Year-End Grades: Grist and Dow

If you've read this blog for awhile you know I hand out mid-season and year-end grades.  Here's the mid-season ones from this year.  The plan is to post 2 a day for the next while to spread things out (need off-season content, yo).  I'll be going in order by number so to start things off is Sam Grist and Drydn Dow.

----------

Sam Grist: C+

Sam's a rookie so to mark him down for that is a little unfair.  He started out the season real rough, lots of mistakes, not using his size smartly.  But over the season I thought he made huge improvements.  Fewer mistakes overall, but still having some trouble with his size.  He's a huge beast and he needs to remember that and be more careful when he's making hits, especially along the boards.  No more suspensions for hitting guys so hard please.  He's also going to have trouble with high sticks and elbows because of his height to he has to be careful to stay aware of where his body and stick are at.  I know that's hard during the intensity of the game, but c'mon.  Otherwise it'll continue to be dumb penalties at dumb times putting his team at a disadvantage.

I think Sam has a ton of potential and he really started to shine towards the end of the season and played well in the playoffs.  It will be interesting to what he accomplishes over the summer.  With the unknown returnees on the blueline next season I expect Sam will be given a larger role, certainly one of the top 4 D-men and I hope he rises to those expectations.

 

----------

Drydn Dow: B+

Dow started the season as a defenseman fighting for playing time. Personally, I've always thought he was a good d-man, skates pretty good, plays smart. He's small so he's able to get into the corners and fight for the puck pretty well. But that size is apparently a disadvantage for defense so he didn't play a lot. He's never going to be a big-hitting power D-man, he's going to be small and smart. With limited playing time I feared he'd be traded. Or flat out released. The future wasn't looking promising for Dow remaining an Americans defenseman.

When injuries started piling up Hiller put Dow as a forward. Brilliant move. Brilliant. All the above factors--small, gritty, smart--make him an excellent forward. I know he'd rather play defense, but sorry Drydn, I think you've found your niche. He's a mini Mason Wilgosh out there. At forward he's thrived. And got way more playing time than he would have at D. I hope he isn't too discouraged by the move because it really works for him. It wouldn't take much molding to make him a great defensive forward like Kruise Reddick or Mason. I hope this coming season he stays at forward, I really do. It may not be his preference, but he's good at it.