2021 Blues Regular Season multi-purpose thread

[Stupendous Yappi]

Parayko and Schenn in COVID protocol

At this point, I think the best possible outcome for the Blues is for 2-3 players to cycle through the COVID protocol every week until they've all done it...BEFORE the playoffs. Its not even bad news to me any more if a player tests positive.

 

[GoBluz24]

At this point, I think the best possible outcome for the Blues is for 2-3 players to cycle through the COVID protocol every week until they've all done it...BEFORE the playoffs. Its not even bad news to me any more if a player tests positive.

How many have NOT gotten covid? 3, 4, 5 players? I can only think of Scandella off the top of my head but I'm sure there are a couple of others.

 

[Xerloris]

Both? He has learned how to play with skilled guys. He always had skill but seemed to struggle when with more skilled players. He was great with Sunny, bad with Tank. But now he seems more comfortable and has looked really good with better players.

But let’s not kid ourselves, he isn’t driving these lines. He is really good in the role of guy who bangs in rebounds but he doesn’t generate enough offense to carry a line. So great complementary player.

We're very lucky that none of our Russians are Kovalev type players.

 

[Celtic Note]

The greater question is ultimately is this an unsustainable career year, or is he hitting the next level and we got a surprise top 6 player.

Or…somewhere in between.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

We're very lucky that none of our Russians are Kovalev type players.

Yeah would suck to have one of the most talented players ever on our team.

and funny that guy on team who idolized kovalev isn’t even Russian, he’s québécois.

 

[Xerloris]

Yeah would suck to have one of the most talented players ever on our team.

and funny that guy on team who idolized kovalev isn’t even Russian, he’s québécois.

I said Kovalev, not Federov. I would prefer not to have players fake a slash and give up a goal, thanks.

 

[Renard]

Look, he has made great strides. I think he is legit nhl defenseman this year, which he wasn’t previously. But he shouldn’t be on first pair or getting the kind of usage he is getting. He isn’t up for it. But Scandella and Parayko shat the bed and we had to try something. Both the eye test and advanced stats tell me that this isn’t working great either. But 2nd pair has been great and 3rd pairing passable so we are getting by. Ideally he would be on 3rd pair where he belongs. Which is much better than what I had thought previously, so I give him much credit.

Fair enough.

 

[Renard]

I looked at Brandon Saad's stat line for the Dallas game. He played 16 min 31 seconds and he had no shots on goal, no hits.

I saw him on the ice at very end of the game, after we scored the two goals, and Berube must trust him defensively ( I thought he was Steen for a moment). But that was the only time I noticed Saad being on the ice. It isn't good for a forward to be inconspicuous and he certainly is.

Did he just have a bad game or is this the player he is, a passenger, a floater?

 

[execwrite1]

Plus/Minus, for what it's worth

Faulk +18
Buchnevich +16
Krug + 14

Parayko -11
Bozak -8
Saad -6

 

[Reality Czech]

I looked at Brandon Saad's stat line for the Dallas game. He played 16 min 31 seconds and he had no shots on goal, no hits.

I saw him on the ice at very end of the game, after we scored the two goals, and Berube must trust him defensively ( I thought he was Steen for a moment). But that was the only time I noticed Saad being on the ice. It isn't good for a forward to be inconspicuous and he certainly is.

Did he just have a bad game or is this the player he is, a passenger, a floater?

I feel like Saad is the kind of guy that doesn't usually hurt a team even if he's not helping much, but I must say that he doesn't really create as many plays on offense as I thought he would. Clearly he's got good finishing ability, but he rarely seems to have the puck on his stick. I think it's too soon to say his signing was a mistake, though we may regret not keeping that cap flexibility for another needed piece at some point. Then again, it takes guys time to gel with a new team so it's probably too early to call it one way or another.

He's a .5 ppg right now, if he picks it up a bit in the second half then he'll probably be worth his AAV. The 5-year term is a bigger concern as we will need to come up with the cash to re-sign ROR, Kyrou, Thomas etc. in the coming years and he's got a NTC.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I looked at Brandon Saad's stat line for the Dallas game. He played 16 min 31 seconds and he had no shots on goal, no hits.

I saw him on the ice at very end of the game, after we scored the two goals, and Berube must trust him defensively ( I thought he was Steen for a moment). But that was the only time I noticed Saad being on the ice. It isn't good for a forward to be inconspicuous and he certainly is.

Did he just have a bad game or is this the player he is, a passenger, a floater?

