2023-2024 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread

[STL fan in MN]

Woohoo!

 

[Frenzy31]

League Min prove it contract. My favorite.

If he plays great, we can move him at the deadline for middling return. Or resign him.

 

[Brian39]

League Min prove it contract. My favorite.

If he plays great, we can move him at the deadline for middling return. Or resign him.

We don't have details, but I wouldn't be surprised (or at all annoyed) if his contract has a NTC. He was worth a 4th round pick at the deadline last year, played at a 30+ point pace and was fine on Minnesota's 3rd line down the stretch. I think he could have gotten more than league minimum and likely left money on the table to come back to St. Louis. I think it would be more than fair to provide contractual assurance that we aren't going to flip him for a mid-round pick halfway through the year.

 

[kimzey59]

Not sure this warrants a separate thread; but Greiss has officially retired.

Greiss retires from NHL after 14 seasons | NHL.com

37-year-old leads Germany-born goalies with 162 wins

www.nhl.com

 

[Mike Liut]

I love bringing Sunny back, but I also want to see Neighbors and Alexandrov playing every game. I doubt Sunny has any impact on Neighbors, but probably he does for Alexandrov.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I'm really liking how our roster is shaping up, and that's in terms of a team in transition and that is hoping to be a bubble team. I'm not worried about the amount of excess players we have.

Ownership has been willing to have 1-way contracts in the minors in the past and also pay pretty good AHL salaries to the minor league vets to have a decent team down there. Guys like Walker and Mac can easily pass through with a low chance of being claimed if someone forces their way up, same goes for Rosen. The option could be presented to Bortozzo, but I could see him retiring, I honestly don't see him playing more than 40ish games anyway.

Tucker and Perunovich are probably the 2 defensemen that have a shot at pushing for a spot in camp. Perunovich might have to start in the minors to get more games in, and we rewarded him with a 1-way because of that. Hopefully he comes up soon enough though. Tucker should make the team, but we are setup where he has to still earn that spot. I like that he has to earn it.

For the forwards. Alexandrov and Bolduc will have spots available to be won, but if they don't, we have those spots filled, we won't have to panic with a Logan Brown type. Alexandrov and Toropchenko are probably in a battle for that 12th spot. And Bolduc is the x-factor that could throw everything out of whack if his play demands a spot in the top 9. Both of those guys starting in the minors isn't bad either. There are some good AHL vets with Peca and Gaudette, and other young guys like Dean, so plenty of potential to put up big numbers.

 

[Mike Liut]

If we get any improvement from the D, we are a playoff team. This roster is much better than people think

 

[kimzey59]

I'm really liking how our roster is shaping up, and that's in terms of a team in transition and that is hoping to be a bubble team. I'm not worried about the amount of excess players we have.

Ownership has been willing to have 1-way contracts in the minors in the past and also pay pretty good AHL salaries to the minor league vets to have a decent team down there. Guys like Walker and Mac can easily pass through with a low chance of being claimed if someone forces their way up, same goes for Rosen. The option could be presented to Bortozzo, but I could see him retiring, I honestly don't see him playing more than 40ish games anyway.

Tucker and Perunovich are probably the 2 defensemen that have a shot at pushing for a spot in camp. Perunovich might have to start in the minors to get more games in, and we rewarded him with a 1-way because of that. Hopefully he comes up soon enough though. Tucker should make the team, but we are setup where he has to still earn that spot. I like that he has to earn it.

For the forwards. Alexandrov and Bolduc will have spots available to be won, but if they don't, we have those spots filled, we won't have to panic with a Logan Brown type. Alexandrov and Toropchenko are probably in a battle for that 12th spot. And Bolduc is the x-factor that could throw everything out of whack if his play demands a spot in the top 9. Both of those guys starting in the minors isn't bad either. There are some good AHL vets with Peca and Gaudette, and other young guys like Dean, so plenty of potential to put up big numbers.

