The grades are in... NHL teams' mid-season report cards

1. Carolina: A+. Fourth most goals scored per game is an unbelievable accomplishment given the cast.
2. Philadelphia: A. Factoring in their injury situation this season, the Flyers have been perhaps the best team in the NHL.
3. Buffalo: A. Special teams are the reason (2nd in power play, 5th in penalty killing).
4. NY Rangers: A. An amazing half season given a nameless defence core.
5. Dallas: A. Amazing given their defence. Adding Janne Niinimaa will only help.
6. Detroit: A. 1st on the power play, 4th in goals scored, 6th in goals against.
7. Ottawa: A-. Their lack of depth, especially up front, has shown with the recent spate of injuries.
8. Calgary: A-. Special teams are dragging them down (18th in PP, 19th in PK).
9. Los Angeles: A-. GM Dave Taylor hasn't received enough praise for the Kings' turnaround.
10. Edmonton: B+. Minus the goaltending woes, this is one of the first half's better teams.
11. Toronto: B. It has been an all-over-the-place year, but the power play has come through.
12. Nashville: B. 11 of team's 27 wins came against Chicago, St. Louis and Columbus.
13. Atlanta: B. Don't look now, but with Kari Lehtonen back in net, they're seventh in the East.
14. San Jose: B. With Joe Thornton, they've been 8-4-1.
15. Colorado: B-. Marek Svatos's 25 goals in 13 minutes icetime may be one of the best goals-per-minute ratios ever.
16. New Jersey: B-. Some nights haven't been pretty, but despite the tumult, they're in a playoff position.
17. Washington: B-. Ovechkin alone lifts team from basement, bumps up their grade.
18. Vancouver: C+. Bertuzzi and Morrison are on pace for a combined 40 goals and 135 points. Jagr's on pace for 51 goals and 124 points.
19. Phoenix: C+. The freefall may have begun with current 4-9 skid.
20. Anaheim: C+. Coach Randy Carlyle has squeezed a lot out of what's here.
21. Minnesota: C+. It's time to give Manny Fernandez his due.
22. Montreal: C+. They aren't looking like a playoff team as of late.
23. NY Islanders: C. I'm not sure where the loss of Niinimaa leaves their defence.
24. Tampa Bay: C. With all those weapons, 28th ranked power play is unacceptable. Martin St. Louis is on pace for 60 points.
25. Florida: C. They've done what was expected of them: not much.
26. Boston: D. After 104 points in 2003-04, this is a colossal disappointment.
27. Chicago: D. Recent 10-game losing skid proves it can, in fact, get uglier.
28. St. Louis: D. It's just a wasteland of a roster, especially without Keith Tkachuk.
29. Pittsburgh: F. An absolute mess.
30. Columbus: F. Only scoring 2.12 goals-per-game is unbelievable considering Atlanta has scored 1.5 on the power play alone.