Sicarius
Joined: Nov. 2016
Posts: 1,278
Likes: 214
Absolutely no to Maroon.
Absolutely no to Patches.
Hoffman is the best option but the cost would be someone that I don’t want to see go. The Blues have 4 prospects in Thompson, Thomas, Kyrou, and Kostin that Army has confirmed generate a lot of interest from other GM’s. If the Blues are after a top 6 player like Hoffman it’s a pretty good bet one of those 4 are on the table.
Personally I don’t think this team is a top 6 player away from making a run. They’re a playoff team and that’s about it. I’m hopeful that Army thinks the same thing.
My wish is to have both Thomas and Kyrou up on the club as soon as their OHL seasons are over. Nobody could convince me that Sundqvist and Paajarvi should be on the roster over those 2.
Army signing both Berglund and Sobotka is somewhat of a head scratcher. I’d rather keep Sobotka but Berglund isn’t tradable with the NMC. I’m kind of expecting Sobotka to be moved. Maybe he’s packaged and the Blues get a 1st back for 2018.
Maybe the roster is this by year’s end:
Schwartz Schenn Tarasenko
Steen Stastny Thompson
Berglund Thomas Kyrou
If Kyrou and Thomas can both make the jump to the NHL, and be impactful, next year could be the start for runs at the Cup for 4+ years. Add Fabbri to next year and the team offense could potentially be very dynamic.
The Stastny situation is interesting. He’s a very good 2C but is somewhat injury prone and will be 32 entering his last big contract. I’m not keen on the Blues being the holder of that contract. It’s a really big if, but if Army has no intention of resigning Stastny, trading him could be in the best interest for the Blues. Plenty of fans would freak out if Stastny is dealt but it could make sense long term.