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As we consider the future

Created by: Shylo_Moxii
Team: 2020-21 St. Louis Blues
Initial Creation Date: Jan. 12, 2021
Published: Jan. 12, 2021
Salary Cap Mode: Basic
Description
As we look further into exploring options the upcoming years. Blues can express some very good options. Blues are more conservative trading picks than they have been in the past, and I would very much like to see them keep it that way, I am very surprised that Blues decided Jake Neighbours was the way to go in the first round with other tremendous players on the list, but he has had a pretty solid camp.

Forwards -
Based on Wins Above Replacement scores St.Louis Blues are ranked 7th among Forwards, but offensively ranked 25th. Some decent changes that can't be accounted for like Jordan Kyrou with too small of a sample size, and Hoffman's season last year making the teams offense look worse for this season, but regarding the forwards defensively among forward cores in the league we are 2nd, but we take a lot of penalties so it's a bit rough when it comes to our situation. Blues need an upgraded offensive scoring power, and I don't think Hoffman or Kyrou is it, they are decent stop gaps, but Blues need to go into the market and get someone else who's going to pop on the top line, and maybe it's a lesser in the market than people think I'm not saying go out and get Mitchell Marner, or a Mikko Rantanen. I think we need someone who is a pure goal scorer for the Top line and maybe put less stress on some of the players to hope it immediately works out.

Options to Pick Up -
Frank Vatrano, Pavel Buchnevich, Ryan Dzingel

Frank Vatrano, while I know he's not a very great player he is in the best interest for teams. He's been on the decline for the past 3 years, but he is an upgrade when it comes to adding to the open gap of goal scoring that we need, and he's cost efficient just over 2.5M for the next 2 seasons. I don't think Florida is going to ask for a ton to get him, but I do think that Blues could land him and maybe he fills in and maybe takes a stab at it Samuel Blais, and Ivan Barbashev seem like guys who might be moving out of the lineup and finding new guys to bring into it.

Pavel Buchnevich yes the guy is really good, and is a bit younger. He's 25 so he's still pretty good when it comes to how long his production will last. He grew over the past year. He's playing for a new contract, will be a bit more expensive than what Vatrano brings, but I think if Blues can land him as sort of that next number 2 while we maybe move Perron back to the left side, Schenn to the middle, and maybe Thomas down to the 3rd line Center, and completely get rid of Bozak, I think this team could be very solid, and very hard to play against. He's a bit more expensive and due for a bigger payday, so it would have to do with some maneuvering such as getting rid of Scandella, most likely Vince Dunn, you lose Ivan Barbashev, Samuel Blais, Carl Gunnarsson. At the same time 16 goals in 68 games, with really good WAR stats makes him someone Blues should go after in my personal opinion, just not at too high of a cost.

Ryan Dzingel is an interesting one, because he has fell off the past 3 seasons in a row, He hasn't produced to a good standard last season, most likely a TDL acquisition such as most of these guys are, but at the end of the day he would be a good middle 6 guy, and put with the right teammates I think he would do very well on an organization like the Blues. He's a good size body for a forward, Blues like to have some grit while being good offensively, and I think he could work well.

In common for all 3 of these guys they are all around the 190-200 Pounds range 5"11, 6"0, and 6"3 so it's interesting options all kind of cheap, all of them under 3.5 million AAV which isn't a bad option at all.

Forward Prospects -

Jordan Kyrou: I think he pretty much tops out at about middle 6 forward, I kind of had hopes he would be that Top 6 dominant force like Robert Thomas, but it's becoming a fact that he most likely becomes a solid middle 6 player at best, and Fabbri post-injury if you will, and maybe has a little better offense, but he still has speed, puck control, and now which is better than ever his defense is improving which has not been the case in the past.

Klim Kostin: I've already had speculations of if he would ever make the team, and I've thought he would be a great 4th Line Power Forward, and it would be fine to put him there, but with the plethora of guys we have I would have rather kept Dominik Bokk, and traded Klim Kostin at this point, and it comes down to do we make the right choices when drafting, I believe his injury pre-draft has a lot to do with why he is not performing well at all on the AHL, or in the KHL level. It will be an interesting thing to see if he can step up or if he just doesn't make it at all as anything in the NHL, but I think his time is almost up in St.Louis.

Nikita Alexandrov: He performed very well in the QMJHL this past season with exceeding a point per game 54 points in 42 games which is his best performance, and yes he was 19. So I know not to go off of that, but it does really show that he is improving and could be looked upon as a future Center in the Blues organization. I see him being a quality 2nd/3rd Line Center, and very well might be. He had a very good U20 Russian International Campaign in both the International Jr, and in the WJC. I can see him doing very well on the Blues team, and very much might be better than Klim Kostin at this point.

