2022-2023 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread

[Snubbed4Vezina]

I'd love to have Sunny back for a season but that's the type of move is going to be difficult for the Blues to make after taking on Kapanen's $3.2M cap hit.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Would rather just play someone from Springfield than sign someone whose best hockey is behind him.

Depends on if that someone is ready for the NHL, makes sense in a 4th line role and can provide what Sunny can for cheaper.

I’d take Sunny over someone like Highmore any day. Even an over the hill (but not out to pasture yet) Sunny.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I'd love to have Sunny back for a season but that's the type of move is going to be difficult for the Blues to make after taking on Kapanen's $3.2M cap hit.

I'd love Sunny back, but only if it's for around $1mm. KK's contract may preclude other deals, but not Sunny because if he wants $2mm+ not likely to be in Lou.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

That's what I'm saying. I don't see him taking $1M or less coming off of a solid season for the Wings where he made $2.75M.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

That's what I'm saying. I don't see him taking $1M or less coming off of a solid season for the Wings where he made $2.75M.

I wouldn't want him at that price regardless of whether we have KK.

 

[Hrkac Circus]

Just win back to back lotteries, Bedard, and whoever the top dman is next year. Problem solved.

Worked for Edmonton. Well, sort of…

 

[bleedblue1223]

Worked for Edmonton. Well, sort of…

Keep sucking until you win the right one. Edmonton just forgot to stop sucking to build a decent team around McDavid and Draisaitl.

 

[Mike Liut]

Next 5 games… 4 are against crap teams. Not good
arizona
SJ x 2
Columbus

 

[TheDizee]

more fuel for kyrou's ego, hot dog lazy time!

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Keep sucking until you win the right one. Edmonton just forgot to stop sucking to build a decent team around McDavid and Draisaitl.

mmmmmm vampyric!

 

[Beauterham]

Keep sucking until you win the right one. Edmonton just forgot to stop sucking to build a decent team around McDavid and Draisaitl.

 

[TheDizee]

congrats to jordan kyrou and brayden schenn on being the NHL's WORST +- recipients at a impressive -30. will be hard to keep your crowns however, Mr Krug is on your trails at -28

 

[STL fan in MN]

It just occurred to me that Blues players will get to participate in something they really haven’t gotten to in a long time - the World Championships.

Should be lots of guys on the Blues the various teams would be interested in. Just depends on how many guys would be interested in extending their seasons to be able to put their country’s jersey on.

The tourney was originally supposed to take place in St. Petersburg but it was switched to Tampere and Riga (combined Finland/Latvia bid) and Russia (and Belarus) were banned from the tourney for…obvious reasons.

So maybe the new guy Kapanen would have extra incentive to go? Could be good for some of them to get that experience…as long as they don’t get hurt.

 

[PJJJP]

What do you guys think we do for our defense next year? I don't think we can move Krug and nobody will pay us the price we want for Parayko. So assuming those 2 stay we will have Parayko, Faulk, Krug, Leddy, Scandella, Rosen, Bortuzzo, Tucker, Perunovich.

 

[bleedblue1223]

What do you guys think we do for our defense next year? I don't think we can move Krug and nobody will pay us the price we want for Parayko. So assuming those 2 stay we will have Parayko, Faulk, Krug, Leddy, Scandella, Rosen, Bortuzzo, Tucker, Perunovich.

I'll answer this Friday night or Saturday.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Buchinger signs 3-year entry-level contract | St. Louis Blues

ST. LOUIS - St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced today the team has signed defenseman Michael Buchinger to a three-year entry-level contract.

www.nhl.com

 

[bleedblue1223]

What do you guys think we do for our defense next year? I don't think we can move Krug and nobody will pay us the price we want for Parayko. So assuming those 2 stay we will have Parayko, Faulk, Krug, Leddy, Scandella, Rosen, Bortuzzo, Tucker, Perunovich.

To add something to it now, I do wonder what we do if Army can't move Krug or Parayko. Would he pivot and move Faulk in the summer, could we try and move Leddy instead, or just accept that we'd be stuck with the group for longer than we'd prefer.

Army has gotten out of Lehtera and Allen, but these contracts will be harder.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I wonder if that's not a terrible comp. Obviously, it's a scenario where everything goes perfectly, but it's smart of him to model his game after a player that you are similar size of and have similar play styles. I don't think we should project that, but so far, his development path is sort of similar, Letang was a better goal scorer though. And Letang probably had more buzz as a prospect being involved with Canada's U18 and U20 teams.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I wonder if that's not a terrible comp. Obviously, it's a scenario where everything goes perfectly, but it's smart of him to model his game after a player that you are similar size of and have similar play styles. I don't think we should project that, but so far, his development path is sort of similar, Letang was a better goal scorer though. And Letang probably had more buzz as a prospect being involved with Canada's U18 and U20 teams.

that is a roundabout way of saying that letang was simply better. which is fine, because letang is borderline HOFer.

 

[Brian39]

What do you guys think we do for our defense next year? I don't think we can move Krug and nobody will pay us the price we want for Parayko. So assuming those 2 stay we will have Parayko, Faulk, Krug, Leddy, Scandella, Rosen, Bortuzzo, Tucker, Perunovich.

Echoing @bleedblue1223, I don't know how to answer that without knowing the markets for any of our 4 highest paid D or without knowing how willing each of those guys is to waive their NTCs.

