Goaltending gets an A, Matthews a B in Button's quarter-season Leafs grades

With the NHL season reaching the quarter mark, TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button joins host Kara Wagland to give out grades to every player on the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Wagland: Let’s start with the forwards. You handed out two A grades – Marner and Nylander – why did they get top marks?

Button: I’ll start right off with Mitch Marner. Fourteen-game point streak, he’s been brilliant. I think he’s showing the form that we expect of Mitch Marner. William Nylander, to me, he’s doing exactly what we expect him to do and score and be a dangerous player. John Tavares has done a lot of his production on the power play but you can’t just diminish power play time. He’s been really consistent with respect to his productivity during this first quarter of the season.

Toronto Maple Leafs quarter-season forward grades

Wagland: What about Auston Matthews? The defending Hart Trophy winner, just a B grade for him so far Craig?

Button: And this is a good time to talk about how we’re grading. We’re not only grading on what a player has done, but also to the expectations. And Auston Matthews has set the bar exceptionally high as the reigning Hart Trophy winner. So, by his standards, it is a B performance. Nobody is saying that what he’s done isn’t pretty significant. But, when you set the bar that high – 60 goal scorer, Hart Trophy winner – you know, that’s the expectation. And certainly Matthews has had his opportunities, but he has not produced at that Hart Trophy level and that’s what we’re grading him on.

Wagland: Looking to the back end now, the only A in the entire group is for Ilya Samsonov. Some mediocre grades for the defence, Craig. What were your thoughts there?

Button: Well, again, I think we go back to expectations. Morgan Rielly, I think we expect a lot more out of Morgan Rielly. You know, we look at the five-on-five play, you expect Rielly to drive a lot of that. A lot of his points have come off the power play. T.J. Brodie and Mark Giordano have been really good. Justin Holl might have been a D, or a B that settles in at a C. So, a depleted blueline that has had some different challenges looks like it is finding its way. Those grades could definitely go up. But I would say it’s been an average performance overall. Giordano has been a really nice signing.

I want to go to the goaltending really quick. I would give the overall Maple Leafs’ goaltending an A. And I could even suggest that maybe Matt Murray deserves an A. You think about what they’ve gone through – Erik Kallgren stepping into some challenging moments – I think the goaltending has shown to be really top notch.

Toronto Maple Leafs defence/goalie quarter-season grades

Wagland: How about your overall consensus grade for the Leafs team? We should mention you had the Leafs graded as a B+ in the preseason, so what are they now?

Button: I think they’re a solid B trending upwards. I don’t think there was any question that after the west coast trip there was a lot of room for improvement. And I think the Leafs have shown that. Wednesday night in New Jersey, another good example of finding a way to win, that’s what playoff hockey is about. The Leafs are showing that more and more. But keep finding that consistency and that grade will go up. I have them as a solid B at this point in time.