Do the Blues have a #1 center? And does it matter?

Forums/Armchair-GM

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Created by: BluesBandit

Team: 2018-19 St. Louis Blues

Initial Creation Date: Jul. 22, 2018

Published: Jul. 22, 2018

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

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Brayden Schenn and Ryan O’Reilly won’t be confused for Crosby & Malkin, but I’d argue both are top 31 centers in the league. Is that the qualification for a number 1 center or do people mean elite centers? Regardless, I believe a 1/2 punch of Schenn/ROR is good enough to compete with the big dogs of the NHL. Bozak is a great 3C and with Thomas coming up, we should be set at center for years.

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RFA		YEARS	CAP HIT
Edmundson, Joel		4	$3,500,000
Schmaltz, Jordan		2	$950,000

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2019
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ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
23	$79,500,000	$69,884,321	$150,988	$182,500	$9,615,679

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Maroon, Patrick $1,750,000$1,750,000 LW, RW NTC UFA - 1	O'Reilly, Ryan $1,875,000$1,875,000 C UFA - 5	Tarasenko, Vladimir $3,750,000$3,750,000 RW UFA - 5
Schwartz, Jaden $5,350,000$5,350,000 LW UFA - 3	Schenn, Brayden $5,125,000$5,125,000 C, LW UFA - 2	Fabbri, Robby $925,000$925,000 LW UFA - 1
Steen, Alexander $5,750,000$5,750,000 LW, RW, C NTC UFA - 3	Bozak, Tyler $5,000,000$5,000,000 C, RW M-NTC UFA - 3	Perron, David $4,000,000$4,000,000 RW, LW M-NTC UFA - 4
Soshnikov, Nikita $800,000$800,000 RW UFA - 1	Barbashev, Ivan $741,667$741,667 LW, RW UFA - 1	Jaskin, Dmitrij $1,100,000$1,100,000 RW, LW UFA - 1
	Thomas, Robert $894,166$894,166 C, RW UFA - 3	Thorburn, Chris $900,000$900,000 RW, LW UFA - 1

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Dunn, Vince $722,500$722,500 ($182,500$182K) LD/RD UFA - 2	Pietrangelo, Alex $6,500,000$6,500,000 RD NTC UFA - 2	Allen, Jake $4,350,000$4,350,000 G UFA - 3
Edmundson, Joel $3,500,000$3,500,000 LD/RD UFA - 1	Parayko, Colton $5,500,000$5,500,000 RD UFA - 4	Johnson, Chad $1,750,000$1,750,000 G UFA - 1
Bouwmeester, Jay $5,400,000$5,400,000 LD NTC UFA - 1	Bortuzzo, Robert $1,150,000$1,150,000 RD UFA - 1
Gunnarsson, Carl $2,900,000$2,900,000 LD UFA - 1

Jul. 22, 2018 at 4:51 p.m.

Shibbal18

Joined: Jan. 2016

Posts: 25,192

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ROR is a #1 center

Hedman77 and OldNYIfan liked this.

Jul. 22, 2018 at 4:51 p.m.

Hedman77

Log off the internet

Joined: Mar. 2017

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ROR is better

OldNYIfan liked this.

Jul. 22, 2018 at 5:00 p.m.

Subbanator7667

Subbanator

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I’d put them both as elite #2 centers. Personally I think a true number one center is a 21 minute a night guy that puts up 70+ points a year.

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Jul. 22, 2018 at 5:19 p.m.

Sicarius

Joined: Nov. 2016

Posts: 1,279

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ROR finished last year with 61 points playing with less than stellar wingers. That’s tied for 32nd overall in points. He’s the best face off center in the NHL. He plays every situation. He’s absolutely a #1 center in the NHL.

He’s not a Crosby but ROR should benefit greatly from the wingers in St. Louis.

OldNYIfan, Hedman77, BluesBandit and 1 other person liked this.

Jul. 22, 2018 at 5:19 p.m.

STLBlues17

Sam

Joined: Jan. 2018

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I think they're both elite #2 guys, but I think Thomas is the 1c of the future

OldNYIfan liked this.

Jul. 22, 2018 at 5:58 p.m.

