2023-2024 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread

[TheDizee]

sign sunny army u fool ffs

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I was thinking about the Draft. If there are maybe another shitty year is in our best interest.

There's 3 at the top of the Class I'd be pretty happy with if we got a 4-10 pitch

 

[Mike Liut]

There's 3 at the top of the Class I'd be pretty happy with if we got a 4-10 pitch

I think we’ll be a little better next year. Bubble team and draft around 15

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I think we’ll be a little better next year. Bubble team and draft around 15

I'd rather not. One more year of suckage. Draft high, then we can start being good once Dvorsky and Snuggles join the team the season after next.

 

[Mike Liut]

I'd rather not. One more year of suckage. Draft high, then we can start being good once Dvorsky and Snuggles join the team the season after next.

I’d love another top 10 pick, I just think they’ll be a little better next year.

 

[Brockon]

I’d love another top 10 pick, I just think they’ll be a little better next year.

Our defensive scheme can't be much worse than it was this year, with confusion about coverage allowing a ridiculous number of backdoor tap ins while running Parayko into the ground.

I'd think a new defence scheme probably pushes us into the 8-11 range of the draft as a bubble team with our first. I think Berube squeezes another 6-10 points in the standings out of our group, pushing us towards an 88 point season (gut feeling) - just comparing that to this season's non playoff teams.

I don't see us out sucking
SJS
ARZ
MTL
CBJ
ANA
PHI
CHI

in the mix with
VAN
DET
WSH

Ahead of (draft order)
CGY
PIT
BUF
OTT
NSH

And that's not accounting for a NSH, PIT or WPG regression - all of which I feel had flaws they didn't address or in WPG's case have players leaving/wanting out leaving roster holes making me believe they'll fall out of the playoffs in favor of CGY sneaking in.

 

[Frenzy31]

I think the jackets take a massive step forward. Just added too much to their young roster. Vancouver has taken a step forward. Buffalo and Ottawa should also be older and better. But the west is weak. East is strong….

Nash and possibly Calgary are going to take steps back.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I don't think either Vrana or Kap have one foot out the door in Army's view. Both will be 28 prior to 24/25, so I could see them wanting to maximize their contract value, but if the season goes well for them, I could also see them valuing being in a good spot, in a place that gave them another chance.

If Vrana does well, it could be tough to make his cap hit work, but I imagine his league wide value wouldn't be sky high, even with a good season, so maybe the contract wouldn't be that bad. While they are completely different players, Vrana's hot start with us should be viewed like Chris Stewart's hot start, lets see what he does over a longer stretch.

Both acquisitions were smart. Armstrong will likely create value with little risk in terms of term or money commitments, regardless of whether they are traded or re-signed.

 

[Mike Liut]

It seems Army has been targeting more 2 way grittier players in the past couple years, with the exception of Vrana. This years draft and the acquisition of Dean and last with Snuggy gives us many more players that seem to fit our mold much better. I like the direction we are headed. Now it’s time to focus on bigger damn.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

It seems Army has been targeting more 2 way grittier players in the past couple years, with the exception of Vrana. This years draft and the acquisition of Dean and last with Snuggy gives us many more players that seem to fit our mold much better. I like the direction we are headed. Now it’s time to focus on bigger damn.

We shouldn't be looking at Vrana, Kapanen, or Hayes as a longterm outlook of the direction the Blues are heading in. But I agree with what you are saying about our draft picks

 

[Mike Liut]

We shouldn't be looking at Vrana, Kapanen, or Hayes as a longterm outlook of the direction the Blues are heading in. But I agree with what you are saying about our draft picks

Very true. Those three were cheap additions for a stop gap. I have no problem with all 3.

 

[LogosBlue]

We shouldn't be looking at Vrana, Kapanen, or Hayes as a longterm outlook of the direction the Blues are heading in. But I agree with what you are saying about our draft picks

Yes, Kap and Hayes are stop gap players but i see Vrana as a long term reclamation project with lots of potential for future Blues lineups.

 

[Brian39]

I don’t even care if we’re not that good again but my main disappointment is how boring this team is going to be. It’s basically the same team as last season, and they weren’t fun to watch at all.