Jake Neighbours: I have mixed emotions about him, yes he had 70 points in 64 WHL games in 2019-20, but he didn't have the greatest of camps, and with his playstyle I'm not sure if he would make the team any time soon with what we have on the roster, already Clifford, Blais, Barbashev, Sundqvist just some of the few grittier guys on the roster that have been performing well in camps, so I'm not sure if Neighbours actually makes it on the team at all. I like to hope he does in the future turn out as the middle 6/bottom 6 type player, but it doesn't exactly seem to be that way from now, it seems like another Tage Thompson type thing where they dip their feet into it feel him out then he turns out to not perform, and he just doesn't get another chance on the roster. Not to say he should get another chance, but Blues have a lot of guys in the farm that the light blows out because we aren't developing them the right way.


Defenceman-

Wins Above Replacement have placed Blues at a solid 6th place among NHL teams, which is good, I still feel like we can do better to improve. I wouldn't go as far as to making a trade with another team. I think 4 of the 6 defenceman are very fine in the position they are in, but I am not a fan of Marco Scandella, or Justin Faulk, and rightfully so I would say because yes Justin Faulk had a better season, and he was not in his normal position, maybe he gets better, but I'm not sure he solves the problem on the defensive end of this. Justin Faulk is a very solid PK and PP unit player, and does well on the offensive end, but he is abysmal when it comes to the defensive side of things, and I think with Pietrangelo gone. Blues need something or someone to step up and fill the gap in that position. Marco Scandella has done about half way well on both ends for the Blues on 5v5, but on Penalty kill he is just so awful, and I don't know if we really have anyone to fill in that particular gap, he's not very sound, and I think he needs to be replaced, and I feel the replacements are within the organization, but nonetheless I will give decent acquisitions that the Blues could make that would be good, but they are probably going to be a bit far fetched due to the Blues position of not wanting to give up too much, and more or less using the prospects we already have within the organization.

Acquisitions that could help Blues On Defence
Brett Pesce, Nick Jensen, Trevor Van Reimsdyk, or Victor Mete

Brett Pesce: This is the player I wanted the Blues to go after all along, he's solid when it comes to playing defensively, doesn't have a ton of offensive upside, but he's got a 4 year deal of 4 Million, so that means you can solidify him in that lineup for the next few years, and see him do well in a role behind Parayko, and solidify it as Krug-Parayko and Dunn-Pesce. Which would work ultimately for this particular Blues team, as we could have very good balance out of that lineup, and Perunovich, and can be paired with Mikkola when the time is right.

Nick Jensen/Trevor Van Reimsdyk: Ideally you get one or the other they both do very well at what they do both defensive, but obviously depending on which one you go for it's either a 2nd Pairing RD, or a 3rd Pairing RD, and that's how you want to route Perunovich as the consistent 2RD rather than playing with Jensen as the 2RD. I'd like the idea of getting one of the 2. It's also probably something Washington might do because they have 5 Right Handed Defenseman, and 3 Left Handed, and ones getting a bit older, and the other one has been doing well, but you want to have some of a stop gap if Zdeno Chara gets hurt, and that's where I think it could happen, but Ideally neither team goes for this in the long run.

Victor Mete: Very much in the same boat on him as Blues are on Vince Dunn. He's a couple years younger, this would be where Mete takes the third pairing with Bortuzzo and you upgrade RD and move Dunn up the line. Mete has done very well Dunn is slightly better on both ends of the ice, but again Mete is on his ELC, and he's only 22 he does very well at controlling the puck, and very Blues ideal player if you will, and I think he would be someone that would work well as far as this happening it might cost us a bit of money, but I see it as very doable if we do want to do some type of deal with him.

Prospect Defenceman

Scott Perunovich: Seen as getting close to ready, but I'm not sure on it. He's a very solid player definitely someone the team wants to put on the RD spot even being a Left Handed. He's comfortable and has played RD for most of his career, so I think we wanna try and move him into the lineup, and whether that's soon or we find someone else and move him into a sheltered 3rd pairing role like Dunn. Your guess is as good as mine, but I do know he has had a pretty solid camp and he might be starting on the NHL roster very soon.

Niko Mikkola: I believe he is going to be a key defenceman on the left side for the Blues. He's a bit older, but he is a huge body and great on defense. He's the left handed version of Colton Parayko, and as we know Colton Parayko was a bit older when he moved up into the lineup it took him time to mature, very much the same thing for Niko Mikkola, and I'd very surprised if they didn't incorporate him into the lineup from time to time this season more so than Perunovich. I think this will be a make or break year, and the team reanalyzes his position on the team after we go through, but he is a Berube type of player very big and physical, and he was very good for the very few games we did get to see him last season, and I do like the idea of him being the replacement for Scandella.