Disagree slightly.
The wildcard that could really throw a curveball at us is Dickinson.
I know he's missed a year of development, but he's also had a year of straight training to put on some weight. I'll be very curious to see what he weighs in at when training camp starts. If he's NHL size, his speed and skill could make things very interesting.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Disagree slightly.
The wildcard that could really throw a curveball at us is Dickinson.
I know he's missed a year of development, but he's also had a year of straight training to put on some weight. I'll be very curious to see what he weighs in at when training camp starts. If he's NHL size, his speed and skill could make things very interesting.

It could, but I see him as a potential mid-season callup. I think the priority is to get him used to game action again, get that on-ice confidence, and then see if he's ready for a callup.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Disagree slightly.
The wildcard that could really throw a curveball at us is Dickinson.
I know he's missed a year of development, but he's also had a year of straight training to put on some weight. I'll be very curious to see what he weighs in at when training camp starts. If he's NHL size, his speed and skill could make things very interesting.

I’d be pretty surprised if Dickinson can miss a season and a half due to a broken femur and then step right into the NHL.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I love bringing Sunny back, but I also want to see Neighbors and Alexandrov playing every game. I doubt Sunny has any impact on Neighbors, but probably he does for Alexandrov.

I think id rather have Dean and Alexandrov shoring up the AHLs top 2 lines next year with Bolduc with one of them.

 

[Bluesnatic27]

Disagree slightly.
The wildcard that could really throw a curveball at us is Dickinson.
I know he's missed a year of development, but he's also had a year of straight training to put on some weight. I'll be very curious to see what he weighs in at when training camp starts. If he's NHL size, his speed and skill could make things very interesting.

How about we see if the guy can play at a professional level before thinking he can step into the NHL after not playing for an entire year.

He needs to prove he can stay healthy before throwing his name out as a potential roster player.

 

[The Note]

If we get any improvement from the D, we are a playoff team. This roster is much better than people think

I think the roster is pretty mid, but agree that them making the playoffs isn't crazy, particularly given the state of the rest of the conference. I think there are a lot of outcomes on the table for this group this year, and the only one that would really surprise me is if they went on a deep postseason run.

 

[Xerloris]

Thank god, people can stop bitching now

How dare you think we're gonna stop bitching?

Disagree slightly.
The wildcard that could really throw a curveball at us is Dickinson.
I know he's missed a year of development, but he's also had a year of straight training to put on some weight. I'll be very curious to see what he weighs in at when training camp starts. If he's NHL size, his speed and skill could make things very interesting.

I really have no idea who Dickinson is.

 

[BlueOil]

so who's gonna be the 4C?

sunny took 63 face offs between two teams last year and hasn't really taken that many faceoffs overall since the cup win. on top of that, he's not even that good on the dot. can't see him being reliable enough to be the 4C night in and night out, seems like he's purely a 3rd/4th line winger.

alexandrov registered 35% win rate on the dot last season and could probably use way more time in the AHL. neither torpedo or macmac are centers. so is nathan walker our best 4C now? he won 53% of the draws he took last season. i don't want him lining up each night, but who else is taking the 4th line faceoffs if not?

Saad - Thomas - Kyrou
Vrana - Schenn - Buchnevich
Neighbours - Hayes - Kapanen
Blais - X - Sundqvist
Extra forwards: Toropchenko - MacEachern - Walker - Alexandrov

Leddy - Faulk
Scandella - Parayko
Krug - Tucker
Extra Defensemen: Bortuzzo - Perunovich - Rosén

Binnington | Hofer

 

[kimzey59]

so who's gonna be the 4C?

sunny took 63 face offs between two teams last year and hasn't really taken that many faceoffs overall since the cup win. on top of that, he's not even that good on the dot. can't see him being reliable enough to be the 4C night in and night out, seems like he's purely a 3rd/4th line winger.

alexandrov registered 35% win rate on the dot last season and could probably use way more time in the AHL. neither torpedo or macmac are centers. so is nathan walker our best 4C now? he won 53% of the draws he took last season. i don't want him lining up each night, but who else is taking the 4th line faceoffs if not?

