2016-2017 Blues (Hockey) Season

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MrCrowesGarden
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Re: 2016-2017 Blues (Hockey) Season

Post by MrCrowesGarden »

I should be elated just from winning the first round series, but once Chicago went out, it's hard not to be a little greedy.

Perron and Berglund were giant letdowns in the playoffs. No other way to put it. Steen has been playing with a broken foot since the Wild series and still outplayed them.

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JoeMcKim
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Re: 2016-2017 Blues (Hockey) Season

Post by JoeMcKim »

Considering that when Hitchcock got fired it didn't even look like the team was going to make the playoffs so you can take a lot of positives from when Yeo took over and build on them for next season.

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JCShutout
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Re: 2016-2017 Blues (Hockey) Season

Post by JCShutout »

Sad to see them go, but Nashville was just a better team, or at least a hotter team right now. Tip your cap.

I've come around on Bou in the playoffs and the last few weeks of the season. Almost makes me want to protect him from Vegas. The Blues have some good pieces. Good to great goaltending and defense, and some really good offensive pieces, but something is missing. I think finding a new home for Lehtera and getting Fabbri back will help, but I think we still need more. I don't know if that should be a FA or a trade or just letting the kids grow or what.

Not sure where we would put any new players though unless we moved 2 or 3 guys off the NHL roster. Even if you found a home for Lehtera and didn't resign Paajarvi, Upshall and Yakupov (I assume they will try to resign Upshall and Paajarvi) you can still fill the entire forward roster with what we have on the roster today.

Schwartz-Barbashev-Tank
Steen-Stastny-Fabbri
Boat-Berglund-Perron
Sanford-Broadziak-Jaskin

And that's excluding the 4 guys above. Barring a trade for a top line center (which probably costs Barbashev and a top D prospect and more?), I'm not sure where you would put a major upgrade. Hope the kids grow and if not make a move mid season?

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MrCrowesGarden
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Re: 2016-2017 Blues (Hockey) Season

Post by MrCrowesGarden »

There's just not much goal scoring pop with those forwards. Beyond 91, it's all supplemental types. Getting Fabbri back won't change that. We need a second scorer. Army did try getting one with both Hall and Drouin, but his trade chip had no interest in playing for Edmonton or Tampa Bay.

Of course, as JCShutout correctly points out, there's really not much wiggle room to add a player because we've given out long term deals to so-so players (Sobotka, Lehtera, Berglund in recent memory.) Plus Parayko needs to get paid, and that's gonna be the top priority.

I think next season makes sense to roll the dice and hope what you have is good enough. They'll have a pick around 20 and a pick around 27. I know it's a weak draft class, but I think you hope there's some good forwards available.

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JCShutout
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Re: 2016-2017 Blues (Hockey) Season

Post by JCShutout »

MrCrowesGarden wrote:There's just not much goal scoring pop with those forwards. Beyond 91, it's all supplemental types. Getting Fabbri back won't change that. We need a second scorer. Army did try getting one with both Hall and Drouin, but his trade chip had no interest in playing for Edmonton or Tampa Bay.

Of course, as JCShutout correctly points out, there's really not much wiggle room to add a player because we've given out long term deals to so-so players (Sobotka, Lehtera, Berglund in recent memory.) Plus Parayko needs to get paid, and that's gonna be the top priority.
I don't mind the depth model if you can do it right. And I think Fabbri and Schwartz can work if you just had another good threat. We are just missing that threat.

Oh, and on recent so-so contracts, don't forget Gunnarson (ugh) and possibly Steen, who hasn't seen 20 goals in a couple of years now. (though I was happy with the extension at the time iirc, which is why I shouldn't be a GM)

A couple of those kinds of contracts are understandable and even useful, but that's too many mid-level dollars in mid-level guys. It helps that Stastny and Perron will be gone after next year, but they'll probably give Jaskin and Paajarvi $3-4m each or something to make up for those losses.

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Re: 2016-2017 Blues (Hockey) Season

Post by MrCrowesGarden »

It seems like you're advocating two different things here: that the depth model is good, but we need another star. I just don't see any of the recent Cup winners who did it with "depth." If they had depth, it was in the form of 3 or 4 great goal scorers, not 1 great one and 6 okay ones.

I'm confident neither Fabbri nor Schwartz are that second banana. They're good players, don't get me wrong, but neither is the second scorer this team is missing.

AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: 2016-2017 Blues (Hockey) Season

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

Not to disagree that the blues need another scorer/more of an offensive threat. But, don't forget the preds in the previous series against the blackhawks allowed only 3 goals total. It's not like this is a team that the blues should have been scoring 4 goals a game against.

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Re: 2016-2017 Blues (Hockey) Season

Post by MrCrowesGarden »

AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:Not to disagree that the blues need another scorer/more of an offensive threat. But, don't forget the preds in the previous series against the blackhawks allowed only 3 goals total. It's not like this is a team that the blues should have been scoring 4 goals a game against.
They're definitely hot, to be sure, but the Blues scoring woes predate the Preds series.

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Re: 2016-2017 Blues (Hockey) Season

Post by Popeye_Card »

I think we should trade Perron to the Blackhawks. Just so that if we face them in the playoffs, he'll take at least 5 dumb penalties for them.

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JCShutout
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Re: 2016-2017 Blues (Hockey) Season

Post by JCShutout »

MrCrowesGarden wrote:It seems like you're advocating two different things here: that the depth model is good, but we need another star. I just don't see any of the recent Cup winners who did it with "depth." If they had depth, it was in the form of 3 or 4 great goal scorers, not 1 great one and 6 okay ones.

I'm confident neither Fabbri nor Schwartz are that second banana. They're good players, don't get me wrong, but neither is the second scorer this team is missing.
Its not either/or. I think one or two really good, but not world beater players (or 3 in Tank, Petro and hopefully Parayko) can do well supplemented by very good players who are decent scoring threats. If Berglund Perron and Stastny can score 20+, and Schwartz, Steen and Fabbri net you 25+ while Tank gives you 35+, you can have a really good team because whichever line you shut down, another will be a threat... like Nashville. The problem is, with the exception of Berglund and Tank, everyone else fell short of those levels in the regular season, and things really dried up in the playoffs.

Most of those guys are paid for the totals I listed. (or for more-Stastny) That's the problem. One or two slightly overpaid guys who bring intangibles to the ice or locker room can work, but we have just too many of those guys. I think Vegas taking one of Bou, Gunnarson or Lehtera will help make some room, but I think if the Blues had another really good offensive piece, or if the pieces scored at a rate I listed above, I think we would have the offense and defense to compete with anyone in a 7 game series.

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