Year-End Grades: Ashton and Yuen

Carter Ashton: A-

This one's tough. I'm probably over-compensating. But I wasn't that impressed with Ashton. That's a mis-statement: I had incorrect expectations for Ashton. I expected big-time playmaker and goal scorer. He did make plays, had 27 assists in his short time with the Americans (17 goals, 44 points). In years past when Bob's made big trades he's gotten smaller guys who were snipers--Yellowhorn and Fadden. So maybe that's what I expected. Ashton's NOT a small guy. As a big guy he wasn't as good as I wanted him to be with back checking and speed. Hey, I know it takes a big guy time to get a stride going. It was just sometimes hard to watch. He wasn't in the play when/where I wanted him to be. He was good at parking himself in front of the net, big guys should do that, and getting in the way of the goalie.

Like I said, he didn't meet my expectations but those expectations were probably unrealistic. I did think he was invisible in the 2nd round. A big guy like that shouldn't be invisible. Full credit to his buddy Cowen for being able to shut him down. Ashton contributed 44 points to the roster that wouldn't have been there otherwise. Well, certainly not 44. So I'm pretty sure I undervalued his time here. Whether that's worthy of an A-, I don't know.

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Zachary Yuen: A-

Can you believe it's only his 2nd year in the league? He's so smooth, so skilled. It's fun to watch him play. And I'm not alone in this thinking, he slowly moved up the ranks in the Central Scouting report for the upcoming NHL Draft. He's steady, reliable, solid. He skates very smooth and is fast--which came in handy when paired with Schmidt.

He's feisty too. Yuen's not afraid to damage those piano-playing fingers to defend himself or his teammates. I saw the most anger/hostility during Portland games (see photo below). He's shown his offensive upside as well, racking up 8 goals and 24 assists during the regular season. As I said at the mid-season point, I can see him becoming a TJ Fast-type defenseman, leading rushes, crashing the net, continuing to show that offensive side. There aren't many obvious flaws in his game, that I can see anyways, maybe the propensity to take ill-timed penalties, but even that got better towards the end of the season.