Report Card: Scott Hannan

Hmmm....where do I play next year?

Today I bring you the twenty-fifth installment in my "Report Card" series, as I continue my evaluation of each Capital throughout this past regular season and playoffs.  Today's player is stay-at-home defenseman Scott Hannan, who finished his first season in the organization this year.

Stats/Season Summary: Hannan played in 55 games for the Caps this year, scoring one goal and adding four assists to go along with a +4 rating and 28 penalty minutes.  He was acquired in late November for forward Tomas Fleischmann, and really struggled at the outset with a -8 rating at one point but really turned it around as the year wore on and he became more accustomed to DC's defensive system.  Hannan also blocked 122 shots this year, a key component on a Washington team that placed more reliance on that than ever this year.  By the end of the year, he was the Caps' best defensive defenseman by a mile. Grade: B+
Role Play: George McPhee brought Hannan in to be a calming and reliable presence on the back end.  Mission accomplished.  Like I wrote above, Hannan got off to an absolutely dreadful start in the Nation's capital, but by the end of the year was an absolute ace blueliner.  His lack of speed was exposed on occasion, but he managed to make up for it with sound positioning most of the time. Another thing that Hannan brought to the team that he was asked to was veteran leadership; he also played that role admirably. Grade: B+
Playoffs: Hannan played in all nine playoff games, collecting a single assist, a +1 rating, and two penalty minutes.  He looked very good against the Rangers, but like most of his mates on the back end began to wear down as he was asked to play big minutes in the Tampa series following injuries to the top guys.  Again, speed was a problem, and he seemed to panic far too often and make rash decisions that lead to goals for the Bolts in that series.  Still, not a train wreck like it was for some. Grade: C
Future Potential: An unrestricted free agent, I believe that Hannan has played his last game in Capital red.  This is not by a matter of choice, as I outlined here last month, but the reality is that very little money exists for the Caps to resign players, and Hannan is not a priority in my eyes.  He's good, and he will be good and stable somewhere, but I seriously doubt that it will be here unless he takes a significant pay cut for a better chance to win.  That's a shame, but that's the salary cap. Grade: B

The next report card will be posted on June 12 and will feature defenseman Mike Green.