am happily surprised by Stalberg this season.
Jonathan Toews A
Toews has played like the Blackhawks captain should. He has played very well both dishing out the puck and scoring. He has 19 points already this season and is 24th in the league in that area. He's been very good helping Stalberg become a much better player as I just mentioned. He's been playing good two-way play, as always and has flat out helped the Hawks win games.
Niklas Hjalmarsson B
Hjalmarsson's normal defensive buddy was not signed for this season and is now playing in Florida. It has shown on the ice, because Hjalmarsson hasn't been playing as well without Campbell there. He struggled with Leddy as his partner and still hasn't found his niche. He is still a good player and will probably get into a groove soon.
Duncan Keith A-
Keith has played some very good games, but has also had some very bad games. He will be back with Seabrook when Seabrook comes back and that might spark Keith's game and get him back to playing his best hockey. Keith is back to playing Norris trophy defense in most of his games. He leads the league in TOI and that sometimes affects his game, but will still be a Norris trophy candidate.
Nick Leddy A
Leddy has been very impressive this season and on certain days, is the best defensive player on the ice. He has improved a lot since last year and is ready to be a top defensemen. Hopefully he can spark Hjalmarsson's game when they start playing together again.
Sami Lepisto B
I can't really give Lepisto an honest grade because I haven't seen him play much. He played a little in the beginning of the season and looked fine. Nothing extremely impressive, but nothing bad. He's been just what the Blackhawks signed him to be. He plays in the third defensive pairing every few games and does his job.
Steve Montador A
Montador has been a pleasant surprise for the Blackhawks. He's a little slow, but has played good defense and has scored some very important goals. He's one of the reasons that the Blackhawks power play is starting to get better than it was before. He might start coming back down to earth soon, but I'm still impressed with the last few games he has played.
Sean O'Donnell C+
I haven't seen much of O'Donnell this season, but what I have seen of him has been bad. One of the biggest showings of his bad play was the first game of the season. It might have been because he was a little rusty, but I wasn't impressed. I haven't seen anything from him this season that should make me happy to have him on the Blackhawks.
John Scott B-
John Scott has been, well, let's just say that he didn't get a C because he has shown flashes of getting better. But he also doesn't deserve anything above a B+. It would take me too much time to explain all my feelings about Scott.
Brent Seabrook B
Seabrook has been playing well this season despite being away from his buddy, Duncan Keith. I think that he'll play better hockey when they are reunited later this week. I'd like to see a little better hockey from Seabrook, but he's basically done a fantastic job this season.
Corey Crawford A
Crawford has been playing amazing this season. He has had to play a lot more than he expected because Emery hasn't been a very reliable backup. There are no signs that he is going through a sophomore slump and he looks like a premier goalie right now. He has had bad nights, but has been a solid goaltender all year.
Ray Emery C-
Emery hasn't played very much this season, but hasn't looked very impressive when he has played. Granted, Emery hasn't had much defensive help when he's between the pipes. I'd like to see how well Emery plays when the defense actually decides to show up, but so far this season I haven't been impressed by Emery's play.
