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DarkCanuck29 · 09-09-2021, 11:24 AM

The Kelowna Knights are 19 games into the season and that number is close to 20 games, which is pretty close to 33 games, which is basically the halfway point of the season. So, naturally, it is time to grade each of the Kelowna Knights players up to this point.

Overall, the team is playing as expected, with the young group hovering around the .500 mark and not looking like real contenders for the Four-Star Cup.

Forwards

Satoru Gojo LW - 5G 9A 14Pts 64GR
Satoru Gojo is the veteran on the team and the Knights’ best player by TPE. He has looked strong on the 1st line and the power play using his speed and smarts to his advantage. He has developed great chemistry with Svoboda and Mackenzie, while leading all forwards in average ice time. His 14 points are good for fifth on the team. Despite looking strong, he has not been the dominant force on the team as many expected. He has also not been to the gym in ages, not updating since late June.

Grade B

Petr Svoboda C - 7G 11A 18Pts 65GR
Petr Svoboda’s second season has begun with a bang, easily securing the 1st line centre role in camp and immediately clicking with Mackenzie and Gojo. He has been very responsible in his own end, preferring to hit on the counter attack and has been the top line’s main scoring threat. He sits fourth on the team for total TPE earned and started the season capped out. He is looking every bit of the core player he was expected to be when drafted and has been showing his leadership wearing the A.

Grade A+

Duncan Mackenzie RW - 5G 15A 20Pts 63GR
Coming off a four point night it is easy to see the quality that Mackenzie shows when he is on his game. He leads the Knights in points and sits third on the team in hits, showing his Power Forward upside. He is part of the main leadership group, wearing the 2nd A. He currently sits 9th overall amongst all forwards league wide in assists. Mackenzie has also been hitting his targets off the ice, sitting third overall on the team in TPE earned. Mackenzie looks to be a big part of this team for the next few years.

Grade A+

Ignaz Pleyel LW - 8G 7A 15Pts 56GR
The rookie has shown he is lethal, leading the team in goals from the 2nd line, with his 15 points being good for 4th on the team. He has driven the play on the 2nd line, sitting 9 points ahead of both of his more experienced linemates. Pleyel is adept at getting to the net, setting up and making life hell for the goaltender or moving out to the bumper spot to slam in a quick one-timer. He is just as lethal off the ice, earning at a fantastic rate and motivating his fellow rookies to get it done. He has reached every target set out for him so far this year.

Grade A+

Sean Stevenson III C - 1G 5A 6Pts 58GR
The 2nd year forward has stepped into his second line role and performed admirably. Although not finding the scoresheet as often as he would like, Stevenson is finding the chemistry with Pleyel and Thorn, and is playing well on the defensive side of the puck. He is a strong training off ice, being above the cap for this year and looking good to be capped out again before the start of next season. Once the offensive game comes together, Stevenson will be unstoppable.

Grade B

Scott Thorn RW - 1G 5A 6Pts 62GR
Scott Thorn has been a beast, hitting everything he can find and generally making life miserable on the ice for the opposition. Thorn sits 7th league wide amongst forwards in hits and has been providing a good example of how to play the agitator role to perfection, managing to do all this with just 9 minutes in penalties. Thorn is earning well this season and looks like he will cap out this week, taking a big TPE jump.

Grade B+

Petra Sabor LW - 1G 4A 5Pts 57GR
Petra Sabor is in his second year, yet has been passed on the depth chart by Rookie Ignaz Pleyel. He has essentially given up at improving off the ice, sitting at 238 TPE and not having improved in almost two months. It looks like what you see is what you are going to get with Petra and what the Knights have gotten so far hasn’t been all that much.

Grade D

Alicia Melchiott C - 0G 6A 6Pts 58GR
Alicia Melchiott is looking like a great draft pick so far, seizing the 3rd line center role and doing everything you would want from a rookie playmaker. She has battled on and off the ice, matching the points total of Stevenson III and earning TPE at an above average rate. She is doing everything asked of her and although it is still early in the season, is she keeps it up, it looks like Melchiott should be a solid 2nd round pick in the SHL draft.

Grade B+

Malach Skoda RW - 6G 2A 8Pts 55GR
Malach Skoda has been the scoring threat on the 3rd line as expected for the sniper. Although he will benefit greatly from moving up the lineup, he is paying his dues in the bottom six and showing a solid grasp of the concept of teamwork and team play. He is showing an exciting skillset so far and is sitting third on the team in goals scored. He is earning TPE at a good pace and has potential to cap out in his second year.

Grade A

DJ Monaco LW - 2G 1A 3Pts 52GR
The DJ has not shown what he needs to show to be a difference maker on this team. Sitting on the fourth line, he is tied for lowest TPE on the team and has been inactive since joining the league. On the ice, Monaco has put up 3 points and managed to win the one and only fight for Kelowna this season. This will likely be Monaco’s only year in the league and he will almost certainly spend the whole time on the fourth line, dragging down his linemates. He has managed two goals on nine shots, which given him an impressive 22.2% shoot percentage.