The only thing that could really salvage it is if we see all the young guys make major contributions, so that’s what I’m hoping for. I’d love for Dean to make a strong push for the roster and make a guy like Kapanen expendable quickly.

I think this team looks way different than last year.

ROR, Tarasenko, Barby, Acciari, and Mikkola were members of this team for two-thirds of the season last year and are all gone. We're only returning 7 forwards who played 50+ games with the Blues last season and one of them is Nathan Walker who is looking a lot like a 13th forward this year.

Blais played 31 games with the team, but he was certainly exciting and fun to watch. Vrana and Kap played 20 and 23 games with the Blues and I certainly enjoyed watching the 18 goals they scored. If you count these 3 guys as returns, then I think it is fair to look at the style/level of play in the time that they were here. We had the 7th best offense in the NHL post-trade-deadline with 3.52 goals peer game. I think that number was helped by the strength of schedule, but it was about half a goal per game more than we scored in the first 61 games of the season (3.05 goals per game, which was 20th). We played in a lot of fun, high scoring and unpredictable games post-deadline.

Blais, Hayes, Kap, and Vrana are going to make up at least a third of the top 9 and non of them were here until the all-star break. Neighbours should be getting penciled in for a full time job and he was only here for about half the season last year. Alexandrov appears to be the team's 4C and he only played 28 games. I think there is a good chance that the Buch-Thomas-Kyrou line plays a lot together (they outscored teams 14-7 at 5 on 5 last year as a line), but other than that the entire offense is going to look way different than it did for the large majority of last season.

I think Army is still trying to move a D man out, but this group will likely be more of a 'return from last year' than the forwards. But Scandella only played 20 games last year, Tucker only played 26 games and Perunovich played 0 games. If we don't move out a D man, I expect two of Scandella/Tucker/Perunovich to be everyday players next year.

In net, Binner returns, but we have a rookie goalie who only got a 2week cup of coffee in the NHL last year instead of Greiss.

We also replaced 2 assistant coaches.

I think this team is going to look much different than last year. Probably still not close to good enough defensively to to playoff damage, but a lot different than last year.

 

[BrokenFace]

If Vrana has a great year, do we move him for a 1st at the TDL, or try to extend him?

Easily move him imo. Do we want to commit to a guy who wore out his welcome in 2 organizations that quickly? Deal him for futures. Even once we turn things around, does anyone feel comfortable with both Kyrou and Vrana's defensive flaws in the playoffs?

 

[Brian39]

We shouldn't be looking at Vrana, Kapanen, or Hayes as a longterm outlook of the direction the Blues are heading in. But I agree with what you are saying about our draft picks

I wouldn't rule out Vrana or Kap as earning their way into the long-term outlook for the team. If they excel, can be extended on a team-friendly deal and make other players expendable then you have to think about including them in the long term plans.

If Vrana has scored 20 goals in the first 50 games of the season (exactly in line with his pace over his last 170 NHL games played since 2019/20) and is willing to sign a below-market value extension, then I think you have to consider making him part of the long-term plan. I don't think you walk away from 30 goal scorers unless they want that big UFA money.

If Kap can chip in 40 points and good defense in a shutdown role then I think you have to consider making him the long-term replacement for Saad if he's looking for a deal in the $3M-$4M range. I'm not expecting him to force Saad out, but if he can provide a similar contribution for less money, then why not keep the guy who is 5 years younger?

Hayes definitely isn't in the long-term outlook (extending beyond his current contract) and is very likely to finish his current deal for another team. But I wouldn't be shocked if he manages to contribute as a supplemental 3rd line piece in all 3 seasons. That would almost certainly mean that we let both Kap/Vrana go and either traded a couple forward prospects for D help and/or saw more prospects than expected bust.

I don't think any have the inside track to joining our longterm plans at the moment, but I think all can earn it with solid play.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

With him still being a Free Agent I'm wondering if Sunny and Army have a deal in place but waiting to make a move.

