2022-2023 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread

[CaliforniaBlues310]

Agreed, though I think it's more likely we get a less exciting 2LHD type. I really think Hanifin is the play.

Completely okay with it being Hanifin if that’s the case. Perfect partner for CP55.

 

[BlueDream]

Sundqvist was on 101 ESPN this morning and said he would like to come back here. He said “I hope we can get something worked out.”

 

[shpongle falls]

Sundqvist was on 101 ESPN this morning and said he would like to come back here. He said “I hope we can get something worked out.”

Cool to hear! If we can get him on a cheap deal I would love to get Sunny back.

 

[TK 421]

Sundqvist was on 101 ESPN this morning and said he would like to come back here. He said “I hope we can get something worked out.”

Translation:
"I will sign a league minimum contract to be back where I was happy."

 

[BlueDream]

Translation:
"I will sign a league minimum contract to be back where I was happy."

Honestly wouldn’t be surprised. He sounds like Perron with how much he loves this city.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Sundqvist was on 101 ESPN this morning and said he would like to come back here. He said “I hope we can get something worked out.”

I welcome him back with open arms and Urban Chestnut

 

[ScratchCatFever]

I'll take a guy who wants to be here any day of the week. A 4th line of Sunny Blais Toro sounds like a handful and what could be an effective identity line for a team that desperately needs one.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

I'll take a guy who wants to be here any day of the week. A 4th line of Sunny Blais Toro sounds like a handful and what could be an effective identity line for a team that desperately needs one.

I personally believe that Blais is best used as a complimentary piece to a middle 6 line, but you’d have to think a 4th line of Neighbours-Sundqvist-Toropchenko at full health, with Alexandrov filling in when injuries strike, would be very effective.

 

[ScratchCatFever]

I personally believe that Blais is best used as a complimentary piece to a middle 6 line, but you’d have to think a 4th line of Neighbours-Sundqvist-Toropchenko at full health, with Alexandrov filling in when injuries strike, would be very effective.

He certainly looked like he could fill that role after the Tank deal. If he can be that guy over 82 games then we're in a nice spot with our upcoming depth.

I have to believe the thought within the organization is that Neighbours grabs that role by taking a noticeable step forward with his all around game and almost making the two of them interchangeable.

 

[Xerloris]

I personally believe that Blais is best used as a complimentary piece to a middle 6 line, but you’d have to think a 4th line of Neighbours-Sundqvist-Toropchenko at full health, with Alexandrov filling in when injuries strike, would be very effective.

I think Neighbors has the ability to be 2nd line, prolly pushed to 3rd if we're doing well but definitely not 4th.

 

[tfriede2]

I think Neighbors has the ability to be 2nd line, prolly pushed to 3rd if we're doing well but definitely not 4th.

Agreed. I think the 4th line would be Sundqvist-Alexandrov-Toro

 

[Frenzy31]

So here is a question: which of our UFA forwards winds up providing us with the best return at the deadline if we are out of the playoff race?

Blais, Vrana, or Kap.

Vrana is the best offensive player.
Kap can be a solid middle six scorer and good d (when motivated)
Blais is the most physical and but I don’t know if he will continue to score like he did when he arrived from NY.

 

[Xerloris]

So here is a question: which of our UFA forwards winds up providing us with the best return at the deadline if we are out of the playoff race?

Blais, Vrana, or Kap.

Vrana is the best offensive player.
Kap can be a solid middle six scorer and good d (when motivated)
Blais is the most physical and but I don’t know if he will continue to score like he did when he arrived from NY.

Blais is cheap and we need to keep him.

 

[Mike Liut]

So here is a question: which of our UFA forwards winds up providing us with the best return at the deadline if we are out of the playoff race?

Blais, Vrana, or Kap.

Vrana is the best offensive player.
Kap can be a solid middle six scorer and good d (when motivated)
Blais is the most physical and but I don’t know if he will continue to score like he did when he arrived from NY.

If they aren’t signed to an extension by the tdl, I’m moving all 3

 

[Xanadude]

Sunny on a league minimum or close would be great. Adding decent depth that wants to be here is bound to be a massive improvement over Pitlick/Leivo/whoever we used last year. Seems like a clubhouse guy too.

And when it comes to selling UFAs, it's too early to tell what they'd fetch. If Vrana keeps up his pace from last year he'd fetch a good price; if Kapanen can function as a checking forward a contender would love him for cheap since we can retain. Blais I can't see moving, however; he's been too good for us and only us.