It's kind of who he is. I wouldn't say he's a floater, he's just not a driver of offensive production. He'll get in that 40-50 point range, a solid secondary goal scoring piece, and can play in all situations as a responsible 2-way winger that is good around the net. He's being paid a fair amount for what he brings, so no issue there. As long as he doesn't decline, then his contract won't be an issue. He's one of those players that basically entered the league pretty close to his peak potential, so people expected him to be better and take the next step in Columbus, but he was fully developed. Lots of players nowadays are like that, Parayko is another one that more or less fits that description.

It's also not helpful that O'Reilly has had a down season to his standard. Saad has basically been a plug and play piece where his floor is that he doesn't hurt any line that he goes on. I always like to compare our current depth scoring pieces to more of our pretender days when we had guys like Stewart/Berglund/Roy/etc., who just could play up and down the lineup and would ultimately be a detriment, where guys like Saad/Barbashev/Sunny/Bozak/etc. over the past few seasons can move around and we won't miss a beat.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Plus/Minus, for what it's worth

Faulk +18
Buchnevich +16
Krug + 14

Parayko -11
Bozak -8
Saad -6

O'Reilly is also a -3. I think people focus too much on Parayko being the main issue on defense, but our 5v5 shutdown unit as a whole has not been up to par this season. Could be a down year, could be some lingering effects of COVID by some of them, and maybe it's something else, but I'd say the combo of the O'Reilly line and Parayko pairing needs to improve defensively. These are guys that typically outperform their expected +/-, and this year it's the opposite.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I said Kovalev, not Federov. I would prefer not to have players fake a slash and give up a goal, thanks.

That is silly. Why would you focus on 1 random moment to dismiss a great player? He won a Stanley Cup, Olympic Gold, WJC Gold, scored over 1,000 points. Had a great career.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I'm just glad Tarasenko followed the Kovalev training routine, so he can last longer on shifts. Still has some work to do to get to Kovalev's level, but maybe a coaching change can help that.

 

[joe galiba]

That is silly. Why would you focus on 1 random moment to dismiss a great player? He won a Stanley Cup, Olympic Gold, WJC Gold, scored over 1,000 points. Had a great career.

and got those 1000 points playing a lot of games in the dead puck era

 

[execwrite1]

Absent Parayko - defense pairs??

Faulk Krug
Bortuzzo Mikkola
Scandella Perunovich

 

[Reality Czech]

It's kind of who he is. I wouldn't say he's a floater, he's just not a driver of offensive production. He'll get in that 40-50 point range, a solid secondary goal scoring piece, and can play in all situations as a responsible 2-way winger that is good around the net. He's being paid a fair amount for what he brings, so no issue there. As long as he doesn't decline, then his contract won't be an issue. He's one of those players that basically entered the league pretty close to his peak potential, so people expected him to be better and take the next step in Columbus, but he was fully developed. Lots of players nowadays are like that, Parayko is another one that more or less fits that description.

It's also not helpful that O'Reilly has had a down season to his standard. Saad has basically been a plug and play piece where his floor is that he doesn't hurt any line that he goes on. I always like to compare our current depth scoring pieces to more of our pretender days when we had guys like Stewart/Berglund/Roy/etc., who just could play up and down the lineup and would ultimately be a detriment, where guys like Saad/Barbashev/Sunny/Bozak/etc. over the past few seasons can move around and we won't miss a beat.

Good breakdown. Not only has ROR had a slow start to the season, but the same could be said of Perron. Despite having 20 points in 25 games, I don't feel he's really been a factor since the early part of the season. Getting his bell rung again certainly didn't help matters, but at some point that pair is gonna get going. I also think Saad's experience will be valuable in the playoffs as having a 2-time Cup winner around never hurts.

 

[Reality Czech]

Absent Parayko - defense pairs??

Faulk Krug
Bortuzzo Mikkola
Scandella Perunovich

Isn't Scotty still in covid protocol? Calling Rosen back up for this one or is he on the taxi squad?

 

[bleedblue1223]

Good breakdown. Not only has ROR had a slow start to the season, but the same could be said of Perron. Despite having 20 points in 25 games, I don't feel he's really been a factor since the early part of the season. Getting his bell rung again certainly didn't help matters, but at some point that pair is gonna get going. I also think Saad's experience will be valuable in the playoffs as having a 2-time Cup winner around never hurts.

And you mention Perron, and this is something I've wanted to discuss for a bit. I know for awhile, we've been under the assumption that we want to extend and bring Perron back, and I've been questioning that lately. If Barbie has hit the next level, his extension after next season is going to be a bit more expensive. And if he's also hit that next level, that will give us an internal top 6 winger, where we feel we won't have to give Perron a decent raise and if he walks, he walks.