BluesGetTheCup

Joined: May 2017

Posts: 857

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Quoting: Subbanator7667

I’d put them both as elite #2 centers. Personally I think a true number one center is a 21 minute a night guy that puts up 70+ points a year.

Your criteria fits about 5 people in the league. Only 13 centers have had multiple 70+ point years while averaging 20+ minutes a game since 14/15. Only have 5 have had 3 or more.

http://hkref.com/tiny/M7mSh

Ironically, Brayden Schenn is on that list lol.

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Jul. 22, 2018 at 6:04 p.m.

ZiggyPalffy

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Quoting: Sicarius

ROR finished last year with 61 points playing with less than stellar wingers. That’s tied for 32nd overall in points. He’s the best face off center in the NHL. He plays every situation. He’s absolutely a #1 center in the NHL

He’s not a Crosby but ROR should benefit greatly from the wingers in St. Louis.

Better than Kopitar?..

Jul. 22, 2018 at 6:11 p.m.

Subbanator7667

Subbanator

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Quoting: BluesGetTheCup

I like that list. It’s actually a solid guide just because it shows the years with it and does show the different tier of talent some guys have consistently.

Jul. 22, 2018 at 6:25 p.m.

GOleafsGO2018

GO Leafs

Joined: Jun. 2018

Posts: 81

Likes: 5

ROR is def a #1
Schenn at 2C is very good as well
By x-mas You will see Bozak ain't worth 4C role
Overpayment and anchor for 3 years coming
$$ should have been spent elsewhere

Jul. 22, 2018 at 6:31 p.m.

#10

Sicarius

Joined: Nov. 2016

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Quoting: Bf3351

Better than Kopitar?..

ROR led the league with 60% on the dot and set a NHL single season record with 1274 face off wins. So yeah he’s better than Kopitar.

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Jul. 22, 2018 at 6:52 p.m.

#11

ZiggyPalffy

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Quoting: Sicarius

ROR led the league with 60% on the dot and set a NHL single season record with 1274 face off wins. So yeah he’s better than Kopitar.

Sounds like you have a thing for him

Jul. 22, 2018 at 7:25 p.m.

#12

Sicarius

Joined: Nov. 2016

Posts: 1,279

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Quoting: Bf3351

Sounds like you have a thing for him

I was extremely happy with the trade from the Blues perspective. I’m simply giving data that proves he’s a #1 center.

Jul. 22, 2018 at 7:52 p.m.

#13

ZiggyPalffy

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Quoting: Sicarius

I was extremely happy with the trade from the Blues perspective. I’m simply giving data that proves he’s a #1 center.

Is he going to be 1st or 2nd center?

Jul. 22, 2018 at 8:43 p.m.

#14

Sicarius

Joined: Nov. 2016

Posts: 1,279

Likes: 214

Quoting: Bf3351

Is he going to be 1st or 2nd center?

I’m betting the Blues run with two #1 lines from their perspective.

X ROR Tarasenko
Schwartz Schenn X

Those two lines will average around the same overall minutes.

ZiggyPalffy liked this.

Jul. 23, 2018 at 10:19 a.m.

#15

BluesGetTheCup

Joined: May 2017

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Quoting: Subbanator7667

I like that list. It’s actually a solid guide just because it shows the years with it and does show the different tier of talent some guys have consistently.

As a note, I ended up using 19+ minutes per game as the cutoff. As there were only 5 forwards in the entire NHL to average 21+ a game. Whereas players like Backstrom, Tavares etc averaged around 19.

Jul. 23, 2018 at 1:34 p.m.

#16

BluesBandit

Thread Starter

Joined: Apr. 2017

Posts: 1,769

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Quoting: BluesGetTheCup

As a note, I ended up using 19+ minutes per game as the cutoff. As there were only 5 forwards in the entire NHL to average 21+ a game. Whereas players like Backstrom, Tavares etc averaged around 19.

What does the site say the split between Backstrom and Kuznetsov is? Each around 19?

Jul. 23, 2018 at 1:50 p.m.

#17

BluesGetTheCup

Joined: May 2017

Posts: 857

Likes: 129

Quoting: BluesBandit

What does the site say the split between Backstrom and Kuznetsov is? Each around 19?

Backstrom gets about a minute more, usually PK minutes.

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