Saad - Thomas - Kyrou
Vrana - Schenn - Buchnevich
Neighbours - Hayes - Kapanen
Blais - X - Sundqvist
Extra forwards: Toropchenko - MacEachern - Walker - Alexandrov

Leddy - Faulk
Scandella - Parayko
Krug - Tucker
Extra Defensemen: Bortuzzo - Perunovich - Rosén

Binnington | Hofer

1- I would guess Sunny gets the Center spot until somebody forces him out of the spot. He may not be the best at FO's but I have very little doubt that he can handle the defensive responsiblities.

2- Toro isn't sitting for anybody. IMO that's just crazy talk. The guy finished the year playing on the top line with Thomas and Kyrou. There's no way he goes from that to the press box IMO.

3- Perunovich and Tucker probably both start in Springfield. It's better for both of them to play 20+ a night down there than to ride the press box up here.

Toro-Thomas-Kyrou
Vrana-Schenn-Buch
Saad-Hayes-KK
Neighbours-Sunny-Blais
Walker MacMac

Leddy Faulk
Scandella Parayko
Krug Bortuzzo
Rosen

Binny
Hofer

 

[Brian39]

If we get any improvement from the D, we are a playoff team. This roster is much better than people think

I think we will probably score somewhere between the 8th-15th most goals in the NHL this year. We were 17th with 260 goals last year, which was 20 goals behind the 8th place Lightning. The PP was 22nd at 19.3% last year and the absence of a top-flight one timer was definitely felt. We saw Vrana bury a few quick releases last year and I think that he can help improve the top unit. We have greater offensive depth to put on the 2nd unit as well.

I think there is definitely room for a 10-20+ goal improvement over last year.

ROR, Barby, and Tarasenko chipped in 32 goals from the top 9 across 137 combined games. That averages out to a 19 goal pace per player, which is much more replaceable than what comes to mind when you think about replacing ROR, Tarasenko, and Barby.

Acciari is tough to replace in the bottom 6. His 10 goals in 54 games was a 15 goal pace, which I doubt gets replaced from any of the guys we're talking about snagging 4C duties. However, I think the rest of the bottom-of-the-lineup guys will more than bridge the gap. Leivo had 4 goals in 51 games. Walker had 2 goals in 56 games. Pitlick had a more respectable 7 goals in 61 games (9 goal pace). That's 13 total goals out of bottom 6 guys who combined for 168 games. I expect noticeably more production from the 4th line wings than that. I think we stand to gain 5-10 goals out of our bottom-of-the-lineup guys than we got last year.

I don't expect this team to score 309 goals like it did in 2021/22. But I also expect it to score more than the 260 it had last year. If someone gave me even money at 274.5 goals for, I would take the over. This offense should be better than at least a few teams that wind up making the playoffs. It would need absolutely everything to break right to be looked at as a truly awesome group, but it should be a good group.

 

[BlueDream]

1- I would guess Sunny gets the Center spot until somebody forces him out of the spot. He may not be the best at FO's but I have very little doubt that he can handle the defensive responsiblities.

2- Toro isn't sitting for anybody. IMO that's just crazy talk. The guy finished the year playing on the top line with Thomas and Kyrou. There's no way he goes from that to the press box IMO.

3- Perunovich and Tucker probably both start in Springfield. It's better for both of them to play 20+ a night down there than to ride the press box up here.

Toro-Thomas-Kyrou
Vrana-Schenn-Buch
Saad-Hayes-KK
Neighbours-Sunny-Blais
Walker MacMac

Leddy Faulk
Scandella Parayko
Krug Bortuzzo
Rosen

Binny
Hofer

lol having Toropchenko on the 1st line is the craziest thing of them all. That’s not happening.

Nathan Walker played some games in the top 6 a couple years ago too when we had injuries and he scored some goals. It doesn’t mean anything. Him and Toro are 4th liners.

Blais is a much better player than Toro, so flipping them makes a lot more sense.

I also highly disagree that all of Alexandrov, Tucker and Perunovich start in the AHL. For a team in retool, that makes zero sense. They need NHL playing time.

