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The IceCaps recently passed the halfway mark of the season and, despite a depleted roster, are hanging around in a playoff position. Here are our grades for the second quarter of the year, beginning with the goaltenders and defencemen.
Players must have played in at least 5/19 games to receive a grade. Season stats are as of the halfway point of the year.
Goaltenders
Yann Danis – A-: With St. John’s playing a lot of back-to-back games (all home games are back-to-backs plus quite a few on the road as well), they need Danis to basically be someone who can give them consistent goaltending while playing around 40% of the games. He did that over this last stretch and is giving the IceCaps strong backup goaltending, something that was hit or miss last season.
2nd Quarter Stats: 7 GP, 5-0-1 record, 2.38 GAA, .925 SV%, 0 SO
Season Stats: 11 GP, 6-2-2 record, 2.79 GAA, .911 SV%, 0s SO
Charlie Lindgren – C+: There were some nights where Lindgren had to steal the show for the IceCaps to have any shot at earning a point. Unfortunately, there were quite a few others where Lindgren got lit up as he allowed four or more in 5/13 appearances. For a starting goalie, that’s too many off nights.
2nd Quarter Stats: 13 GP, 5-5-3 record, 3.13 GAA, .895 SV%, 1 SO
Season Stats: 25 GP, 13-9-3 record, 2.67 GAA, .915 SV%, 1 SO
Defencemen
Julien Brouillette: B+: Typically, players who sign PTO deals are roster filler. They’re not supposed to become top pairing defenders but given the lack of quality blueliners St. John’s has, Brouillette has done just that, earning himself a full-season contract in the process. There’s nothing too fancy to his game, he just gets the job done most nights. As far as PTO acquisitions go, he has been quite a useful one.
2nd Quarter Stats: 18 GP, 2 goals, 3 assists, 5 points, +2 rating, 6 PIMS, 27 shots
Season Stats: 23 GP, 2 goals, 4 assists, 6 points, +4 rating, 6 PIMS, 32 shots
Joel Hanley – B: His stint with the Habs wasn’t pretty to say the least but it seems to have improved his game as he has been a bit better with St. John’s since getting sent back down. Hanley is seeing time on both special teams units and is a top four blueliner at five on five. He’s not really a prospect any more but he’s a serviceable defender for the IceCaps.
2nd Quarter Stats: 19 GP, 1 goal, 4 assists, 5 points, +3 rating, 8 PIMS, 20 shots
Season Stats: 30 GP, 2 goals, 9 assists, 11 points, +2 rating, 18 PIMS, 31 shots
Tom Parisi – B-: After not playing a lot early on, Parisi has started to see more ice time in recent weeks and has taken a couple of steps forward. His in-zone play still needs a lot of work but he is showing flashes of skill that makes it easier to understand why the Habs signed him late last year. There’s a long way to go but Parisi is taking a step in the right direction.
2nd Quarter Stats: 16 GP, 1 goal, 5 assists, 6 points, +2 rating, 2 PIMS, 25 shots
Season Stats: 24 GP, 1 goal, 5 assists, 6 points, +1 rating, 2 PIMS, 34 shots
Brett Lernout – B-: After struggling with the top pairing minutes earlier on in the year, Lernout has been asked to take on that role more often and has been hit or miss a lot of nights; some games he looks great while others he has struggled considerably. I say this a lot when it comes to Lernout but he’s someone that looks like will develop at a very gradual pace so that type of inconsistency isn’t too surprising.
2nd Quarter Stats: 19 GP, 1 goal, 4 assists, 5 points, +3 rating, 8 PIMS, 20 shots
Season Stats: 38 GP, 1 goal, 10 assists, 11 points, +7 rating, 30 PIMS, 43 shots
Jonathan Racine – C: Injuries and recalls made him a regular on the third pairing for the most part where, quite frankly, he didn’t do a whole lot. With Lernout scaling back on the pugilistic side of things, that role fell to Racine this season. Beyond that, he’s basically just a roster filler on an NHL contract which is how he got tossed into the Nikita Nesterov deal.
2nd Quarter Stats: 16 GP, 0 goals, 3 assists, 3 points, even rating, 50 PIMS, 9 shots
Season Stats: 24 GP, 0 goals, 3 assists, 3 points, +1 rating, 58 PIMS, 14 shots
Ryan Johnston – C: I’m still trying to figure out how he got the recall to the Habs as it certainly wasn’t a merit-based promotion. With St. John’s, Johnston has settled into a sheltered third pairing role while running the first power play unit. If the puck is in the offensive zone or the IceCaps are transitioning to offence, he’s a nice player to have. Any other time results in a lot of crossed fingers in the hopes that no glaring mistakes are made.
2nd Quarter Stats: 9 GP, 0 goals, 3 assists, 3 points, -4 rating, 2 PIMS, 9 shots
Season Stats: 23 GP, 1 goal, 6 assists, 7 points, -11 rating, 6 PIMS, 27 shots
Josiah Didier – C-: Didier’s limitations are costing him a shot at more playing time, including a regular spot in the lineup. He’s a sound stay-at-home player and ten years ago, he’d have a bigger role than he does now. With defencemen being asked to do more now though, his skill set leaves him a couple of steps behind.
2nd Quarter Stats: 8 GP, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points, -1 rating, 4 PIMS, 8 shots
Season Stats: 21 GP, 0 goals, 1 assist, 1 point, -1 rating, 8 PIMS, 15 shots
Philip Samuelsson – C-: It appears (at least for now) that Samuelsson has worked himself out of Sylvain Lefebvre’s doghouse to get back a regular spot in the lineup. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he’s still only getting third pairing minutes most nights which certainly wasn’t what anyone expected when the Habs signed him back in July. With who is on the roster, he should be a top pairing player and Samuelsson needs to pick up the pace considerably in the second half.
2nd Quarter Stats: 14 GP, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points, even rating, 11 PIMS, 13 shots
Season Stats: 31 GP, 1 goal, 3 assists, 4 points, -5 rating, 15 PIMS, 30 shots
N/A (under 5 GP): Mark Barberio, Zach Redmond