 

[Beauterham]

With him still being a Free Agent I'm wondering if Sunny and Army have a deal in place but waiting to make a move.

Wouldn't be the first time Army does this as he did the same with Mike Hoffman and Patrick Maroon. Maybe Army wants to move out one or two players first before adding (seeing we have 8 defensemen on 1 way contracts+Perunovich).

 

[bleedblue1223]

Wouldn't be the first time Army does this as he did the same with Mike Hoffman and Patrick Maroon. Maybe Army wants to move out one or two players first before adding (seeing we have 8 defensemen on 1 way contracts+Perunovich).

Bozak is another. I wouldn't be shocked if Sunny was brought in, but I'm not entirely expecting it either.

 

[Xerloris]

Bozak is another. I wouldn't be shocked if Sunny was brought in, but I'm not entirely expecting it either.

Someone needs to inform him that he will be fired if Sunny is not in the Blue note at the start of the season.

 

[Renard]

Easily move him imo. Do we want to commit to a guy who wore out his welcome in 2 organizations that quickly? Deal him for futures. Even once we turn things around, does anyone feel comfortable with both Kyrou and Vrana's defensive flaws in the playoffs?

People make mistakes. Sometimes, they learn from them.

 

[BlueDream]

The day we finally traded Tarasenko is such a happy memory.

We already knew he had a history of arguing with coaches (both Berube and Hitch) because he wasn’t getting enough powerplay time. He also pouted on the bench when he wasn’t scoring. Now look, I don’t mind when players show emotion so I can move past this stuff.

But now we’re seeing a pattern of who he really is. Firing agents multiple times because there isn’t as much interest in him around the league as Vladi’s ego wants there to be.

Remember when he shot back at Jim Thomas and chastised him in an interview for simply asking about the status of Vladi’s trade request? Tarasenko dodged the question every single time and then played victim for someone asking him about it. If he would have simply addressed it just ONE time, he could have put it to rest. But nah, he didn’t have the courage to be honest about the situation.

Dude is a bit of a headcase. I won’t ever miss him at all, unlike other former Blues. Hope he loses in the first round every year wherever he goes, like the Rangers did.

 

[Mike Liut]

The day we finally traded Tarasenko is such a happy memory.

We already knew he had a history of arguing with coaches (both Berube and Hitch) because he wasn’t getting enough powerplay time. He also pouted on the bench when he wasn’t scoring. Now look, I don’t mind when players show emotion so I can move past this stuff.

But now we’re seeing a pattern of who he really is. Firing agents multiple times because there isn’t as much interest in him around the league as Vladi’s ego wants there to be.

Remember when he shot back at Jim Thomas and chastised him in an interview for simply asking about the status of Vladi’s trade request? Tarasenko dodged the question every single time and then played victim for someone asking him about it. If he would have simply addressed it just ONE time, he could have put it to rest. But nah, he didn’t have the courage to be honest about the situation.

Dude is a bit of a headcase. I won’t ever miss him at all, unlike other former Blues. Hope he loses in the first round every year wherever he goes, like the Rangers did.

I’m glad he’s gone

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I hope wherever he goes, him and his family are happy. But I'm happy that these past 2 years of Tarasenko drama is over.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

Maybe we’re too close to the situation, but I really feel as if Vladi would’ve been much better off just making amends with the organization and staying here for his whole career. He’s had absolutely terrible timing with both his trade request, and then hitting free agency in the year where money is the most tight it’s ever been.

He just seemingly keeps fumbling over and over again, and maybe it truly was bad advice from agents, but man, I feel like he’s going to regret his decision to want out of STL.

 

[rumrokh]

Even if it takes a couple years, I really want Hofer to cement himself as a consistent starter. He doesn't have to be a world-beater, just somebody really reliable.

Binnington was incredible during the Cup run and we've had some fun goaltending moments (Elliott and Mason seem like cool guys, Legace's all-star appearance was a hoot), but since Cujo and the overplaying of old Fuhr, the only goalies who have been true starters for more than a couple seasons are flaky ass Jake & Jordan. I would love to enjoy the apparent luxury of a starting goalie I can feel good about and root for year after year.