While it has been fun to watch the Blues win some games down the stretch, in the long run it will only hurt the team. The Blues will likely finish as the "best of the worst" and receive the 16th pick in the draft. On top of that they didn't gain any assets at the trade deadline and Army "experiments" in Kapanen, Vrana, Blais, and Hayes all failed this year.
First looking at the draft: Like I said earlier the Blues will likely be picking 16th in this upcoming draft. From there, I would do whatever it took to trade up and draft one of Silayev, Buium, or Dickinson. Then, in the 2nd round I would continue to target dmen and ideally get one of Shuravin, Roberts, or Badinka. Or even possibly trade up again and target late first round dmen prospects in Elick, Emery, and Pulkkinen. The rest of the draft can be best player available.
Players to be dealt: I would start with Hayes, he won't be happy about being benched and it's time to go in a different direction. Send him to a veteran heavy team and all will be well. Next up is Faulk. Kessel has really emerged as a potential top 4 dman which makes Faulk available. Of the Blues available dmen, he likely carries the highest value. Lastly, I would move Buch. While it might hurt, I think the Blues should capitalize on their chance to get high end assets to accelerate the rebuild.
Free agency and offseason outlook: The Blues need a short term 2C or 3C until Dvorsky is ready. If that comes through free agency or a trade it doesn't matter but it is needed. If you can't sign anyone in free agency or make any trades, then simply stick with Hayes but I would prefer not to do that. I think going forward Schenn is best served as a winger but the Blues likely won't have the luxury to play him there just yet. I would sign a veteran 2C or 3C and then trade them at the deadline. At this time, Dvorsky and Dean would enter the lineup as the 2C and 3C and Schenn would shift over to the wing.
Defense: While the defense needs upgrades, this isn't the offseason to add those. After next year, Krug, Leddy, and Faulks full NTCs turn into partial NTCs, making them much easier to move. On top of that, I want to see what the defense looks like with the younger players Kessel, Perunovich, and Tucker getting full time roles.
Season outlook: The main goal is to continue the development of younger players. I would love to see Neighbours, Bolduc, Dean, Kessel, Perunovich, and Tucker continue to grow next year. That should be the main goal, not the playoffs. While this defense and team might not get you to the playoffs you never know.
Blues draft:
*9th (trade up with New Jersey) - Anton Silayev
*26th (trade with Vegas) - Charlie Elick
*50th (pick from Toronto) - Yegor Surin
In free agency, the blues overpay for the versatile Lafferty. He likely gets moved to a contender at the TDL.
At the trade deadline, the blues shop Leddy, Krug, Saad, Blais and Lafferty.
Hypothetical lineup after deadline --> addition of Snuggerud as well:
Bolduc - Thomas - Neighbours
Saad - Dvorsky - Kyrou
Schenn - Roy - Snuggerud
Dean - Sunny - Torpo
I really don’t feel like this accelerates anything. The only part I would really be interested in is trading up for silayev, but I think nj would want at least both 2nds to trade down. Also I think Hague would be the defenseman the blues would want from vgk
I really don’t feel like this accelerates anything. The only part I would really be interested in is trading up for silayev, but I think nj would want at least both 2nds to trade down. Also I think Hague would be the defenseman the blues would want from vgk
It's about accelerating things for the long term, not short term. The Blues shouldn't attempt to compete next year and would be best off getting a top 10 pick. Then, the year after that, they can start competing as they will be able to move out salaries on the Blue line and replace them with young up and coming players. I also really do believe this would accelerate the rebuild because it would put our younger players in a position to succeed. Bolduc would dominate with Thomas for an entire year and become a legit top 6 option. I think Perunovich with Parayko for a year would be great for both. The list goes on for the benefits of just playing the youth. As for Hague, I used to think that too but after reading some Vegas forums they seem to be not so high on him (or at least his ceiling) as opposed to Korczak who they seem very high on. Plus Korczak is right handed which is more valuable to me.
I think the biggest mistake the Blues could make this offseason is believing they have a chance to compete next year. I could see Army going out and signing or trading for a bunch of vets and even possibly trading away our youth/draft picks. That would be a disaster. The goal should be to build a dynasty, not just barely craw into the playoffs every year.
Would be very interesting to see the difference in impact a 10th overall pick has versus a 16th overall pick.
Unless the Blues would’ve done some mighty fine **** show tanking to end the season you likely weren’t getting in to the top 8.
There’s a very real possibility that this group finishing with 90+ points this season has a much more beneficial outcome than moving up 5-6 spots in the draft would’ve. Obviously we’d all rather pick there. But at the same time if you’re picking there you are desperately in need of making roster changes this offseason which we aren’t in a great position to do. Not to mention the confidence this very likely will instill in our young group that they can hang.
Don't think the Canucks would be interested in Faulk at all. In the end I think they'll talk some sense into Hronek and he'll resign (same as Petey where people were talking 12M+, then he took significantly less than expected). Assuming they did trade him, Faulk doesn't really fit the mold of the team. The new management group has been very clear since coming in that they're focused on acquiring younger talent who fit the timeline of their current core. In two and a half years, Rutherford and Allvin have only added two players on the wrong side of 30, Cole and DeSmith, and both were on 1 year deals to fill a major hole. Faulk, given his age and more importantly his term, just doesn't fit in with the clear vision management has for this team. I could maybe see them being interested if Faulk had one year, they didn't like any of the FA options or other trade market options, and the price was right, but I just don't think Faulk would fit in with the type of player Rutherford and Allvin have been looking to add to the Canucks core.
Personally, I see that they are trying to shop all four dmen with NTC's. Could Parayko waive and go to a Canadian team? They would be lucky if they can move two but will be difficult.
I would also like to see that they move on from Binnington and gets someone from free agency. It's one of their rare assets besides Buchy that can get them a first rounder. It's sad but they should try to suck next year. Maybe even try to move Saad.
Can't imagine Vegas moving their 2024 1st round pick. The 2024 draft is held in Vegas and I they will want to walk up the stage and announce their pick in their own hometown.
This is exactly the reason why Vegas used their 2025 and 2026 1st round picks to acquire Hertl and Hanifin instead of using their 2024 pick.
I'm gonna buck the trend of other Canucks fans and suggest that the Canucks would be interested at Faulk at 3y x $5m. I think the better context is not as a Hronek replacement, but as a Myers/Cole replacement.
"In free agency, the blues overpay for the versatile Lafferty. He likely gets moved to a contender at the TDL."
4 Million for Lafferty is really, really bad. Overpaying is an understatement here as he will probably immediately be the worst contract with the Blues. Even if we retain 50% on him it might not be easy to move him.
"In free agency, the blues overpay for the versatile Lafferty. He likely gets moved to a contender at the TDL."
4 Million for Lafferty is really, really bad. Overpaying is an understatement here as he will probably immediately be the worst contract with the Blues. Even if we retain 50% on him it might not be easy to move him.
It's just a one year deal so even if he's horrible it doesn't hurt the team. This team still has 13 million in cap so they have plenty of cap to spend.
It's just a one year deal so even if he's horrible it doesn't hurt the team. This team still has 13 million in cap so they have plenty of cap to spend.
Yeah, but having a lot of capspace doesn't mean we also need to use it. I might totally be wrong, but I feel like we should be able to sign a guy like Lafferty for 2,5 million max. If it's the plan to move him at the trade deadline he should be a lot easier to be traded. If we're not competitive, I wouldn't mind keeping some capspace in case we 'can help another team' by taking a bad expiring contract for a pick/prospect.
BluesReport18 liked this.
Reply
Bolduc,
CapFriendly
CapFriendly