 

[LGB]

alexandrov registered 35% win rate on the dot last season and could probably use way more time in the AHL.

He'll be 23 in September and was just about PPG in the AHL last season. I think he's pretty much done there.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

so who's gonna be the 4C?

sunny took 63 face offs between two teams last year and hasn't really taken that many faceoffs overall since the cup win. on top of that, he's not even that good on the dot. can't see him being reliable enough to be the 4C night in and night out, seems like he's purely a 3rd/4th line winger.

alexandrov registered 35% win rate on the dot last season and could probably use way more time in the AHL. neither torpedo or macmac are centers. so is nathan walker our best 4C now? he won 53% of the draws he took last season. i don't want him lining up each night, but who else is taking the 4th line faceoffs if not?

Saad - Thomas - Kyrou
Vrana - Schenn - Buchnevich
Neighbours - Hayes - Kapanen
Blais - X - Sundqvist
Extra forwards: Toropchenko - MacEachern - Walker - Alexandrov

Leddy - Faulk
Scandella - Parayko
Krug - Tucker
Extra Defensemen: Bortuzzo - Perunovich - Rosén

Binnington | Hofer

alexandrov has nothing left to prove in the ahl. time for him to win a job. 4c is his for the taking.

 

[kimzey59]

lol having Toropchenko on the 1st line is the craziest thing of them all. That’s not happening.

Nathan Walker played some games in the top 6 a couple years ago too when we had injuries and he scored some goals. It doesn’t mean anything. Him and Toro are 4th liners.

Toro's on the top line the same way Tom Wilson is a 1st liner.
He's there specifically to give Thomas and Kyrou some protection but can easily slide out in favor of Buch, Vrana or Schenn whenever needed.

My objective was to keep Neighbours and Blais together. The two have some pretty obvious chemistry and I want to see how far they can run with it.

But in order to keep those two together, you have to be creative with how you use Toro and Sunny. Hence, Toro on the top line for 12-14 minutes a night and Sunny as the C between Blais and Neighbours.

 

[Brian39]

I think the roster is pretty mid, but agree that them making the playoffs isn't crazy, particularly given the state of the rest of the conference. I think there are a lot of outcomes on the table for this group this year, and the only one that would really surprise me is if they went on a deep postseason run.

How do you define deep? Because I think the West is pretty wide open. More specifically, I think the Central is hot garbage. I could see a C3 or Wild Card team getting to the Conference Final simply from their goalie stealing 2 games against a good team and then beating an okay team. Binner stealing a couple from a good team and then us getting a team win against a team like Nashville or Minnesota wouldn't surprise me. I wouldn't bet on it, but I wouldn't be surprised by it.

 

[Xerloris]

Toro's on the top line the same way Tom Wilson is a 1st liner.
He's there specifically to give Thomas and Kyrou some protection but can easily slide out in favor of Buch, Vrana or Schenn whenever needed.

My objective was to keep Neighbours and Blais together. The two have some pretty obvious chemistry and I want to see how far they can run with it.

But in order to keep those two together, you have to be creative with how you use Toro and Sunny. Hence, Toro on the top line for 12-14 minutes a night and Sunny as the C between Blais and Neighbours.

I almost thought for a bit that you had some good thoughts but that all went out the window when you want to put Toro on the top line. Might as well trade Kyrou and Thomas if you're gonna anchor them to a 4th liner. f***.

 

[kimzey59]

I almost thought for a bit that you had some good thoughts but that all went out the window when you want to put Toro on the top line. Might as well trade Kyrou and Thomas if you're gonna anchor them to a 4th liner. f***.

You mean like putting Sanford and Blais with ROR and Perron?

 

[Xerloris]

You mean like putting Sanford and Blais with ROR and Perron?

Not the same category of stupid. Blais has proven to have talent, Sanford had talent but no effort. Toro has no talent and only size. You cannot put a no talent 4th liner with Thomas and Kyrou. They cannot play 2 v 3. This is not roller hockey.