Tyler Tucker: Another good left hander, but at this point he has a huge shot. He's just not ready, but he's doing pretty solid. He's most likely going to be a bit longer to move up, and I wouldn't see him higher than a 3rd Pairing defenceman for the Blues at any point in his career, I don't see it being top 4 talent level on him, his time is coming soon, but very much the same thing as Joel Edmundson, we just have so much depth now, that we don't really need to make him a Top 4 guy like Edmundson we can just leave him in the 3rd Pairing role.

Jake Walman/Mitch Reinke: In my very honest opinion, and I've liked Walman and Reinke was very high on them being on the roster soon, but I think after what happened on the training camp, I think they missed their chance of being a Blues NHL roster player. because both of them have had chances in the past they just have never succeeded in camps to make it on the roster, and I honestly believe it's over for the both of them Perunovich, Mikkola, Tucker all past them in the depth charts both of them are 24 they aren't getting any younger, and it's basically another situation like Jordan Schmaltz, it's just not working out, and we might be moving on from them in the very near future.

Goaltending.
Blues wins above replacement places them 15th among Goaltending. Which is basically league average. Binnington is ranked just fine, but Husso is the question mark, and it raises a question do we go and get someone because none of the guys are ready Fitzpatrick just hasn't worked out at all, and I think his chances of a NHL spot are close to slim, and I'm not sure if there is anything we can do. Gillies didn't have a great camp, I don't think he's an NHL goaltender, I thought he was solid for Calgary, but he's just not that player anymore.

Blues Prospect Goaltending all of them aren't signed so most of them can't be speculated to even make a good backup, Hofer I'm not sure if he is ready, Husso questionable, Cranley and Ellis both aren't ready although I really really like Colten Ellis.

Blues Acquisitions for Goaltending that could be made. (If Husso doesn't work out)
Jimmy Howard, Calvin Pickard, Carter Hutton

Jimmy Howard: had a rough year in Detroit, they were leaving him high and dry. So I have a feeling that behind our defense he would probably do well for a year, and I would take him over other every other guy that is still available in the free agent market obviously, but he is the only one in the free agent market I would go for, and I think he could be brought in for very cheap, so he would be cost efficient too.

Calvin Pickard: Another guy who has done well on some successful teams, but hasn't hit the mark for a team like detroit. I think it's honestly wasteful to sit him on an AHL team for a team like detroit, so I think they would trade him for pretty cheap as well it seems like they are building for the long run anyway so a later round pick would give them a bit of draft capitol. So I wouldn't say I would be 100% believing in him in the goalie tandem, but if Husso doesn't work out at least we have a guy who can maybe spin something up, and maybe works out.

Carter Hutton: I know Blues fans would hate me for this, and most likely rightly so. I myself also rejected it for awhile, but under circumstances he did very very well here, so I wouldn't be very surprised if he does do well here again, but the trade would have to be with retention, I don't think anyone wants his contract so maybe we take Hutton as our backup, and they pay us to take him that simple. It's most likely a great idea for the Blues if he works out, and Buffalo doesn't have to use him struggling, and frees up some cap room, but at this point these are the only 3 options I think that aren't far fetched from both points of view.