 

[The Note]

So here is a question: which of our UFA forwards winds up providing us with the best return at the deadline if we are out of the playoff race?

Blais, Vrana, or Kap.

Vrana is the best offensive player.
Kap can be a solid middle six scorer and good d (when motivated)
Blais is the most physical and but I don’t know if he will continue to score like he did when he arrived from NY.

Blais will almost certainly not score like he did when he came over, that was boosted by a 23% shooting percentage in 31 games, his highest since an even flukier 25% in 36 games back in 20-21. I think he's a useful player that can slide up the lineup in a pinch but I think he is what he is at this point and is likely to stick around. If he rides a shooting heater all year, then I think teams would covet a guy willing to throw his weight around and pot goals, but I'm skeptical he will. I think Vrana is most likely from the list assuming there's no off-ice setbacks. I can see him having a nice enough season that a contending team wants to add him as relatively cheap scoring depth (assuming the Blues were to retain like they did this past TDL, which idk why they wouldn't with one year left) and I don't see him as a longer term piece. Kap could maybe get you something halfway decent, but I think Vrana would be the most appealing player from that list barring something unforeseen.

 

[LogosBlue]

I think Vrana will have an outstanding season next year and work himself right into a team friendly short to moderate term extension that both sides won't get burnt on. Give him a little bit more dough and a 3 year extension. That would become an asset you retain for a few seasons.

 

[Xerloris]

Blais will almost certainly not score like he did when he came over, that was boosted by a 23% shooting percentage in 31 games, his highest since an even flukier 25% in 36 games back in 20-21. I think he's a useful player that can slide up the lineup in a pinch but I think he is what he is at this point and is likely to stick around. If he rides a shooting heater all year, then I think teams would covet a guy willing to throw his weight around and pot goals, but I'm skeptical he will. I think Vrana is most likely from the list assuming there's no off-ice setbacks. I can see him having a nice enough season that a contending team wants to add him as relatively cheap scoring depth (assuming the Blues were to retain like they did this past TDL, which idk why they wouldn't with one year left) and I don't see him as a longer term piece. Kap could maybe get you something halfway decent, but I think Vrana would be the most appealing player from that list barring something unforeseen.

He continued it in the worlds or what ever it was. I'm sure you're right but it wasn't a one and done at least. A lot of scoring comes from confidence and he's at an all time high.

 

[Brian39]

So here is a question: which of our UFA forwards winds up providing us with the best return at the deadline if we are out of the playoff race?

Blais, Vrana, or Kap.

Vrana is the best offensive player.
Kap can be a solid middle six scorer and good d (when motivated)
Blais is the most physical and but I don’t know if he will continue to score like he did when he arrived from NY.

If Vrana doesn't have any personal issues that keep him out of the lineup, then it is him by a mile.

In his last 170 NHL games (2019/20-present), he has 68 goals and 123 points, which is a 32 goal and 59 point pace over 82 games. 58 of those 68 goals came at even strength, which is a 28 even strength goal pace over 82 games.

He has a genuinely elite shot. He is one of just 21 guys in the league with a shooting percentage of 16% or better since 2018/19 (minimum 100 games played). A lot of the guys on that list got there by being net front guys who hammer in rebounds and tap in back door feeds, but he is there on the strength of his release, accuracy, and shooting velocity.

Elite shooters who can pot 20+ at even strength and act as a trigger man on a PP is exactly the type of guy teams overpay for at the deadline. The reason he didn't have value last deadline was the off ice issues that kept him out of the lineup all season combined with the term/amount of his contract. If he's been in the lineup for 50+ games by the deadline, that means teams have a 75+ game sample to look at and about a year and a half of sobriety to look at. He will no longer have term on the contract AND we can retain to get his AAV down to $1.3M. All of the concerns/risks would be gone and you would be talking about a 25+ goal guy.

Kapanen and Blais have 50 point upside as an absolute ceiling. I think expectations should be for less than that. They do other things better, but those traits don't return nearly as much as elite shooters at the trade deadline.

As others have said, if these guys are performing then let's explore team friendly (relative to that performance) extensions. If they aren't extended by the deadline, then move them unless this team has massively turned it around and is top 5 in the West.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

So here is a question: which of our UFA forwards winds up providing us with the best return at the deadline if we are out of the playoff race?

Blais, Vrana, or Kap.

