2024-2025 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread.

[TheDizee]

A couple more injuries and we are a lottery team.

Don't worry, Kyrou will totally carry the team the next 2 months.

 

[BrokenFace]

A couple more injuries and we are a lottery team.

Binner would be the most devastating right now. Followed by Buch (especially with him being a center by necessity now), then Parayko and Kyrou.

 

[TK 421]

So how far could we realistically sink over the next 6 weeks? We're at 15th currently and I think we could get as low as 8th or 9th in that time frame.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

So how far could we realistically sink over the next 6 weeks? We're at 15th currently and I think we could get as low as 8th or 9th in that time frame.

What’s worse than rock bottom on skid row?

 

[Spektre]

Losing Thomas is bad but I think long term it could benefit the Blues.

I’m confident nobody thinks this roster are contenders with or without Thomas. It’s an important year for Bolduc, Neighbors, and others. It’s a growing year for the team in general.

I hope the best for the players but I hope they get a top 5 pick. Doubt they’ll be that bad but it would be nice to draft really high and add a top prospect to the pool.

 

[Xerloris]

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.

Are you a 25 year old physically peak professional athlete with access to the best medical care you can possibly get?

 

[Reality Czech]

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.

Who should we have acquired? All the center UFA options got overpaid and we didn't need anyone blocking Dvorsky long term. And it's not like guys like Stephenson or Monahan are major needle movers. Or we could have used assets for a trade but does that really make sense in a season when we're not expected to contend?

We may see a minor trade for a stopgap center but we're just gonna have to roll with Buch, Schenn, Sunny, Faksa and maybe hope one of Holloway/Texier sticks. Dean and/or Dvorsky might get a call up if all else fails.

If Boston is really looking to move Frederic for more offense I wonder if Saad would get it done, perhaps with a small add.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

Are you a 25 year old physically peak professional athlete with access to the best medical care you can possibly get?

Are you the doctor treating Thomas with intimate knowledge of the recovery time of a broken ankle?

 

[Spektre]

Are you a 25 year old physically peak professional athlete with access to the best medical care you can possibly get?

His ankle is fractured. Whether they put him in a cast or a boot, he will go 6 weeks without putting pressure on it, or moving it.

Recovery time after the 6 weeks is where youth and fitness will help. Nobody in the world can go 6 weeks in a cast or boot and then instantly put on ice skates and play in the NHL or any other league.

100% he will have some neuropathy in his calf muscle and 100% his ankle will be stiff from being in one position for 6 weeks. It takes time to get that strength and mobility back no matter what your age is.

I guess it’s fine if you don’t believe me. When the Blues “reevaluate” him after 6 weeks, they’ll probably give another timetable of when he will return.

When Thomas isn’t skating in 6 weeks, I’ll be here and looking forward to your reply of something like “hey, it’s almost like you knew what you were talking about somehow”

 

[STL fan in MN]

Losing Thomas is bad but I think long term it could benefit the Blues.

I’m confident nobody thinks this roster are contenders with or without Thomas. It’s an important year for Bolduc, Neighbors, and others. It’s a growing year for the team in general.

I hope the best for the players but I hope they get a top 5 pick. Doubt they’ll be that bad but it would be nice to draft really high and add a top prospect to the pool.

Agreed. It’s certainly not ideal but it gives some guys an opportunity in what was a transition year anyway. I’m hoping they give Holloway a good look at C and he runs with it.

 

[Brian39]

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.

There are lots of injuries deemed 'ankle fractures' that are much less serious than breaking your tibia and fibula. Jack Roslovic returned 6 weeks and 4 days after fracturing his ankle last season. I agree with you that most ankle fractures take much longer than 6 weeks to return to action. 6 weeks is very much optimistic given what we know and my guess is that we are talking about 8+ weeks.

But we don't know any of the details about his specific injury and there are scenarios where it was minor enough that he "only" has to stay off it for 4 weeks and then can begin strengthening the surrounding muscles while putting weight on it. We don't know whether it requires a surgery. 6 weeks in a boot/cast is pretty much the minimum following a surgery, but a small fracture that doesn't require surgery doesn't carry the same timelines.