Obviously Blues could go after Khudobin, Halak, etc. I doubt they would be successful in their journey of trying to get a reliable backup, and this is not to say Husso is terrible, but we just don't know what he brings to the table when it comes to the NHL, we have to wait and see how he does, but at this point personally I would much rather go after someone such as Howard, and maybe he does well, and you end up getting a good tandem, and you get through playoffs without your backup losing games for you.
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                  DraftRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Round 5Round 6Round 7
                  2021
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                  2022
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                  2023
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                  ROSTER SIZESALARY CAPCAP HITOVERAGES TooltipBONUSESCAP SPACE
                  33$81,500,000$100,643,848$306,349$425,000-$19,143,848
                  Left WingCentreRight Wing
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $5,350,000$5,350,000
                  LW
                  M-NTC
                  UFA - 1
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $1,875,000$1,875,000
                  C
                  UFA - 3
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $4,000,000$4,000,000
                  LW
                  UFA - 1
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $1,500,000$1,500,000
                  LW, RW
                  UFA - 1
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $6,500,000$6,500,000
                  C, LW
                  NTC
                  UFA - 8
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $4,000,000$4,000,000
                  RW, LW
                  M-NTC
                  UFA - 2
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $1,000,000$1,000,000
                  LW
                  UFA - 2
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $5,000,000$5,000,000
                  C, RW
                  M-NTC
                  UFA - 1
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $1,500,000$1,500,000
                  LW, RW
                  UFA - 2
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $900,000$900,000
                  LW, RW
                  UFA - 2
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $2,750,000$2,750,000
                  RW, C
                  UFA - 3
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $894,166$894,166 (Performance Bonus$425,000$425K)
                  C, RW
                  UFA - 1
                  Logo of the Carolina Hurricanes
                  $3,375,000$3,375,000
                  LW, RW, C
                  UFA - 1
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $1,475,000$1,475,000
                  LW, RW
                  UFA - 1
                  Logo of the New York Rangers
                  $3,250,000$3,250,000
                  LW, RW, C
                  UFA - 1
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $700,000$700,000
                  C, LW
                  UFA - 1
                  Logo of the Florida Panthers
                  $2,533,333$2,533,333
                  LW, RW
                  UFA - 2
                  Left DefenseRight DefenseGoaltender
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $6,500,000$6,500,000
                  RD
                  NTC
                  UFA - 7
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $5,500,000$5,500,000
                  RD
                  UFA - 2
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $4,400,000$4,400,000
                  G
                  UFA - 1
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $6,500,000$6,500,000
                  LD
                  NTC
                  UFA - 7
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $1,375,000$1,375,000
                  RD
                  UFA - 2
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $750,000$750,000
                  G
                  UFA - 2
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $3,275,000$3,275,000
                  LD
                  M-NTC
                  UFA - 4
                  Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
                  $2,750,000$2,750,000
                  G
                  UFA - 1
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $1,875,000$1,875,000
                  LD/RD
                  UFA - 1
                  Logo of the Detroit Red Wings
                  $750,000$750,000
                  G
                  UFA - 1
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $1,750,000$1,750,000
                  LD
                  M-NTC
                  UFA - 1
                  $750,000$750,000
                  G
                  UFA
                  Logo of the Carolina Hurricanes
                  $4,025,000$4,025,000
                  RD
                  UFA - 4
                  Logo of the Washington Capitals
                  $800,000$800,000
                  RD
                  UFA - 1
                  Logo of the Washington Capitals
                  $2,500,000$2,500,000
                  RD
                  UFA - 3
                  Logo of the Montreal Canadiens
                  $735,000$735,000
                  LD/RD
                  UFA - 1
                  ScratchesInjured Reserve (IR)Long Term IR (LTIR)
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $3,750,000$3,750,000
                  RW
                  NTC
                  UFA - 3
                  Logo of the St. Louis Blues
                  $5,750,000$5,750,000
                  LW, RW, C
                  NTC
                  UFA - 1

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                  Jan. 12, 2021 at 5:02 p.m.
                  #1
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                  Jan. 12, 2021 at 5:51 p.m.
                  #2
                  CHI NYI
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                  Love the analysis, really thoughtful and in-depth and I feel like I learned something lol.

                  The Blues are a sleeper for another deep run this year for me. They've got some warts, but they have a nice core, both up front and on defense and I like Binnington a lot more than a lot of other people I know. Going forward, I do have some concerns about how the Schenn, Faulk and Scandella contracts are going to age (Faulk especially, I think he's the next Seabrook, to put it in terms I can understand), but I do like some of their young guys, like Thomas, Dunn and Perunovich and slowly giving those guys bigger roles over the next couple of years should augment the team as a whole and keep them firmly in contention.

                  So yeah, good luck this season. Even with my team trending downwards fast, I'm a bit disappointed the Hawks and Blues won't see each other this season lol. Even recently, those games are always crazy competitive.
                  Shylo_Moxii liked this.
                  Jan. 12, 2021 at 5:58 p.m.
                  #3
                  Good Opinion Haver
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                  Edited Jan. 12, 2021 at 6:05 p.m.
                  Yeah I'm not big on the Neighbors pick either. He's one of those guys that will for sure be an NHL player but there were more boom-or-bust type guys that I would have liked to take a flyer on. That's how we got someone like Tarasenko after all.

                  I would love Buchnevich on this team. Won't cost a lot and solid underlying numbers. I'd also like to see us go after Coleman on a short-ish deal if he prices himself out of Tampa (and, looking at their cap, he might!) I think Kyrou's speed and shoot first mentality will translate well next to someone like Thomas but I can see the argument that he might not be your ideal top six RW. I would be shocked if the other guys are much more than bottom six guys. Alexandrov might be a good 3C yet, hard to tell with the Q though.

