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With not much else happening in the Calgary Flames' hockey world I figured I'd share the ratings for their players in NHL 17.
To make things easier I just used the line combinations they have in the game so please don't yell at me for having Ladislav Smid and Deryk Engelland in the lineup over Jyrki Jokipakka.
Johnny Gaudreau (90) - Sean Monahan (88) - Troy Brouwer (84)
Sam Bennett (82) - Mikael Backlund (84) - Michael Frolik (85)
Michael Ferland (80) - Matt Stajan (81) - Alex Chiasson (81)
Lance Bouma (81) - Freddie Hamilton (76) - Brandon Bollig (78)
Mark Giordano (90) - Dougie Hamilton (88)
T.J. Brodie (88) - Dennis Wideman (84)
Ladislav Smid (81) - Deryk Engelland (81)
Brian Elliott (85)
Chad Johnson (80)
Also noteworthy: Jokipakka (82), Linden Vey (80), Chris Higgins (79), Garnet Hathaway (72).
A few thoughts:
1) Dennis Wideman is definitely rated too highly. He had 19 points in 51 games last season, was a mess in the defensive zone, and missed a good chunk of games for running into an official. If Brodie and Hamilton are 88s then Wideman should be much worse.
2) Brian Elliott is a little underrated. I know he has never started 50+ games in a season but last year he led the league in save percentage and was solid in the playoffs. I think 85 is a little low.
Chad Johnson dropping from an 83 in NHL 16 to an 80 after appearing in 45 games and posting a .920 save percentage while playing for a bottom feeder doesn't make much sense to me, either.
3) Matt Stajan, Alex Chiasson and Lance Bouma combined to equal Sam Bennett's production as a 19-year-old. Their ratings shouldn't even be close to Bennett's.
What do you guys think of the ratings? Is there anyone in particular you feel is overrated or underrated?
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