2015-16 Report Card: Deryk Engelland

Deryk Engelland

Defenseman
Grade: C+

MattyFranchise: C

Coming off of a pretty disappointing 14-15 season a lot of Flames fans wanted Engelland gone during the last offseason. Lots of people still want him gone this offseason but this time around it’s not because of his ability but because of his contract. In a bottom pairing mentor like role this season he performed pretty well. Brett Kulak admitted that Engelland really helped him adjust to the NHL during his stint at the beginning of the season and when Nakladal finally made it to the NHL he was partnered with Engelland to help ease him into the league. This is what you want from your depth veterans.

Eleven of his 12 points came at even strength and among Flames defenders (minimum 500 minutes played) he was saddled with by far the worst relative ZS% at -3.63. Scoring chance wise he was right in the middle of the Flames with a relative HSCF% of -1.3, which is miles ahead of both Russell and Wideman, and for scoring chances in general, while he is operating at a deficit (-1.59) he is once again, miles ahead of Russell and Wideman.

His main drawback is that he is not exactly a possession monster, bleeding shots against relative to his team (-3.51%) but to mitigate this somewhat, he had the worst zone starts on the team at 46.8%. The only other defenseman that comes anywhere near his workload is Giordano at 46.92%. Everyone else was getting the easier starts due to Engelland and Gio taking all of the hard ones. At roughly 14 minutes a game Engelland is fine in the bottom pairing role, not terrible, not great. Just average. And for that I give him an average grade.

MarkParkinson14 – B

While Deryk Engelland may not be the flashiest of all the Flames players he certainly proved his worth this season. His game totals were down and he was 1 point better than last season, but he really proved his worth when Dennis Wideman took his leave of absence. Engelland got more ice time on the blue line and even spent some time at forward when it was needed. Engelland will never be confused with an All Star defenceman, but his blue collar, lunch pail game fits what the Flames need from him. His last month of the season produced half of his 12 points on the season and his strong finish only helped solidify what was a very solid season from one of the Flames more unheralded players. B

BizzleJ – B

Seeing as how the Pittsburgh Penguins have been my favourite Eastern team since back in the Mario Lemieux days, I am happy they won the cup last week, and I used to watch Deryk Engelland when he played for Pittsburgh before coming to the Calgary Flames.

His points totals the last few years are hovering right around 12 per year, which isn't horrible. I mean he is no Mark Giordano. He had a plum/minus of +7 which is the 2nd highest in his career. He stepped up while Dennis Wideman was in time-out and he is one of few D-men in the league that can be utilized as a forward. I like Engelland and think he will continue to grow with the club. I grade him a B.

FlamesMM – B

Engelland has proven in the last two seasons that he is able to accommodate playing minutes on both the 2nd and 3td defensive pairings. He has proven the ability to be a solid option especially on the bottom pairing when he is in the lineup. While his defense isn’t great, I still enjoy seeing him in the lineup over Ladislav Smid and Engelland will likely maintain that role heading into next season. It’s unfortunate that his contract is questionable at best, but for what he brings to this team off the ice, there’s a lot to like about Engelland. If he can work to bring some of his stats up, he has the potential to be a solid defenseman next season that can consistently play 2nd line minutes. B.

HockeyGoalieEh – D-

Compared to the type of seasons that Engelland normally has, this was a slightly better season than one would normally expect from him. That said, these are report cards and on report cards, players are graded against other players and Engelland was just one bad part of a Flames defense corps that was relatively horrible. He was barely serviceable as a sixth defenseman.

Most of his points came in the form of secondary assists. The primary points were quite low, even for a defenseman's standards. The possession was still horrible. The -7 penalty differential is hardly ideal. The +/- was a result of the team getting lucky with a high P.D.O. while he was on the ice.

Barely serviceable sixth defensemen are easily replaceable and the Flames could do considerably better. The salary is unfortunate and the team might be stuck with it which will hamstring them a bit in the offseason. The contract was stupid when it was signed and it's finally biting them in the behind.

by Matthew Granlund