                  Defense is much harder to wrap my head around because it's really hard to improve that position with Scandella and Faulk taking up space. I think Scandella is a fine player, but he's the third best LHD on this team and I think Mikkola will pass him up eventually too, and at that point why did we give him so many years. Meanwhile I don't think anyone needs any reminders of my opinion on Faulk...I think Perunovich will probably stick on the right and I'd like to see maybe a pricier RHD fill in while they're cheap just to give the team added depth (I like Mete and Pesce, Colin Miller also comes to mind and maybe even a defense first guy like Ilya Lyubushkin though that's kind of redundant with Mikkola. Maybe that guy is Reinke or Walman if he can switch hands. Walman used to be awesome in college so I think he's got it in him, his development has just really been hamstrung by injuries and our AHL debacles. But that only works if we move out both Scandella and Faulk and Doug's gonna have to work some real magic on that one.

                  My hot-ish take is that one of the best things that could happen to this team is Husso looking like a competent starting goaltender. I'm really wary about committing money/term to Binnington (or any goalie, really, but especially him). The Blues are really high on Hofer, he's on the taxi squad this year which was a surprise. He might not be far off from NHL work. If Husso is legit, I'd like to see us bridge the gap to a Husso-Hofer tandem with an older (and hopefully cheaper than whatever Binnington wants) starter-caliber goalie like Andersen, Bishop, or even Rask. There's question marks on all of those guys for various (and somewhat undeserved) reasons, but I'd rather gamble on a two or three year deal with one of them for 4/5 million than 6milx5 or whatever we'll give Binnington. But that only works if Husso looks good, and he's not going to have many games to show it. Otherwise, I don't know if you have a choice but to extend Binnington. I could see Ellis or the russian kid making some noise in three years or so.

                  And before anyone jumps down my throat about Rask leaving the Bruins- Bruins fans weirdly hate him and also who ever though Chara and Krug would leave the Bruins?

                  This team still is very capable of hanging with the best but we really gotta make the right moves for the next two or three years to maximize our cup window and I think the past year has been a mixed bag on that front.

                  If I could waive a somewhat realistic magic wand and make all the things I mention above break right, this is probably how I would set the Blues next year:

                  Schenn-O'Reilly-Perron/Buchnevich
                  Schwartz- Thomas -Tarasenko
                  Blais - Coleman - Kyrou
                  MacEachern - Barbashev - Sundqvist
                  Clifford, whoever

                  Krug - Parayko
                  Dunn - Perunovich
                  Mikkola - Miller/Walman/Reinke
                  Bortuzzo

                  Bishop/Andersen/Rask
                  Husso
                  Shylo_Moxii liked this.
                  Jan. 12, 2021 at 6:07 p.m.
                  #4
                  Good Opinion Haver
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                  Quoting: ForsbergForVezina
                  Love the analysis, really thoughtful and in-depth and I feel like I learned something lol.

                  The Blues are a sleeper for another deep run this year for me. They've got some warts, but they have a nice core, both up front and on defense and I like Binnington a lot more than a lot of other people I know. Going forward, I do have some concerns about how the Schenn, Faulk and Scandella contracts are going to age (Faulk especially, I think he's the next Seabrook, to put it in terms I can understand), but I do like some of their young guys, like Thomas, Dunn and Perunovich and slowly giving those guys bigger roles over the next couple of years should augment the team as a whole and keep them firmly in contention.

                  So yeah, good luck this season. Even with my team trending downwards fast, I'm a bit disappointed the Hawks and Blues won't see each other this season lol. Even recently, those games are always crazy competitive.


                  I think Vlasic is the next Seabrook, if he's not already there. Faulk will look more like a Keith Yandle I think. He's better than what he showed last year, not by a lot though.

                  You remember that Dunn-Caggiula fight from last year? I was at that game, it was just a few weeks before COVID. I really don't like fighting in hockey but that totally rocked.
                  Jan. 12, 2021 at 8:07 p.m.
                  #5
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                  Quoting: ForsbergForVezina
                  Love the analysis, really thoughtful and in-depth and I feel like I learned something lol.

                  The Blues are a sleeper for another deep run this year for me. They've got some warts, but they have a nice core, both up front and on defense and I like Binnington a lot more than a lot of other people I know. Going forward, I do have some concerns about how the Schenn, Faulk and Scandella contracts are going to age (Faulk especially, I think he's the next Seabrook, to put it in terms I can understand), but I do like some of their young guys, like Thomas, Dunn and Perunovich and slowly giving those guys bigger roles over the next couple of years should augment the team as a whole and keep them firmly in contention.

                  So yeah, good luck this season. Even with my team trending downwards fast, I'm a bit disappointed the Hawks and Blues won't see each other this season lol. Even recently, those games are always crazy competitive.


                  Blackhawks-Blues are by far my favorite games to watch. It's probably a Top 3 rivalry in the league. I'm seriously bummed because those are the games I circle on the calendar I have to watch these games.
                  ForsbergForVezina liked this.
                  Jan. 12, 2021 at 8:14 p.m.
                  #6
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                  Quoting: TheEarthmaster
                  Yeah I'm not big on the Neighbors pick either. He's one of those guys that will for sure be an NHL player but there were more boom-or-bust type guys that I would have liked to take a flyer on. That's how we got someone like Tarasenko after all.