My gut tells me that we probably don't see him until after Christmas, but the Blues have been cagey about using the term "will be re-evaluated in X time" for the last few years. Given how many times we've seen Blues returning right at the initial timeline, it appears that the Blues use that term to refer to the time they believe the player could be cleared to play.

 

[Brian39]

Losing Thomas is bad but I think long term it could benefit the Blues.

I’m confident nobody thinks this roster are contenders with or without Thomas. It’s an important year for Bolduc, Neighbors, and others. It’s a growing year for the team in general.

I hope the best for the players but I hope they get a top 5 pick. Doubt they’ll be that bad but it would be nice to draft really high and add a top prospect to the pool.

My pessimistic take is that the lack of quality centers is doing to harm the development of those two. If we wind up being completely caved in across all 3 top 9 lines, that isn't going to help them develop a lot of the skills we want them working on. Neither of these guys are ready to drive a line right now and there is a good chance that at least one of them will now be playing most of their minutes without a guy capable of doing that.

My optimistic side is that this might very well force the team to play Texier and/or Holloway at center and get a definitive idea about how viable either of them can be there long-term. Finding out that one of them can be a legit 3C in the medium term would be a pretty significant result.

I just really hope that we don't suffer another injury that forces/convinces the team to call up Dvorsky out of desperation. I don't think he's NHL ready and I want him to get at least the full first half of the season growing in the AHL.

 

[PocketNines]

I think Armstrong will adjust to whatever happens over the next six weeks which is the big unknown. Do they rally and play for each other, get great goaltending and stay afloat and stay generally healthy and a couple guys shine and carry the team with a timely burst in play? Or do they get cratered? Or an inconsistent mix of both?

I'm pretty sure if the season goes south he is prepared to weaponize cap space at the deadline to be the third team getting mid draft picks to eat salary, just a hunch but I think he has cottoned on to that trend from Bills Armstrong and Guerin

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

There are lots of injuries deemed 'ankle fractures' that are much less serious than breaking your tibia and fibula. Jack Roslovic returned 6 weeks and 4 days after fracturing his ankle last season. I agree with you that most ankle fractures take much longer than 6 weeks to return to action. 6 weeks is very much optimistic given what we know and my guess is that we are talking about 8+ weeks.

But we don't know any of the details about his specific injury and there are scenarios where it was minor enough that he "only" has to stay off it for 4 weeks and then can begin strengthening the surrounding muscles while putting weight on it. We don't know whether it requires a surgery. 6 weeks in a boot/cast is pretty much the minimum following a surgery, but a small fracture that doesn't require surgery doesn't carry the same timelines.

My gut tells me that we probably don't see him until after Christmas, but the Blues have been cagey about using the term "will be re-evaluated in X time" for the last few years. Given how many times we've seen Blues returning right at the initial timeline, it appears that the Blues use that term to refer to the time they believe the player could be cleared to play.

This is right, we don’t know the precise injury. Maybe just the fibula.

The team communication about injuries historically has been that guys are usually ready to return to play when they are “reevaluated “. Makes me think this is a less severe sort of fracture, but not enough information to read too much into it.

 

[BrokenFace]

Losing Thomas is bad but I think long term it could benefit the Blues.

I’m confident nobody thinks this roster are contenders with or without Thomas. It’s an important year for Bolduc, Neighbors, and others. It’s a growing year for the team in general.

I hope the best for the players but I hope they get a top 5 pick. Doubt they’ll be that bad but it would be nice to draft really high and add a top prospect to the pool.

The most important thing we could see this season was always development from prospects and key younger players like Neighbours, Hofer, and Broberg. My optimistic prediction for this season was seeing a step forward in team identity and development even if it didn't come with a step forward in the standings. Now I'm hoping we get another top 10 pick to go along with seeing who steps up with Thomas out.