Grade F

Aldo Huber C - 0G 1A 1Pts 53GR
Aldo Huber has not had the opportunity to show all his stuff yet, centering the fourth line, but he has been improving. Sitting below 10 minutes a game in Avg ice time, he needs to build the coaches trust, which is difficult with names like Melchiott above him on the depth chart. Huber is active and earning and will look to try and catch up with the bigger earners from his draft class on the Knights. Once he starts figuring out his game he will become more of a threat on the ice and will move up the chart. His 3 shots on goal for the season are indicative of a player trapped in his own end more often than not.

Grade C

Wayne Glensky RW - 2G 1A 3Pts 55GR
Glensky has been the most dangerous looking forward on the fourth line, averaging a shot on goal a game. He has been playing a solid defensive game, with more than double the takeaways than giveaways. Glensky is doing exactly what he needs to do with his ice time and needs to continue to bring that attitude off the ice, as he is lagging behind his peers in TPE and hasn’t updated since August.

Grade B-

Defence

Sebastian Weiss RD - 4G 12A 16Pts 57GR
The more offensive of the two top line defenceman, Weiss is showing great skill this year, Quaterbacking the PP with Kinsinger and putting up fantastic points from the back end. Weiss sits 5th amongst all defencemen in assists and 9th overall in points. Weiss is getting it done in style and off the ice is close to capping out for the year.

Grade A

Leons Briedis LD - 2G 4A 6Pts 59GR
Now no longer the only defenceman doing the heavy lifting, Briedis is able to focus on the defensive side of the game and while this has led to lower point totals, his 46 hits is leading the team and he sits 10th overall in the entire league. He has taken the C and carried on as the heart of the Knights. He has a whopping 70DGR and he is one of the top shutdown defencemen in the league. He still leads the team in total TPE and shows no signs of slowing down.

Grade A+

Christian Kinsinger LD - 4G 9A 13 Pts 67GR
The rookie has hit the ice skating, taking the 2nd pairing role in stride and not looking out of place for a second. His 13 points are amazing at this point in the season and his 67 GR leads the entire team. He has taken powerplay duties and absolutely crushed the TPE game, already passing 255 TPE. He looks to be a certain early 1st round pick in the SHL draft next year.

Grade A+

Ben Jammin RD - 3G 2A 5Pts 56GR
Ben Jammin is yet another Rookie defenceman hitting it out of the park. His old-school defensive style allow him to cover the more dynamic Kinsinger with the two style complimenting nicely. Jammin has seen significant time on the PK and has impressed everyone with his attitude in the locker room. He is a significant earner, just sitting behind Kinsinger in the rookie TPE race on the team and tied for 10th overall for his draft class and is looking to be a big part of this teams core.

Grade A

Patrick Toes LD - 1G 1A 2Pts 58GR
Patrick Toes is one of just 4 [S60] draft picks still with this team and is likely in his last season of professional hockey. Like Donini and Kalnoky, his off ice effort has been non-existant, although he has made himself a useful penalty killer. He is a getting snowed over on the ice, sitting a team worst -12 and not looking good in the underlying metrics either. Right now it looks like Toes is filling a seat and not doing much beyond that.

Grade D

Tomas Kalnoky RD - 2G 1A 3Pts 56GR
Like Toes, Kalnoky is a [S60] player who fills a seat and gets snowed under. He sits at -11, just in front of team worst Patrick Toes and, where Toes actually has a decent DGR, Kalnocky is only ahead of Donini for worst DGR amongst the Knights Defencemen. The coaches need to seriously consider lowering the ice time for the third pair. Like his peers, he is slacking off the ice and is likely to be replaced next year by a rookie who shows some effort.

Grade F

Adriano Donini LD - 0G 0A 0Pts
For some reason, Donini has gotten into four games, replacing Briedis and Kinsinger for two games each. Donini showed very little in his time on the ice and dragged everyone down, having the worst CF% amongst all the defencemen that have played. I do not expect to see him on the ice much going forward.

Grade F

Goaltender

Lord Skrolk Starting G - 17GP 8W 7L 0OTL 3.09GAA 0.909SV% 1SO 69GR
The Lord has been a revelation for the Knights in net, putting up amazing numbers for a rookie goaltender, especially on a team as defensively permissive as the Knights. He has stolen games for them and although earning slower than his peers, is looking to be a key part of the Knights’ future. It is never easy to step into the shoes of a player like Benjamin Blue-II, but Lord Skrolk has more than done enough.

Grade A

Corey McFarland Backup G – 4GP 0W 3L 1OTL 4.42GAA 0.867SV% 0SO 59GR
McFarland is literally only on this team because someone has to fill the backup goaltender role. He is as poor off the ice as he is on the ice and he is almost certainly in his last season of professional hockey. Kelowna will be riding Lord Skrolk as much as possible and only putting in McFarland when they have no other choice. A disappointing player.

Grade F

Winnipeg Aurora Aurora

DeletedAtUserRequest · 09-09-2021, 12:23 PM

#Killowna

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