                  I would love Buchnevich on this team. Won't cost a lot and solid underlying numbers. I'd also like to see us go after Coleman on a short-ish deal if he prices himself out of Tampa (and, looking at their cap, he might!) I think Kyrou's speed and shoot first mentality will translate well next to someone like Thomas but I can see the argument that he might not be your ideal top six RW. I would be shocked if the other guys are much more than bottom six guys. Alexandrov might be a good 3C yet, hard to tell with the Q though.

                  Defense is much harder to wrap my head around because it's really hard to improve that position with Scandella and Faulk taking up space. I think Scandella is a fine player, but he's the third best LHD on this team and I think Mikkola will pass him up eventually too, and at that point why did we give him so many years. Meanwhile I don't think anyone needs any reminders of my opinion on Faulk...I think Perunovich will probably stick on the right and I'd like to see maybe a pricier RHD fill in while they're cheap just to give the team added depth (I like Mete and Pesce, Colin Miller also comes to mind and maybe even a defense first guy like Ilya Lyubushkin though that's kind of redundant with Mikkola. Maybe that guy is Reinke or Walman if he can switch hands. Walman used to be awesome in college so I think he's got it in him, his development has just really been hamstrung by injuries and our AHL debacles. But that only works if we move out both Scandella and Faulk and Doug's gonna have to work some real magic on that one.

                  My hot-ish take is that one of the best things that could happen to this team is Husso looking like a competent starting goaltender. I'm really wary about committing money/term to Binnington (or any goalie, really, but especially him). The Blues are really high on Hofer, he's on the taxi squad this year which was a surprise. He might not be far off from NHL work. If Husso is legit, I'd like to see us bridge the gap to a Husso-Hofer tandem with an older (and hopefully cheaper than whatever Binnington wants) starter-caliber goalie like Andersen, Bishop, or even Rask. There's question marks on all of those guys for various (and somewhat undeserved) reasons, but I'd rather gamble on a two or three year deal with one of them for 4/5 million than 6milx5 or whatever we'll give Binnington. But that only works if Husso looks good, and he's not going to have many games to show it. Otherwise, I don't know if you have a choice but to extend Binnington. I could see Ellis or the russian kid making some noise in three years or so.

                  And before anyone jumps down my throat about Rask leaving the Bruins- Bruins fans weirdly hate him and also who ever though Chara and Krug would leave the Bruins?

                  This team still is very capable of hanging with the best but we really gotta make the right moves for the next two or three years to maximize our cup window and I think the past year has been a mixed bag on that front.

                  If I could waive a somewhat realistic magic wand and make all the things I mention above break right, this is probably how I would set the Blues next year:

                  Schenn-O'Reilly-Perron/Buchnevich
                  Schwartz- Thomas -Tarasenko
                  Blais - Coleman - Kyrou
                  MacEachern - Barbashev - Sundqvist
                  Clifford, whoever

                  Krug - Parayko
                  Dunn - Perunovich
                  Mikkola - Miller/Walman/Reinke
                  Bortuzzo

                  Bishop/Andersen/Rask
                  Husso


                  I really like the idea of Dunn-Pesce. It seems like such an insane combo. I don't know if Walman or Reinke makes it. Like I really wanna believe in them, but it seems like they are almost there then they just aren't there. But Bortuzzo is a good 6th Man D reliable, but it's gonna be a struggle if he's with Mikkola So maybe Mikkola and Perunovich together. I would love Rask (Bishop not as much because of injury questions) Andersen I like a lot too. It's just I'm not sure if Blues are really wanting to spend the money on that type of player when guys like Schwartz Parayko are due here very soon.
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                  Jan. 12, 2021 at 8:16 p.m.
                  #7
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                  Quoting: ForsbergForVezina
                  Love the analysis, really thoughtful and in-depth and I feel like I learned something lol.

                  The Blues are a sleeper for another deep run this year for me. They've got some warts, but they have a nice core, both up front and on defense and I like Binnington a lot more than a lot of other people I know. Going forward, I do have some concerns about how the Schenn, Faulk and Scandella contracts are going to age (Faulk especially, I think he's the next Seabrook, to put it in terms I can understand), but I do like some of their young guys, like Thomas, Dunn and Perunovich and slowly giving those guys bigger roles over the next couple of years should augment the team as a whole and keep them firmly in contention.

                  So yeah, good luck this season. Even with my team trending downwards fast, I'm a bit disappointed the Hawks and Blues won't see each other this season lol. Even recently, those games are always crazy competitive.


