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Mac · 07-24-2015, 08:32 PM

(3225 Words)

<div align="center">Blake Sherrill

Yet again we see Sherill manning the left wing on the top line and in doing so, we see him produce similar totals as before. Leading the team this year in goals with twenty, two up on Niklas Wikstrom with nineteen. In the top half of the team in plus minus due to great defensive play and being middle of the Pack in penalties taking only thirty eight.

Not well known for his physical game, he only tossed fifty-seven hits all season but known for his offense tossed almost two hundred shots at the opponents with one hundred and ninety-two, if he managed to get his shot percentage up a bit he could easily hit thirty goals and take the lead for power play goals from Wikstrom as they tied at seven.

Overall, a very good year for Sherill who continues to show strong offensive skill.
Trajectory: Rising, look for an increase in goal production

Dean Colt

Here we have fourth year center, Dean Colt. In what many would consider his breakout season he managed a total of eleven goals up from a previous high of five, good for fourth on the team behind aforementioned Sherill and Wikstrom and right winger, Nathan Russell.

His twenty six assists, previous high of twelve were second on the team only to Benjamin Reids twenty-nine and his plus rating of four lead the team whose average was a shade over a minus seven showing strong two way play.

If you have been paying attention, that would be eleven goals and twenty-six assists for thirty seven points over a previous best of five goals and twelve assists.

Playing with a bit more of an edge and checking more has seen Dean take the most penalties of his career with fifty eight but also toss the most hits as well for the first time in his career breaking the hundred mark with a hundred and twelve. Also previously unseen like the goal production is Colt firing the puck on net a lot more with over a hundred shots directed at the opposing goalies.

Second yet again to Reid, Colt found himself producing well on the power play with seventeen points and on the penalty kill as well leading the league in penalty kill minutes and putting up two short handed goals in the process.

Two game winners, two game tying goals as well as two shootout goals on four shots has been an incredible improvement over previous goose eggs, however with all this positive does come a negative, Colts face off percentage has steadily declined since his rookie season. Could this be because of the talent level he is now facing opposite? We will have to see at the end of the next season.

Overall, a very good breakout season for Colt
Trajectory: Rising, look for an increase in point totals

Nathan Russell
Up next we have emerging power forward, Nathan Russell. Russell who last season was on the third pairing with Winchester looks to have shored up the two-way play in his breakout season because this time around, Russell was the only other player besides Colt on the Wolfpack to post a positive rating.

With fourteen goals, twenty two assists and a hundred and thirty-four hits, Russell has been a terror for opposing teams to deal with, not to mention a sublime passing skill that has seen great chemistry with both Blake Sherrill and Niklas Wikstrom, but that doesn't mean that Russel abstains from firing the puck because a hundred and forty five shots on net say otherwise.

One slight negative is the face off percentage, taking eighty five over the season but winning only 37%. A bit of practice and that will change completely.

With ten power play points and two short handed points, Russell has shown incredible special team versatility, in the top third of the team in minutes played on both.

Overall, Russell looks to be a top end power forward for years to come.
Trajectory: Rising, look for increases in points and hits.

Marek Vyskoc

The Season 18 draftee Marek Vyskoc has been all over the depth charts in his time in New England ranging from the first line and power play to the third and penalty kill but unfortunately has not found his soul mate yet in terms of chemistry. A slower progressing draft pick, Vyskoc is approaching the point where determination and will is the only way to progress further.

On the ice, Vyskoc managed some nice totals in comparison to his previous years. With four goals and six assists for ten points, we are seeing more production then previously seen. His minus eighteen however could use some improvement but it is far from the worst on the team.

Not one for the physical play, Vyskoc tossed only seventeen hits all season and drew only fourteen minutes in penalties. He tossed fifty six shots on net instead.

Getting some power play time saw him set up three goals and he was the hero in one game, scoring the game winner. He has been a decent center as well, winning nearly half his draws when the time comes to take them.

Overall, a slower progressing but solid third line player who could break into the top six with some work.
Trajectory: Rising, look for increases to goals and assists.

Niklas Wikstrom

Another productive season from Wikstrom saw nineteen goals and seventeen assists for thirty six points, unable to keep up with team superstar Dean Colt who had a whopping thirty seven. His minus nineteen shows he needs to improve his defensive play a bit but thankfully he is very disciplined in his play, taking only three penalties all season and getting in one fight.

Not one to be very physical, he prefers his hits to be against the back of the net tossing a hundred and seventy three shots, second on the team, in comparison to only twenty seven hits among the lowest on the team.

On the power play, he has shown proficiency at both setting up and scoring, with seven goals and seven assists.

With a 51.59% face off win percentage, he placed second on the team and two goals on five shootout shots is respectable as well.

Wikstrom has shown chemistry with both Russell and Sherrill, either setting up or finishing for them so look for more production from some combination of those three in coming seasons as each of them are on the rise.

