2021 Off Season Discussion Thread

[CaliforniaBlues310]

Per Elliot Friedman we’re acquiring Logan Brown for Zach Sanford

 

[A Real Barn Burner]

Per Elliot Friedman we’re acquiring Logan Brown for Zach Sanford

View attachment 466390

Well that something. Still find it odd we are announcing a press conference before we finalized the trade.

Edit: it does still seem unusual can’t remember Armstrong calling a press conference for a trade that wasn’t a big one.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Well that something. Still find it odd we are announcing a press conference before we finalized the trade.

Edit: it does still seem unusual can’t remember Armstrong calling a press conference for a trade that wasn’t a big one.

Friedman speculated it could be Army extension.

 

[Moose and Squirrel]

Armstrong’s comments made me wonder whether Berube had requested something like this. With such inexperienced assistants, it’s nice to have some coaching grey hair in the organization to support him.

would prefer they bring Robinson back in, at least for a bit, to work with the Dmen

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Well that something. Still find it odd we are announcing a press conference before we finalized the trade.

Edit: it does still seem unusual can’t remember Armstrong calling a press conference for a trade that wasn’t a big one.

Pretty sure the 2 aren't related.

 

[Xerloris]

We're still waiting for the presser right?

 

[Mike Liut]

I’m going on record and saying Thomas is going to be a beast this year.

 

[WeWentBlues]

Another nice trade by Armstrong. Welcome home Logan Brown!

 

[Linkens Mastery]

In trades so far it's Sanford, Blais, and a 2nd for Buchnevich, Brown, and a Conditional 4th. Pretty happy with the trades this off-season.

 

[TheDizee]

so do the blues have cap space to sign Neal if he continues this play?

You can say its a meaningless preseason game etc but a hat trick is still a hat trick and you dont see those too often

 

[WeWentBlues]

so do the blues have cap space to sign Neal if he continues this play?

You can say its a meaningless preseason game etc but a hat trick is still a hat trick and you dont see those too often

It would be at the expense of someone else from the 23-man. If I had to pick between Clifford or Neal though....

 

[WeWentBlues]

Less than 3 weeks until the puck drops. Cant believe hockey season is almost here!

 

[KirkOut]

It would be at the expense of someone else from the 23-man. If I had to pick between Clifford or Neal though....

Agreed. Have Neal on the bench over Clifford. A top 6 guy goes down, you can move a third liner up and put Neal on the 3rd line. A 4th liner goes down, use one of the many many options for grinders that we have in the system

when sundqvist comes back:

Saad-ROR-Perron
Schenn-Thomas-Kyrou
Buch-Barbashev-Tarasenko
Kostin-Bozak-Sundqvist

Neal, Brown/Mac/Joshua extras.

that’s a ridiculous forward lineup

 

[kimzey59]

Agreed. Have Neal on the bench over Clifford. A top 6 guy goes down, you can move a third liner up and put Neal on the 3rd line. A 4th liner goes down, use one of the many many options for grinders that we have in the system

when sundqvist comes back:

Saad-ROR-Perron
Schenn-Thomas-Kyrou
Buch-Barbashev-Tarasenko
Kostin-Bozak-Sundqvist

Neal, Brown/Mac/Joshua extras.

that’s a ridiculous forward lineup

Not sure we have this glut of grinders that you seem to think we do.
Joshua, MacMac and maybe Toropchenko and Stevens are the only ones slated for the AHL that really fit the definition of a grinder.

What we have a glut of is AAAA scorers. Walker, Peca, Brown, Anas and Todd have all shown a scoring touch in the minors but haven't translated that to the NHL just yet. I don't think any one of them would be "bad" in a call up role; but I don't want to see any of them in a 4th line grinders role. They all have some defensive issues that make them unsuitable for that role. If and when we call them up; they need to be in a role where they can use their offensive ability. That means top 9; not 4th line.
Granted; you aren't exactly "hurting for depth" when you have 9 forwards that look to be valid callup options, but the glut is in the area of fringe offensive players rather than true "grinders".

I'm not overly sold on keeping Clifford around(way too many forward options on this team); but he is the best actual grinder we can put in a reserve type spot. The question is whether we actually need a reserve grinder or if that spot would better spent on a youngster.

 

[Brian39]

Not sure we have this glut of grinders that you seem to think we do.
Joshua, MacMac and maybe Toropchenko and Stevens are the only ones slated for the AHL that really fit the definition of a grinder.