                  Faulk actually did better than I thought. Justin Faulk on advanced stats last year was EV Off 65% Percentile, EV Def tho was 32%, one of the strongest in PP and PK in the league, but his projected WAR is 60% which is not bad at all it's just not 6.5M worth, and I honestly don't think he fits on the lineup believe it or not.
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                  Jan. 12, 2021 at 8:22 p.m.
                  #8
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                  Quoting: TheEarthmaster
                  Yeah I'm not big on the Neighbors pick either. He's one of those guys that will for sure be an NHL player but there were more boom-or-bust type guys that I would have liked to take a flyer on. That's how we got someone like Tarasenko after all.

                  I would love Buchnevich on this team. Won't cost a lot and solid underlying numbers. I'd also like to see us go after Coleman on a short-ish deal if he prices himself out of Tampa (and, looking at their cap, he might!) I think Kyrou's speed and shoot first mentality will translate well next to someone like Thomas but I can see the argument that he might not be your ideal top six RW. I would be shocked if the other guys are much more than bottom six guys. Alexandrov might be a good 3C yet, hard to tell with the Q though.

                  Defense is much harder to wrap my head around because it's really hard to improve that position with Scandella and Faulk taking up space. I think Scandella is a fine player, but he's the third best LHD on this team and I think Mikkola will pass him up eventually too, and at that point why did we give him so many years. Meanwhile I don't think anyone needs any reminders of my opinion on Faulk...I think Perunovich will probably stick on the right and I'd like to see maybe a pricier RHD fill in while they're cheap just to give the team added depth (I like Mete and Pesce, Colin Miller also comes to mind and maybe even a defense first guy like Ilya Lyubushkin though that's kind of redundant with Mikkola. Maybe that guy is Reinke or Walman if he can switch hands. Walman used to be awesome in college so I think he's got it in him, his development has just really been hamstrung by injuries and our AHL debacles. But that only works if we move out both Scandella and Faulk and Doug's gonna have to work some real magic on that one.

                  My hot-ish take is that one of the best things that could happen to this team is Husso looking like a competent starting goaltender. I'm really wary about committing money/term to Binnington (or any goalie, really, but especially him). The Blues are really high on Hofer, he's on the taxi squad this year which was a surprise. He might not be far off from NHL work. If Husso is legit, I'd like to see us bridge the gap to a Husso-Hofer tandem with an older (and hopefully cheaper than whatever Binnington wants) starter-caliber goalie like Andersen, Bishop, or even Rask. There's question marks on all of those guys for various (and somewhat undeserved) reasons, but I'd rather gamble on a two or three year deal with one of them for 4/5 million than 6milx5 or whatever we'll give Binnington. But that only works if Husso looks good, and he's not going to have many games to show it. Otherwise, I don't know if you have a choice but to extend Binnington. I could see Ellis or the russian kid making some noise in three years or so.

                  And before anyone jumps down my throat about Rask leaving the Bruins- Bruins fans weirdly hate him and also who ever though Chara and Krug would leave the Bruins?

                  This team still is very capable of hanging with the best but we really gotta make the right moves for the next two or three years to maximize our cup window and I think the past year has been a mixed bag on that front.

                  If I could waive a somewhat realistic magic wand and make all the things I mention above break right, this is probably how I would set the Blues next year:

                  Schenn-O'Reilly-Perron/Buchnevich
                  Schwartz- Thomas -Tarasenko
                  Blais - Coleman - Kyrou
                  MacEachern - Barbashev - Sundqvist
                  Clifford, whoever

                  Krug - Parayko
                  Dunn - Perunovich
                  Mikkola - Miller/Walman/Reinke
                  Bortuzzo

                  Bishop/Andersen/Rask
                  Husso


                  I have my questions when it comes to Binnington as well, but I'm throwing the bubble completely out. I think this is his contract year, this is what's going to prove if he is going to be worth another contract or if we go out and get Tuukka Rask/Frederik Andersen. I think Ville Husso is a boom or bust, but I really like Colten Ellis. I think Colten Ellis last year when I went to the prospect camp was probably the best goalie on the ice, and Evan Fitzpatrick, Joel Hofer, and Ville Husso were all out there. I'm thinking Joel Hofer is probably better than Ville Husso in the future, but I'm thinking it's next year he comes out ready for NHL. I'm more hesitant to see what he can do because he's still a little young, and I wouldn't want to just throw him into the fire. But Binnington is going to be a very interesting situation because while yes he could do very well for us, I'm not sure if he's consistently reliable in that aspect. This year is going to be the year to see with a new team shape. This is basically 2017, but with a better team. Captain is gone team is reshaped, and I think this time around we will do a lot better than we did in 2017.
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                  Jan. 12, 2021 at 11:08 p.m.
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                  CHI NYI
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                  Quoting: TheEarthmaster
                  I think Vlasic is the next Seabrook, if he's not already there. Faulk will look more like a Keith Yandle I think. He's better than what he showed last year, not by a lot though.