Overall, Wikstrom improved on last years totals and will likely continue to do so.
Trajectory: Rising, look for improved points and defensive play.

Axel Reid

A late free agent pickup to fill out the third line and provide some physical presence and Reid did just that.

Scoring four goals and two assists as well as posting a minus ten rating, he was mostly an energy level guy who could put a puck or two in every so often. With twenty four penalty minutes in a limited role he showed that he is not afraid to mix it up in the rough stuff and tossing sixty five hits as well as twenty four shots shows he played the bruiser and with four goals on that few shots it shows a very good shot percentage at 16.67%

One of the biggest flaws with having Reid as a third liner is he barely got pushed down the list for fourth on faceoffs taken however was a team worst at 36.08%, which combined with Max McDonald had half the team losing more then 50% of the draws.

Previously with Carter O'Callahan, Niklas Wikstrom and Dean Colt lining up at center they averaged well above so having lost that puck possession ability may have been a contributing factor to the multiple losses encountered by the Wolfpack this year.

On a deeper team however, Reid would likely be sent down to minors or be released to free agency which is likely to happen this coming season or next.

Overall, A. Reid is a bruiser but only just that.
Trajectory: Level, has developed into a grinder who has decent two-way skills.

Keith Trubrechev

Another free agent pickup, to again help fill out the third line is Keith Trubechev who was selected to provide some offense and two way play. He did just that contributing five goals and three assists but that was offset by his terrible minus seventeen rating.

Thankfully low on penalties, likely due to low physical play, he managed fifty four shots on net which with five goals is a great shooting percentage, otherwise though a lone power play goal and a low 34.15% on the faceoffs shows further issue with the third line on faceoffs winning around 39% between Reid, Trubechev and McDonald.

With rookies likely being called up in Season 25, one of which being a winger in Buster Killington and with Reid playing slightly better it looks like Trubechev may be getting the cut and be sent packing to free agency in the off season.

Overall, A two way grinder who needs to improve in a lot of areas
Trajectory: Level, Two way grinder with defensive liability.

Max McDonald

The best free agent pickup that New England made, Max McDonald was a surprising offensive contributor on an otherwise bad team during a bad year, so that is one silver lining to all of it.

McDonald produced nine goals and eleven assists for twenty points, like his fellow third liners he was a terrible minus rating at negative seventeen but his offense shined with ninety seven shots on net, as well as his eight power play points

Playing the third line center role, he was unable to win the majority of his draws and was not even close at 41.79%, so despite all of the good things there is still this issue that needs to be addressed through defensive improvement and face off practice.

Overall, an exceptional free agent addition who contributed more then expected.
Trajectory: Likely level with a small chance of improvement, 3rd line center needs work on face offs and defensive play.

Butch Buckley

In Butch F'n Buckleys first SHL season, he didn't do as hot as expected, brotha. Buckley shot at the net but was only able to produce three f'n goals and five f'n assists all f'n season. Also posting a minus nineteen rating makes Buckley mad, mad enough to headbutt someone...again! Thankfully he didn't do that this season, pulling in only 47 penalty minutes with no one wishing to drop the gloves too often with the known heavy hitter. Not one to shy away from the rough stuff, not at all brotha, cause he threw a hundred of them.

On the occasions where he did have to take face offs, Buckley did decent, taking 44.44% of 45 draws, not bad for a player who is not a center.

Overall, a heavy hitting and aggressive player who should put up points when in a top six role.
Trajectory: Getting higher, brotha.

Evgeny Semin

Semin, coming over in the trade that sent Brandon Cant shipping back to Minnesota had a much better season upon coming over.

In seventeen games in New England versus Minnesota, Semin had four goals compared to two and four assists compared to one. Throwing three more hits and three times the shots in only half the games . Producing well on the power play saw him get three points in only a few games and his face off percentage at 44.8% was one of the better postings under 50% oin the team.

With impending free agency looming and contract negotiations not showing any progress yet it may make the short stopover in New England look like just that, a short stopover with new teams being announced and positions opening up. Semin might only get third line on the Wolfpack but should be able to make second if not first line on an expansion team.

Overall, a solid third line option at center who needs to put in a bit more work to really make his name known.
Trajectory: Slowly rising, will go as far as he takes himself.

Benjamin Reid

This season, Benjamin Reid set a career milestone attaining forty points for the first time in his career, scoring eleven and adding in twenty nine assists. The offensive defense men taken in the Season 20 SHL draft has been a solid contributor from the blue line nearly from Day 1 and has not slowed down much since.

Playing on the top pairing with Kaspars Tsizling, it was not a good season defensively and with Reid and Tsizling on the ice for a lot of even strength, their differential plummeted all the way to minus twenty six each, worst on the team. That will undoubtedly improve next season with the team improving overall itself.

Reid had a very average fifty seven penalty minutes, tossed eighty seven hits despite not being known as a hitter and fired ninety nine shots on net. He also blocked seventy two shots, only one behind team leader Tsizling.

