2024-2025 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread.

[Majorityof1]

I don't think anyone would question those three are great together. The question is which is better for the team, to have a stacked 1st line but weakened middle 6 or a somewhat weaker top line but more balanced scoring throughout. If you put those three together then you're pretty much forced to run Schenn at 2c and then who exactly at 3c? Holloway? Texier if he can even play center effectively? Faksa has been solid but I don't think he's offensive enough to be 3c, and our 4th line has been a strength so far this year.

Honestly, I don't see the problem with re-uniting the big 3 periodically but not putting them together all game. If you want to add a middle six center, then it gets tough. A solid 2c would be great, but who's available that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg? We could aim lower and get more of a 3c guy, which could create a 2a/2b situation with Schenn as the other center.

The way I see it, we're 4-2 doing what we've done so far so I don't see a huge rush to change it. Yes, they weren't all pretty wins but the team has looked fairly good overall and balanced scoring is more important to me than relying on that one line to score most of the goals.

Blueston told you the problem with seperating them. We are getting badly beaten when they are apart. We weaken the top line. Then Buch is an awful C so we don't have two decent lines, we have a weaker 1st line and a still crap 2nd line.

Better to load up in my opinion and have a great 1st line. But even if we want to split them, we need an actual C on the 2nd line.Because we are weakening the top line and not helping the 2nd

 

[Xerloris]

Should resigned ROR when he went FA that summer before signing with the Preds.

 

[Reality Czech]

Should resigned ROR when he went FA that summer before signing with the Preds.

I suspect that ROR preferred to be the 1C in Nashville instead of a veteran 2C with a less important role here. The writing was on the wall that this was becoming Thomas's team and ROR sticking around might have got in the way of that.

I would have loved to keep ROR, but if I had to guess why he signed in Nashville it's because they promised him the 1C role. And he's still good enough to be a 1C for now, I'd say.

 

[Mike Liut]

I suspect that ROR preferred to be the 1C in Nashville instead of a veteran 2C with a less important role here. The writing was on the wall that this was becoming Thomas's team and ROR sticking around might have got in the way of that.

I would have loved to keep ROR, but if I had to guess why he signed in Nashville it's because they promised him the 1C role. And he's still good enough to be a 1C for now, I'd say.

I don’t think ROR looked very engaged when the team was losing when we traded him. He looked like he was checked out.

 

[Reality Czech]

I don’t think ROR looked very engaged when the team was losing when we traded him. He looked like he was checked out.

Yeah I recall that. Then again so was most of the team.

 

[TheDizee]

Blues need to get the damn power play going. Give Perunovich a shot. Kessel is putrid thus far anyways.

It has cost us atleast 2 points, likely 4.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1849122612732924109

 

[SirPaste]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1849123903324512480

Woof

 

[ds774622]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1849122612732924109

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Looks like we will be running

Texier-Buch-Kyrou
Saad-Schenn-Neighbours

 

[BleedBlue14]

I was very optimistic about this season.

I am very not anymore.

Time to start looking at draft eligible prospects again

 

[BrokenFace]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1849123903324512480

Woof

I can't recall seeing our forward lines look this bad. We've been struck with injuries before, but I think you have to go back to the Andy Murray years to find a forward group like this.

 

[Majorityof1]

6-weeks from today is 19 games. If he gets back in that time frame and is up to speed, we aren't totally sunk, just very likely. This is obviously a huge blow. We need to find a way to win a few of these games.

I'd say we need a minimum 40% point capture with Thomas out to have a shot. We have 8 points in 7 games, 19 games without him and 56 after that. If we hit 40%, that would put us at 23 points. With a 98 point playoff threshold (last year cut-off), we'd need to hit a 67% point capture to hit that. 67% is what 2nd in the conference had last year. So we'd have to play well above our projections to even make playoffs then.

 

[PocketNines]

This is an excellent opportunity for the org to recalibrate its expectations. They kind of think this is a sneaky good team. If they are right and most of us are wrong then the team will fade this injury and stay afloat, because they have enough talent to lose one pillar forward.

On the other hand if they are wrong and we are right and we sink accordingly, it won't be the worst thing for them to realize guys they hope are going to be the pillars can't bridge up, because then it informs their thinking

 

[STL fan in MN]

Posting this for absolutely no reason whatsoever…

Sportsnet's 2025 NHL Draft Prospect Rankings: October Edition

I’d have Frondell higher but the top-8 is looking really good.

 

[TheDizee]

I don't mind losing hockey as long as we get a great pick and player and it can lead to dumping deadweight salary in players like Kyrou and Schenn. Team needs to play the game the right way too.

 

[Brian39]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1849122612732924109

Welp.

"Thomas missing significant time" was pretty much the worst case scenario for this season. He's the team's best player and we don't have an actual 2nd line center when he is healthy. Running Schenn and Buch down the middle on the top 2 lines is a major weakness.

It is going to be incredibly difficult to put points in the bank without him.

6-weeks from today is 19 games. If he gets back in that time frame and is up to speed, we aren't totally sunk, just very likely. This is obviously a huge blow. We need to find a way to win a few of these games.

I'd say we need a minimum 40% point capture with Thomas out to have a shot. We have 8 points in 7 games, 19 games without him and 56 after that. If we hit 40%, that would put us at 23 points. With a 98 point playoff threshold (last year cut-off), we'd need to hit a 67% point capture to hit that. 67% is what 2nd in the conference had last year. So we'd have to play well above our projections to even make playoffs then.