                  You remember that Dunn-Caggiula fight from last year? I was at that game, it was just a few weeks before COVID. I really don't like fighting in hockey but that totally rocked.


                  I do remember that fight lol, Caggiula was trying to hype up the crowd just flailing his broken wrist in the air. Wasn't a great offensive effort from the Hawks, but they showed some fight. Crawford played well too, if I remember correctly.

                  And yeah Faulk to Yandle might be a more apt comparison. It will be interesting to see how much he's able to bounce back this season. Can he get back to prime form, or will it just be a slight improvement? Something to watch for
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                  Jan. 13, 2021 at 12:36 a.m.
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                  Open to moving RD or LW prospect for Mete? I think if the Habs decide to move on from him, I can see them going two ways, 1. Packaging him as a sweetener in a larger deal (not really a fit with STL in this case) or 2. moving him for a younger asset with waiver exemption because he can't crack the Habs top 6 and they can't send him down.
                  Jan. 13, 2021 at 9:43 a.m.
                  #11
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                  Quoting: Blazingbat11
                  Open to moving RD or LW prospect for Mete? I think if the Habs decide to move on from him, I can see them going two ways, 1. Packaging him as a sweetener in a larger deal (not really a fit with STL in this case) or 2. moving him for a younger asset with waiver exemption because he can't crack the Habs top 6 and they can't send him down.

                  Well Blues wouldn’t give up Perunovich as a RD, and a LW prospect Kostin is the closest.
                  Jan. 13, 2021 at 9:44 a.m.
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                  Quoting: Blazingbat11
                  Open to moving RD or LW prospect for Mete? I think if the Habs decide to move on from him, I can see them going two ways, 1. Packaging him as a sweetener in a larger deal (not really a fit with STL in this case) or 2. moving him for a younger asset with waiver exemption because he can't crack the Habs top 6 and they can't send him down.


                  Quoting: Blazingbat11
                  Open to moving RD or LW prospect for Mete? I think if the Habs decide to move on from him, I can see them going two ways, 1. Packaging him as a sweetener in a larger deal (not really a fit with STL in this case) or 2. moving him for a younger asset with waiver exemption because he can't crack the Habs top 6 and they can't send him down.


                  Neighbours or Polei, but I think it would cost a bit more to get Neighbours due to him being a first round pick.
                  Jan. 13, 2021 at 11:30 a.m.
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                  Quoting: BeastModeUnknown
                  I have my questions when it comes to Binnington as well, but I'm throwing the bubble completely out. I think this is his contract year, this is what's going to prove if he is going to be worth another contract or if we go out and get Tuukka Rask/Frederik Andersen. I think Ville Husso is a boom or bust, but I really like Colten Ellis. I think Colten Ellis last year when I went to the prospect camp was probably the best goalie on the ice, and Evan Fitzpatrick, Joel Hofer, and Ville Husso were all out there. I'm thinking Joel Hofer is probably better than Ville Husso in the future, but I'm thinking it's next year he comes out ready for NHL. I'm more hesitant to see what he can do because he's still a little young, and I wouldn't want to just throw him into the fire. But Binnington is going to be a very interesting situation because while yes he could do very well for us, I'm not sure if he's consistently reliable in that aspect. This year is going to be the year to see with a new team shape. This is basically 2017, but with a better team. Captain is gone team is reshaped, and I think this time around we will do a lot better than we did in 2017.


                  Yeah I agree you got to throw out the bubble completely. I think that's true for any player, regardless of if they played well or poorly (for example, I'm raising an eyebrow at Pierre-Luc Dubois who didn't crack fifty points in the regular season but played really well in the bubble).

                  The thing about not committing to Binnington is all in how much he's going to want and for how long. I'm of the mind that he's a perfectly capable, probably about league average goaltender long term. And I'm just not sure that's what I want if I'm going to spend, idk 6x4, 5x5, whatever it is. Goaltending is just too wacky to commit eight-ish million (Binnington+backup) long term to the position if all you're gonna get is league average. And then also term- having goalies on long-term contracts is risky because if they implode, you get stuck with Martin Jones for the next four years.

                  So yeah, I think the Blues have done a lot of really good work in the goaltending department at least for prospects. I like Ellis a lot, I like Hofer a lot, it looks like Husso may still be something after it looked a bit shaky there for a bit. So bridging the gap in such a way that you get quality goaltending but also so that they aren't blocked long term is going to be key.
                  Shylo_Moxii liked this.
                   
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