2022-2023 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread

[joe galiba]

I'd like to see Buch center Kyrou. He's the only linemate Kyrou has really had success with this season, even away from Thomas they've put up good results together. If he can fix Kyrou that would be invaluable for this team. I'd try:

Saad - Buch - Kyrou
Vrana - Thomas - Kapanen

I do not like Thomas and Kyrou on the same line
they are the only two players we have that can gain the o-zone essentially alone, a lot of their strengths with the puck are similar, and they seem to play a "defer to each other" game when they are on the ice together
I think they look better on the ice when they have line mates that have different strengths than their own

 

[Oberyn]

Buch is too much of a hothead to be captain. He also doesn't have much left on his current contract and he's going to be due a big raise if his production continues/rises. Who knows if he'll want to stay here or if we'll even be able to keep him.

Good thing Backes was the very definition of an angel when he was our captain.

Just poking fun at you, but I don't think being a hothead should be a deterrent considering some of our former captains. Tbh I don't think he's a hothead but he can definitely have his moments. I do agree that his current contract situation would make him less likely to be a candidate for captain but hopefully the Blues can lock him down long term. He's a fun player to watch, both on and off the ice.

 

[MissouriMook]

Good thing Backes was the very definition of an angel when he was our captain.

Just poking fun at you, but I don't think being a hothead should be a deterrent considering some of our former captains. Tbh I don't think he's a hothead but he can definitely have his moments. I do agree that his current contract situation would make him less likely to be a candidate for captain but hopefully the Blues can lock him down long term. He's a fun player to watch, both on and off the ice.

Barc Plager, Bob Plager, Sutter, Butcher, Hull, Pronger...hey, maybe Buch needs to turn it up a notch before we consider him to be qualified.

 

[Xerloris]

I want to preface this by saying I know that you aren't intending to be racist, but this is same type of thinking that leads to companies only hiring white men in public facing roles because they think folks are more comfortable with them.

That's like saying Montreal shouldn't care if their captain speaks French or not.

 

[STL fan in MN]

That's like saying Montreal shouldn't care if their captain speaks French or not.

I will very directly say it - Montreal shouldn’t care if their captain speaks French or not.

And considering a lot of their recent captains, they don’t. Nick Suzuki is their current captain. Ontario boy that doesn’t speak French. Shea Weber, Max Pacioretty, Brian Giona, Mike Keane, Saku Koivu…did any of these guys speak French?

I think they usually commit to trying to learn a bit of it over time but it’s not the requirement it used to be.

 

[LGB]

I do not like Thomas and Kyrou on the same line
they are the only two players we have that can gain the o-zone essentially alone, a lot of their strengths with the puck are similar, and they seem to play a "defer to each other" game when they are on the ice together
I think they look better on the ice when they have line mates that have different strengths than their own

Yeah I think Kyrou being on his line prevents Thomas from really getting into his puck possession game. He needs linemates that can keep a cycle alive at least and find space in the slot for Thomas to set them up.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I think Scandella has become slightly more important for the Blues than he was prior to his return and because of the results of the TDL.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Buch-Schenn-Kyrou
Vrana-Thomas-Kappy

 

[mk80]

I will very directly say it - Montreal shouldn’t care if their captain speaks French or not.

And considering a lot of their recent captains, they don’t. Nick Suzuki is their current captain. Ontario boy that doesn’t speak French. Shea Weber, Max Pacioretty, Brian Giona, Mike Keane, Saku Koivu…did any of these guys speak French?

I think they usually commit to trying to learn a bit of it over time but it’s not the requirement it used to be.

Captains not so much but they do care about their head coaches being fluent in French.

 

[LGB]

Buch-Schenn-Kyrou
Vrana-Thomas-Kappy

If we want to have a competent 3rd line we'll need to keep Schenn there. I'd like to continue with the Buch at C experiment for now as well. I was thinking it would be interesting to see Alexandrov playing wing on the 3rd line, I'd like to see him with some skilled players.

 

[joe galiba]

Buch-Schenn-Kyrou
Vrana-Thomas-Kappy

i would keep them in twos
Scenn-Kyrou
Thomas-Vrana
Buch-Kap
then mix and match Saad, Blais, and Neighbors

 

[Celtic Note]

I really don’t care for Schenn and Kyrou together. That’s two poorly defending players on a line.

I do like Buch and either Thomas or Kyrou it helps to offset some of the poor defensive play. Saad with the other one is ok as it helps offset the poor defending as well. I think Thomas will grow into that role more. He has shown that competency in the past. Kap seems to fit in there to an extent as well.
Thinking about our roster construction, it becomes rather clear that we need Thomas to improve defensively and we need another top six center that is actually good defensively. We don’t have that right now. Because we also have too many wingers that are not good at defending, it makes it too hard to have mediocre defending defenders.

Our quality defending top 6 wingers are:

Near Elite - Buch

Good - Saad

Ok - Kap

Bad - Vrana/Kyrou

Our Top 6 defending centers are:

Just ok / average - Thomas

Schenn - Poor


There isn’t a whole lot there to work with defensively. Personally I would rather see Schenn move to wing as he just isn’t a great center. He can serve the role, but his deficiencies are less noticeable on wing. We would be better served with competitiveness if we could afford to slot him there or drop him to a 3rd line winger position. But, moving him down isn’t cost effective and it means we need are still relatively weak defensively down the middle without a Selke caliber top 6 center. That’s tough to find.

