Markus Hannikainen
If we were grading players on their last few performances, this wouldn’t be a good looking report card for Markus Hannikainen. Against Toronto and Carolina, the 25-year-old Finn clearly stood out for his poor play. But those two games stand out because in his other 11 starts, Hannikainen has been a pleasant surprise for the Jackets.
Hanni is a ferocious checker and plays very hard defensively. Although he starts in the defensive zone 62.7% of the time, he has a 45.3% corsi rate. Not bad for a winger who has only played in 60 career NHL games and is in his own end for two thirds of the game.
His solid defensive play have earned him more and more starts through the year. In that time, he added his fifth NHL goal and added two more assist to bring his season point total to three.
Although he has played well in most games, the glaring mistakes in the Toronto game still stick out in my mind. Although it shouldn’t cost him a starting roll for Friday, it will be on the minds of the coaching staff and a short leash got shorter for Markus.
Overall not bad from a player who has bounced between the AHL and NHL over his career.
Let us know what you think about these grades in the comment second below. We will be grading the other CBJ forwards in a part two post coming soon! Until then be sure to comment and check out the grades for the defenseman.