Florida Panthers October Report Cards

B’s: Evgenii Dadonov, Mike Hoffman, Denis Malgin, Sam Montembeault, Aleksander Barkov, Noel Acciari, Brett Connolly, Vincent Trocheck, Anton Stralman

The B-tier is the most crowded of the groups, with a full ten players in it. For me, a lot of these players made arguments to be in the A-grades but ultimately didn’t have the consistency to do so.

For Dadonov and Hoffman, this was exactly the situation. Dadonov, sitting on 11 points (6 goals, 5 assists), has been the third-best player on the roster for me this season. He leads the NHL in third-period goals (6), but for some strange reason, he just didn’t have it in the other periods.

Hoffman, also with 6 goals, but just 4 assists, has been just as dynamic. The problem with Hoffman is when 40% of his points come on the man advantage, including 50% of his goals, he just hasn’t been very reliable. Even with the hat-trick vs Tampa Bay being the best performance of the month, that was 50% of his goals this month in just one game.

I’d spoken on Malgin recently, saying that Joel Quenneville is getting the best out of him. Like Weegar, this month was the most points that the young forward had in a single month, so there are serious signs of improvement.

Sam Montembeault was easily Florida’s best goalie this month. His performances vs Carolina and Nashville kept the Panthers alive in games that they wouldn’t have had much of a chance in without him. His only poor showing was his last outing against Vancouver, but mostly everyone was poor that night.

Aleksander Barkov is a funny one. His defensive play has taken a step back from last season, but he was playing injured at various points of this month. After finally bagging a goal in a great performance against Colorado, it’s fair to say he’s earned a B. Plus, he’s still on pace to break his point record from last year, imagine when he starts consistently finding the net.

Next, the two new signings of Noel Acciari and Brett Connolly have earned B’s. Acciari has been particularly impressive, but Connolly has put in a good shift throughout this season as well. Acciari has four goals from the fourth line while Connolly has, frankly, a streaky nine points.

Just barely scraping B’s are Vincent Trocheck and Anton Stralman. Trocheck has only played eight games, but has just one goal to his name, coming on opening night. For a center who takes as many shots as he does, it has to improve, but still a good month.

Stralman’s defense has instantly made him one of the standouts on the back six but has struggled with inconsistency. His more casual approach to defending has been at times positive, and at others negative.

Evgenii Dadonov: 89 (B+)

Mike Hoffman: 88 (B+)

Denis Malgin: 86 (B+)

Sam Montembeault, Aleksander Barkov: 85 (B)

Noel Acciari, Brett Connolly: 84 (B)

Vincent Trocheck: 82 (B-)

Anton Stralman: 81 (B-)