Vrana is the best offensive player.
Kap can be a solid middle six scorer and good d (when motivated)
Blais is the most physical and but I don’t know if he will continue to score like he did when he arrived from NY.

I don’t think any of them return 1st or 2nd.

 

[Frenzy31]

If Vrana doesn't have any personal issues that keep him out of the lineup, then it is him by a mile.

In his last 170 NHL games (2019/20-present), he has 68 goals and 123 points, which is a 32 goal and 59 point pace over 82 games. 58 of those 68 goals came at even strength, which is a 28 even strength goal pace over 82 games.

He has a genuinely elite shot. He is one of just 21 guys in the league with a shooting percentage of 16% or better since 2018/19 (minimum 100 games played). A lot of the guys on that list got there by being net front guys who hammer in rebounds and tap in back door feeds, but he is there on the strength of his release, accuracy, and shooting velocity.

Elite shooters who can pot 20+ at even strength and act as a trigger man on a PP is exactly the type of guy teams overpay for at the deadline. The reason he didn't have value last deadline was the off ice issues that kept him out of the lineup all season combined with the term/amount of his contract. If he's been in the lineup for 50+ games by the deadline, that means teams have a 75+ game sample to look at and about a year and a half of sobriety to look at. He will no longer have term on the contract AND we can retain to get his AAV down to $1.3M. All of the concerns/risks would be gone and you would be talking about a 25+ goal guy.

Kapanen and Blais have 50 point upside as an absolute ceiling. I think expectations should be for less than that. They do other things better, but those traits don't return nearly as much as elite shooters at the trade deadline.

As others have said, if these guys are performing then let's explore team friendly (relative to that performance) extensions. If they aren't extended by the deadline, then move them unless this team has massively turned it around and is top 5 in the West.

Would you rather have Barby or Tarasenko in the playoffs? Blais vs. Vrana kind of falls in the same category. But it may depend on team needs.

 

[stl76]

I don’t think any of them return 1st or 2nd.

If Vrana has the type of season he is capable of, no way he doesn’t return a 1st + something small IMO.

 

[Brian39]

Blais will almost certainly not score like he did when he came over, that was boosted by a 23% shooting percentage in 31 games, his highest since an even flukier 25% in 36 games back in 20-21. I think he's a useful player that can slide up the lineup in a pinch but I think he is what he is at this point and is likely to stick around. If he rides a shooting heater all year, then I think teams would covet a guy willing to throw his weight around and pot goals, but I'm skeptical he will. I think Vrana is most likely from the list assuming there's no off-ice setbacks. I can see him having a nice enough season that a contending team wants to add him as relatively cheap scoring depth (assuming the Blues were to retain like they did this past TDL, which idk why they wouldn't with one year left) and I don't see him as a longer term piece. Kap could maybe get you something halfway decent, but I think Vrana would be the most appealing player from that list barring something unforeseen.

Agreed that Blais won't shoot 23% over a full season. However, he has a really accurate shot and is pretty selective about when he shoots. I don't think that 15% is an unreasonable full-season number if he doesn't increase his shooting volume and that would probably get him to the 15 goal mark if he stays healthy.

A 15 goal and 200+ hit guy definitely has decent value at the TDL. Not as much as a a top 6 goal scorer, but I don't think a mid-late 2nd rounder would be out of the question. I'd prefer to see him sign a team-friendly 2 year extension, but I certainly couldn't blame a guy with his career earnings trying to maximize every dollar on his next contract. His style isn't conducive to a long career.

 

[Drubilly]

Agreed that Blais won't shoot 23% over a full season. However, he has a really accurate shot and is pretty selective about when he shoots. I don't think that 15% is an unreasonable full-season number if he doesn't increase his shooting volume and that would probably get him to the 15 goal mark if he stays healthy.

A 15 goal and 200+ hit guy definitely has decent value at the TDL. Not as much as a a top 6 goal scorer, but I don't think a mid-late 2nd rounder would be out of the question. I'd prefer to see him sign a team-friendly 2 year extension, but I certainly couldn't blame a guy with his career earnings trying to maximize every dollar on his next contract. His style isn't conducive to a long career.

While I’d prefer to extend him I think he can get a Tampa late first special if he continues his current pace.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

If Vrana has the type of season he is capable of, no way he doesn’t return a 1st + something small IMO.

Doubtful. 2 teams have already bailed on him. His reputation is crap. Set aside substance question and ask whether anyone would give 1st for Mike Hoffman?