The only silver lining I see at first glance is that the schedule does us a few favors in the next 6 weeks.

15 of the 18 games we play through the end of November are against Eastern Conference teams. If we can manage to get a decent chunk of games to OT, we at least won't giving points to teams in our division/conference.

The strength of schedule in that stretch isn't too bad. We have 4 games against teams predicted to be bad who have gotten off to bad starts (Philly twice, San Jose, Montreal) and we avoid most of the teams with an elite center that should be able to feast against a Schenn/Buch top 6 center group. I'm not looking forward to playing Matthews and the Leafs (twice), Point/Kucherov, Zibby/Panarin, and Hughes/Hischier in this stretch. But at least we avoided McDrai, MacKinnon, Sid, Eichel, Petersson/Miller, and Barkov/Tkachuk. Ultimately, we play a lot of teams that have some holes/questions that are plausibly beatable. We also only have a single back-to-back, so we should at least be decently fresh almost every night.

But things get scary right at the 6 week mark (12/3 is 6 weeks from yesterday):

12/3: @ Winnipeg
12/5: @ Calgary
12:7: @ Edmonton
12/10: @ Vancouver
12/12: vs San Jose
12/14: @ Dallas
12/15: vs NYR
12/17: vs New Jersey
12/19: @ Tampa
12/20: @ Florida
12/23: @ Detroit

11 games in 3 weeks. 8 on the road with 2 sets of back to backs during a brutal 7 day stretch with 5 games. Lots of good teams in there too. Trying to dig out of a hole in December is going to be extremely tough.

The goalies need to be excellent and we need to find ways to get games to OT.

 

[Stealth JD]

I can't recall seeing our forward lines look this bad. We've been struck with injuries before, but I think you have to go back to the Andy Murray years to find a forward group like this.

I said something similar three weeks ago. The lines without Thomas are bottom-of-the-league bad.

 

[BlueDream]

This Thomas news is gonna make the team tough to watch.

And frankly, that’s probably what we get. I overall liked Armstrong’s offseason but you can’t really go into a season with question marks at BOTH 2C and 3C. We accumulated too many wingers and threw a Hail Mary at the center position, and unsurprisingly, that Hail Mary was intercepted. There needs to be more of a focus put here besides putting it all on Dvorsky’s shoulders. We are going to have to acquire someone else from outside the organization by the start of 2025 Training Camp.

 

[Mike Liut]

Binny, Thomas and Parayko were the 3 guys I though we couldn’t be without for an extended period of time to have a chance at the playoffs.

 

[Memento]

Binny, Thomas and Parayko were the 3 guys I though we couldn’t be without for an extended period of time to have a chance at the playoffs.

Binnington, you at least have Hofer to pick up the slack (not that I want to lose Binnington on top of Thomas). Without Thomas, our center depth has cratered, like I mentioned in all of those Robert Thomas trade threads.

I hope Holloway can pick up the slack at #2. That's what I'm praying for, at least. I don't want to lose this year, not when the team has so much potential on the lower lines and defenses.

 

[shpongle falls]

I’m not ready to give up on this season yet, lets see how they respond to this adversity, you never know they could surprise us and stay afloat until Thomas gets back.

Feel like with all the good pk guys we have they shouldn’t have to use Thomas for that, not worth it if he gets injured like this.

 

[Spektre]

6-weeks from today is 19 games. If he gets back in that time frame and is up to speed, we aren't totally sunk, just very likely. This is obviously a huge blow. We need to find a way to win a few of these games.

I'd say we need a minimum 40% point capture with Thomas out to have a shot. We have 8 points in 7 games, 19 games without him and 56 after that. If we hit 40%, that would put us at 23 points. With a 98 point playoff threshold (last year cut-off), we'd need to hit a 67% point capture to hit that. 67% is what 2nd in the conference had last year. So we'd have to play well above our projections to even make playoffs then.

Zero chance he’s back in 6 weeks. He won’t be skating in 6 weeks. I broke my tibia and fibula right by the ankle 7 weeks ago. I got my cast off last week and I’m walking slowly. My ankle is still swollen.

He will have to stay off the ankle completely for 6 weeks. You wouldn’t believe how fast neuropathy sets in on the calf muscle when not using it. His ankle will be stiff after 6 weeks.

My best guess is it’ll take 3-4 weeks after the 6 weeks before he’s back to playing.

 

[Robb_K]

Zero chance he’s back in 6 weeks. He won’t be skating in 6 weeks. I broke my tibia and fibula right by the ankle 7 weeks ago. I got my cast off last week and I’m walking slowly. My ankle is still swollen.

He will have to stay off the ankle completely for 6 weeks. You wouldn’t believe how fast neuropathy sets in on the calf muscle when not using it. His ankle will be stiff after 6 weeks.

My best guess is it’ll take 3-4 weeks after the 6 weeks before he’s back to playing.

Yes. absolute minimum of a little over 2 months. 9 to 10 weeks. The Forward lines look really thin at this point questionable scoring, and questionable defence. With rookies or journeymen added as some regulars and some depth. Not very promising.

 

[Mike Liut]

A couple more injuries and we are a lottery team.