If we move him to wing, then we need two middle six or a #1 and #3C.

Regardless, that’s really hard to solve. If the Buch experiment works and he is still at a 1st line level then things change. Then we need to find better defending wingers, which are normally easier to find and cheaper too. The experiment is certainly interesting. Hopefully it pays off.

 

[LGB]

Schenn and Kyrou have been awful together this year. 40.2% xGF and 38.2% GF in 301 minutes.

 

[Reality Czech]

Let’s put it this way, if Schenn is the best of the group then we should just wait till a true captain emerges. Army basically said something similar on his latest interview. We have time for a leadership group to step forward and it could take 12-24 months. He doesn’t sound like he is seeing the leadership he needs to see. Nor do I (obviously you don’t seem to think much of my opinion, but maybe you care about Army’s). He called out Schenn and the top 4D as guys who could do it but haven’t and he called out the young guys as needing to do the same. That’s in line with what I think should happen. Wait for someone to step up. I haven’t seen it. Army hasn’t seen it.

Also, this is a forum for us to discuss all things hockey. If we cannot discuss things like leadership, then why show up here?

Go ahead and discuss it but I think fans are making broad assumptions based off a limited amount of information. Why was Dallas Drake a bad choice as captain? Was he a detriment to the team? I'm sure he was picked because of his experience, work ethic and most importantly, he had the respect of his teammates and coaches. I have no doubt that he earned the C.

I have no problem waiting to name a captain, in fact it's probably the smart move right now. But I'm not buying the reasons people are using to say Schenn would be a bad choice. He's had a rough stretch of games like the majority of the team, so that somehow means he would be a bad captain? I will be satisfied with whoever they choose because only the guys close to the team know which guy is best suited to fill that role. But I would say that a captain is chosen more for what he does off the ice than on the ice, and I feel a lot of fans are using on-ice reasons to justify who they think should be captain.

 

[MissouriMook]

Looking at the last 16 games of the season, only 3 of them are against teams below us in the standings and 2 of those are on the road. It feels like 5-11 should be the expectation for the rest of the season. I’m guessing 73 points (assuming we get none tonight) will be good for the 7th or 8th overall pick. Just hope that’s where the lottery ball lands.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Looking at the last 16 games of the season, only 3 of them are against teams below us in the standings and 2 of those are on the road. It feels like 5-11 should be the expectation for the rest of the season. I’m guessing 73 points (assuming we get none tonight) will be good for the 7th or 8th overall pick. Just hope that’s where the lottery ball lands.

PUT ALL OF OUR HOPE IN THE BALLS!

 

[oPlaiD]

Looking at the last 16 games of the season, only 3 of them are against teams below us in the standings and 2 of those are on the road. It feels like 5-11 should be the expectation for the rest of the season. I’m guessing 73 points (assuming we get none tonight) will be good for the 7th or 8th overall pick. Just hope that’s where the lottery ball lands.

I just wish our playoffs lasted more than the drawing of two balls. Tis what it tis though. I'll certainly be excited to watch it.

 

[LetsGoBooze]

After playing the Jackets last night and Laine getting another one on us, i went stat diving. Kyrou has more goals than Laine each of the past two seasons, and he is ahead of him this year as well. Laine does have less games played in most seasons, but it goes to show how impressive Kyrou's goal scoring can be. I would like to see Kyrou improve his defensive awareness, but i think if we build around him correctly, focus on his strengths, he will easily be worth his contract, and be a perennial 30 goal scorer.

 

[jjniner]

Not naming a captain because ROR is coming back on a very, very team friendly deal. 3 years, 4 million AAV

 

[Joelhead]

I want to preface this by saying I know that you aren't intending to be racist, but this is same type of thinking that leads to companies only hiring white men in public facing roles because they think folks are more comfortable with them.

I haven't actually looked at this particularly statistic in a while (if ever) but I just don't think the implied premise that companies only hire white men to be their face is correct. I am of the opinion that companies are doing everything they can within reason to promote diverse demographics (which they are welcome to do). I know when I watch television, I see a whole host of minorities being used to promote brands (I suppose that advertising isn't directly related to PR oriented titles but I would think that the reasoning behind it would be the same, assuming that said company is worried about how they are perceived by the public). To the extent that they are overrepresented per Capita in the United States. Unless I see statistics to the contrary, I have to believe what I've perceived, even if it's only anecdotal. Show me statistics for assertions like that.

 

[TheDizee]

lmao, we've beaten the two worst teams in the league a few times and now they get puff piece articles written for them.

With improved play lately, Blues appear to have shaken off trade-deadline malaise

Starting with the eve of trade deadline day, team is 3-3-0 but has been competitive in every game.

www.stltoday.com

 

[Mike Liut]

We need Snuggs and Bolduc to become legit top 6 players

I want to re-sign Vrana and Kap somehow.

I want to keep Parayko

need Dean to be really good 3C minimum

need Neighbors to keep progressing.

need to hit on our #1 picks this year

is that too much to ask?

 

[joe galiba]

We need Snuggs and Bolduc to become legit top 6 players

I want to re-sign Vrana and Kap somehow.

I want to keep Parayko

need Dean to be really good 3C minimum

need Neighbors to keep progressing.

need to hit on our #1 picks this year

is that too much to ask?

you forgot Bedard

 

[Mike Liut]

you forgot Bedard

We drafted him and he tore both acl’s and had to retire right after the draft.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

We drafted him and he tore both acl’s and had to retire right after the draft.