I think it is way too premature to assume that Krug and Parayko are here next year. Trades involving guys with term are the exception around trade deadline time, not the norm. There are always teams who are unable/unwilling to part with roster players 2 months before the playoffs to free up cap space that find themselves with additional cap space for the following season. For example, the Blues didn't have the ability to take on Faulk at the trade deadline in 2018/19 without disrupting that roster. But then in the summer of 2019, we were able to make a deal for him because the cap realities had changed. Teams make offseason deals that they couldn't/wouldn't make in the middle of the previous season all the time.

We still have 2 more days before the trade deadline and then we have the draft and then another week or so before free agency. The fact that we haven't moved a guy with 3+ years of term by now doesn't tell me that we can't/won't do it before the start of next season.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we came to camp with all 5 of the well paid D because we weren't able to move them. I also wouldn't be surprised if we came to camp having moved 3 of them. And really everything in between is possible too. For now, my focus would be on trying as hard as I could to move Krug without giving up assets and seeing if any team is willing to make an offer I can't refuse for Parayko, Faulk and/or Leddy. And I'd buy Chychrun at a discount price prior to answering those questions if the opportunity presents itself.

 

[bleedblue1223]

that is a roundabout way of saying that letang was simply better. which is fine, because letang is borderline HOFer.

Yeah, it's definitely more of a stylistic comp than a projection comp. Is he going to be more of a play driver with good defense, or someone that is decent in a bunch of areas, but not really excelling at the next level at any of them, like say Leddy.

 

[MissouriMook]

What do you guys think we do for our defense next year? I don't think we can move Krug and nobody will pay us the price we want for Parayko. So assuming those 2 stay we will have Parayko, Faulk, Krug, Leddy, Scandella, Rosen, Bortuzzo, Tucker, Perunovich.

I wish I had more confidence in our pro scouting, because for all of the discussion of needing a true #1 D (which could very well be true) I think a more viable path to a better defense is to target a non-premium asset that can fill the role that JBo had, but a little younger. A left D in the 27-30 year old range that can re-stabilize Parayko on a top pairing would be a great first step, then work on getting a #3/#4 LD to pair with Faulk so one of Leddy or Krug can hold down the 3rd pairing. If you can move both of Leddy and Krug in the next 18 months to help pay for the new guys (you certainly have to subtract at least one to make two adds), you can pencil in one of Tucker or Perunovich on the 3rd pairing and hope that one of Kessel, Lyle, Gaudet, Buchinger or a 2023 draftee is ready to make the jump to the NHL.

I still think there is a path to contention building around Parayko and Faulk on the right side for the next 4-5 years and either replace them or reduce their roles as they age out of being Top 4 quality, but I don't think any of that matters if we don't clean up our scheme, which will likely require changes to the coaching staff.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Stickland said we are interested in multiple NCAA free agents, and he followed this up with Snuggerud expected to stay at Minnesota for another year, so this isn't referencing him. I suppose that means a UFA or Beck. I wonder if Livingstone is high on the list given we can guarantee him immediate playing time.

Going back to the last time we pursued a big time college UFA dman, it would be nice if we could get someone like Dekeyser who could step in and adequately play 20+ minutes. I'm not including guys like Reinke, just the few elite college UFAs that are truly NHL impact ready. That would definitely change the dynamic of our rebuild/retool.

 

[Majorityof1]

I wish I had more confidence in our pro scouting, because for all of the discussion of needing a true #1 D (which could very well be true) I think a more viable path to a better defense is to target a non-premium asset that can fill the role that JBo had, but a little younger. A left D in the 27-30 year old range that can re-stabilize Parayko on a top pairing would be a great first step, then work on getting a #3/#4 LD to pair with Faulk so one of Leddy or Krug can hold down the 3rd pairing. If you can move both of Leddy and Krug in the next 18 months to help pay for the new guys (you certainly have to subtract at least one to make two adds), you can pencil in one of Tucker or Perunovich on the 3rd pairing and hope that one of Kessel, Lyle, Gaudet, Buchinger or a 2023 draftee is ready to make the jump to the NHL.

I still think there is a path to contention building around Parayko and Faulk on the right side for the next 4-5 years and either replace them or reduce their roles as they age out of being Top 4 quality, but I don't think any of that matters if we don't clean up our scheme, which will likely require changes to the coaching staff.

Agreed. I have occasionally said we need an all-situation top 4 LHD if we can't get a #1D. That implies defensively responsible and able to PK with enough offense and transition to not be a black hole. Ideally, we'd want a top pairing guy, but it we could get a #3ish guy and then add a #3-4ish guy to pair with Faulk later, it is feasible that could be good enough.

 

[tfriede2]

Stickland said we are interested in multiple NCAA free agents, and he followed this up with Snuggerud expected to stay at Minnesota for another year, so this isn't referencing him. I suppose that means a UFA or Beck. I wonder if Livingstone is high on the list given we can guarantee him immediate playing time.

Going back to the last time we pursued a big time college UFA dman, it would be nice if we could get someone like Dekeyser who could step in and adequately play 20+ minutes. I'm not including guys like Reinke, just the few elite college UFAs that are truly NHL impact ready. That would definitely change the dynamic of our rebuild/retool.

LaCombe out of Minnesota is a very real possibility. Also, Ryan Johnson out of Minnesota - recall this is the 1st round pick we sent to Buffalo in the ROR trade - that would be funny if we sign him.