He did lead the team in other areas, minutes played for one, averaging 27.62 minutes on ice a game and combining that with his nineteen power play points and you have a top end offensive contributor. At the moment the only downside is that a focus on defensive play would benefit the team a bit more but the entire team had bad differential ratings so it is a bit skewed.

Overall, an offensive dynamo who is just getting better and better each season.
Trajectory: Rising, look for awards in the future.

Kaspars Tsizling

Being top center on the penalty kill, I'd first like to thank Mr. Tsizling for all the ice time as he lead the lead in penalty minutes over Biscuit who was going hard for the all time record from the start.
With TWELVE, that's right, nearly once every four games, Tsizling took a 5 minute major penalty, which pushed him all the way to 192 Penalty minutes but besides that Tsizling had a fairly decent season with six goals and twenty three assists for twenty nine points, his differential was the same as Reids who was his defensive partner.

Throwing a hundred and eighty four hits, with his size, he was a terror for anyone holding onto the puck and a defensive defensemen throwing ninety three shots on net is just weird, but he did so.

Leading the team in shots blocked at seventy three showed a strong defensive style of play. his sixteen powerplay points had him as a great power play presence and he contributed well offensively and seems to be becoming a two way presence despite having a defense first mentality.

Overall, an incredible defensive force, heavy hitting, starts the breakout and blocks shots all day long.
Trajectory: Rising/Leveling, would definitely do better if not in the penalty box all game.

Connor O'Reilly

A first year rookie, a defensive defensemen, a third pairing. You wouldn't expect much right? Wrong. What you got was a strong candidate for the rookie of the year trophy. After producing only six points in the first thirty two games, we saw him finish with fourteen in the last twenty games, an incredible finish that saw his differential rise to third on the team with defensive partner, Charlie Winchester right behind. Between him, Colt, Russell and Winchester, the four combined for a +2 rating, a very strong two-way core there.

One of the most refreshing things is like Tsizling, he is defense first but unlike Tsizling took a relatively low amount of penalties despite tossing a hundred hits. A relatively low shot total saw him only produce two goals all season but he is a pass first sort of player as well. His sixty five blocks were third on the team and were among the leaders for rookie defensemen.

His six powerplay points helped the second unit quite a bit and he was one of a few players on the pack to get a short handed point as well.

Astoundingly, he won half his faceoffs despite being a defensemen.

Overall, a strong rookie season for a future stud.
Trajectory: Rocketing, if the end of the season is any indication.

Charlie Winchester

The slow improving Season 21 draftee has had a decent season, with thirteen assists. Despite having one of the better and more accurate shots in the league, Winchester went without a goal all season, even after tossing forty on net and twenty three of which were on the powerplay.

With only a minus two, twenty five penalty minutes, twenty four hits and forty blocked shots, Winchester has been able to contribute in all areas, playing on the second powerplay unit as well as the penalty kill and has done well despite not being one of the best players in the league.

Overall, Winchester looks to maintain a spot on the 2nd or 3rd pairing depending on the draft and should contribute between fifteen and twenty points.
Trajectory: Slowly rising to be a good depth defensemen.

Arton Laxk

Despite not having the greatest season, Laxk didn't lack in one area and that was giving the Wolfpack some semblance of respectability by giving us a chance every single night. A tough for season for anyone wearing the green and black, Laxk suffered exceptionally bad due to not having a strong team in front of him.

A fifteen, twenty two and nine record isn't so bad but I wonder how things would have panned out had Laxk been a bit better in the shootout and overtime where we lost about 16% of our games. unfortunately, he did not have a good statistical season, with an above average 2.78 GAA and 0.901 save percentage.

As I said, he kept us in many games and in three shutout the opponents completely. In the shootout, he only was able to field a 60.6% save percentage however had three first, three second and a third start showing in several games he was the hero we needed.

Overall, a great stopgap until future starter Ernest Charelli gets between the pipes.
Trajectory: Looks to have leveled off, would be an excellent backup.

Adam Demko

How the mighty have fallen. Originally with Tennyson set to retire this was the driven backup who was to take over and lead us to promised land but then a lightning bolt out of a blue sky and a kick in the nuts later, Demko has seemingly lost his passion and drive.

In his six starts, he split the games, had a terrible 3.45 GAA and a low 0.870 save percentage. Allowing twenty one goals on a hundred and sixty one shots had the Pack on the defensive from the start and has shown we need to look to acquiring another backup to upgrade.

Overall, a former star in the making that looks to be a bust.
Trajectory: Downward, barely makes it as a backup at this point.

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There you have it, the full breakdown of the players on the Wolfpack. Overall, we suffered as a team through a bad season and I feel we will come out of it stronger and more determined then ever to rise back to the top.

The playoffs are in sight, look for the Pack there this coming Season or next.

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