I could easily see a scenario where Perron and Tarasenko do not return and that takes care of our cap issues for Husso, a potential LHD upgrade and the raises that Thomas and Kyrou get when their deals are up because we should start planning on making sure we have space in summer of 2024. It would just really suck to see him leave again.

 

[Brian39]

I looked at Brandon Saad's stat line for the Dallas game. He played 16 min 31 seconds and he had no shots on goal, no hits.

I saw him on the ice at very end of the game, after we scored the two goals, and Berube must trust him defensively ( I thought he was Steen for a moment). But that was the only time I noticed Saad being on the ice. It isn't good for a forward to be inconspicuous and he certainly is.

Did he just have a bad game or is this the player he is, a passenger, a floater?

Hard disagree if the forward is being asked to be a defensive shutdown player, which is exactly what Berube has Saad doing right now.

His job recently has been to start in our zone, prevent chances and then get the puck away from our zone. Against Dallas he had a 70/30 zone faceoff split in favor of the defensive zone and he started zero on-the-fly shifts in the offensive zone. He had positive possession and expected stats across the board. He is eating hard defensive minutes so that the top 6 can focus on offense. I don't expect or really want a forward in that job to be all that noticeable.

 

[Reality Czech]

And you mention Perron, and this is something I've wanted to discuss for a bit. I know for awhile, we've been under the assumption that we want to extend and bring Perron back, and I've been questioning that lately. If Barbie has hit the next level, his extension after next season is going to be a bit more expensive. And if he's also hit that next level, that will give us an internal top 6 winger, where we feel we won't have to give Perron a decent raise and if he walks, he walks.

I could easily see a scenario where Perron and Tarasenko do not return and that takes care of our cap issues for Husso, a potential LHD upgrade and the raises that Thomas and Kyrou get when their deals are up because we should start planning on making sure we have space in summer of 2024. It would just really suck to see him leave again.

Yeah, the sentimental part of me hopes he retires as a Blue but I guess it comes down to how much money he wants. He's been underpaid in recent years, so we'll see how willing he is to take a team-friendly deal. You make some good points as to why it might be in the Blues best interests to let him walk. Having Saad around at $4.5 million also might make Perron expendable, though I think most of us would rather have Perron between the two of them.

 

[BlueDream]

And you mention Perron, and this is something I've wanted to discuss for a bit. I know for awhile, we've been under the assumption that we want to extend and bring Perron back, and I've been questioning that lately. If Barbie has hit the next level, his extension after next season is going to be a bit more expensive. And if he's also hit that next level, that will give us an internal top 6 winger, where we feel we won't have to give Perron a decent raise and if he walks, he walks.

I could easily see a scenario where Perron and Tarasenko do not return and that takes care of our cap issues for Husso, a potential LHD upgrade and the raises that Thomas and Kyrou get when their deals are up because we should start planning on making sure we have space in summer of 2024. It would just really suck to see him leave again.

I’m not sure how we can afford to lose both Perron and Tarasenko. That’s too many goals to replace. I think one will be gone for sure.

I’m not a believer in Barbashev replacing either. I like him as a player but I don’t think he will ever come close to hitting 60 points or whatever he’s on pace for again after this year. I’m fine with him on the 3rd line but I still don’t view him as top 6 moving forward.

It will definitely be another intriguing offseason though for sure.

 

[Renard]

Hard disagree if the forward is being asked to be a defensive shutdown player, which is exactly what Berube has Saad doing right now.

His job recently has been to start in our zone, prevent chances and then get the puck away from our zone. Against Dallas he had a 70/30 zone faceoff split in favor of the defensive zone and he started zero on-the-fly shifts in the offensive zone. He had positive possession and expected stats across the board. He is eating hard defensive minutes so that the top 6 can focus on offense. I don't expect or really want a forward in that job to be all that noticeable.

I didn't mention that he had no blocked shots either, which I would expect from a guy being used as a shutdown defensive forward.

When we acquired him, all the pundits mentioned was Saad's offense.

But I will take note of what you said, and watch Saad closely on Saturday, my wife and I have tickets.

 

[MissouriMook]

Yeah, the sentimental part of me hopes he retires as a Blue but I guess it comes down to how much money he wants. He's been underpaid in recent years, so we'll see how willing he is to take a team-friendly deal. You make some good points as to why it might be in the Blues best interests to let him walk. Having Saad around at $4.5 million also might make Perron expendable, though I think most of us would rather have Perron between the two of them.

Perron will be 34 in May. He's won a Cup and recently had another concussion after having a significant one early in his career. It is quite possible that no deal has come forward because he is contemplating retirement after the season to preserve his quality of life down the road.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Perron on Covid list