What we have a glut of is AAAA scorers. Walker, Peca, Brown, Anas and Todd have all shown a scoring touch in the minors but haven't translated that to the NHL just yet. I don't think any one of them would be "bad" in a call up role; but I don't want to see any of them in a 4th line grinders role. They all have some defensive issues that make them unsuitable for that role. If and when we call them up; they need to be in a role where they can use their offensive ability. That means top 9; not 4th line.
Granted; you aren't exactly "hurting for depth" when you have 9 forwards that look to be valid callup options, but the glut is in the area of fringe offensive players rather than true "grinders".

I'm not overly sold on keeping Clifford around(way too many forward options on this team); but he is the best actual grinder we can put in a reserve type spot. The question is whether we actually need a reserve grinder or if that spot would better spent on a youngster.

Clifford, Barby, Sunny, and MacMac have all been NHL-caliber grinders for the last couple years. Joshua proved to be an effective short-term grinder call up last season too. So even if you exclude any of the other question marks, that is 5 guys who fit the bill as a 4th line grinder. Sunny and Barby are in your starting 12 man forward group when healthy, keep one of Clifford/Mac as forward number 14 and risk the other to waivers. Joshua isn't going to get claimed on waivers during camp. Even if Clifford/Mac gets claimed on waivers, you are still looking at 2 replacement level or better grinders available in the system to plug 4th line holes as needed. That's an organizational glut of talent for a specific role.

 

[WeWentBlues]

Wonder what it would take to sign Neal on a 1-year deal. If we could get it done for around 1M, I would gladly swap Clifford or MacEachern for him.

 

[Thallis]

I'm getting the feeling that we're going to sign Neal and he's going to get plugged in with Perron and ROR at some point

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

I'm getting the feeling that we're going to sign Neal and he's going to get plugged in with Perron and ROR at some point

If Perron and Neal still have the chemistry from a few years back in Vegas, I wouldn’t mind it. They made Haula a 55 point center lol.

 

[Brockon]

If Perron and Neal still have the chemistry from a few years back in Vegas, I wouldn’t mind it. They made Haula a 55 point center lol.

I'd counter with Perron got dragged down by Neal - He had his lowest goal output of the past 4 years playing with Neal!

Let's conveniently ignore the bracketed info...
16 goals in 70 gp 2017-18 (50A-66p)
23 goals in 57 gp 2018-19 (23A-46p)
25 goals in 71 gp 2019-20 (35A-60p)
19 goals in 56 gp 2020-21 (39A-59p)

 

[Zezel’s Pretzels]

I'm getting the feeling that we're going to sign Neal and he's going to get plugged in with Perron and ROR at some point

I get the feeling that Neal is Army's plan to fill a 3rd line role vacated by Vladi when he's traded for the top 4 LD we're all hoping for. If you view his PTO through that lens, it makes much more sense. Neal isn't a 4th line grinder, and he shouldn't be a top 6 guy (unless he's plugged in with guys like ROR and Perron - I have to believe he's a much better version than Sanford for such a role). He's perfect Vladi trade insurance.

If Army is doing him a favor by showcasing him in preseason games, that's cool too...but I have to think there's more to it than that.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I get the feeling that Neal is Army's plan to fill a 3rd line role vacated by Vladi when he's traded for the top 4 LD we're all hoping for. If you view his PTO through that lens, it makes much more sense. Neal isn't a 4th line grinder, and he shouldn't be a top 6 guy (unless he's plugged in with guys like ROR and Perron - I have to believe he's a much better version than Sanford for such a role). He's perfect Vladi trade insurance.

If Army is doing him a favor by showcasing him in preseason games, that's cool too...but I have to think there's more to it than that.

I think it's more simple, Neal is a way to replace Maroon, and that's something that I think he's been frustrated with Sanford and Blais not taking that role. A big bodied vet, that can chip in some goals on the 3rd line or on a rotational role. Army knew Sanford was going to be moved too, so adding a vet with size to compete with youngsters with size makes sense.

 

[Mike Liut]

I’m warming up to Neal, but not at the cost of Kostin

 

[Zezel’s Pretzels]

I’m warming up to Neal, but not at the cost of Kostin

Given the Sanford trade, potential Vladi trade, and the inevitability of injuries/LTIR visits in season, I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive in any way.

 

[Mike Liut]

Given the Sanford trade, potential Vladi trade, and the inevitability of injuries/LTIR visits in season, I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive in any way.

I think Vladdy stays now

 

[Zezel’s Pretzels]

I think Vladdy stays now

I hope so too, and the chances are higher than they used to be, but it’s still more likely he is traded IMO.