2024-2025 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread.

[Majorityof1]

Why does any of that he said/she said stuff from the past matter? We have this whole year to go off of how he truly interacts with our roster. DA gave an interview about a month ago glowing about him, he also stepped up to eat a ton of minutes early in the season, and by all accounts he's been a great teammate while here in StL and has stated he would like to return.The past is the past, im sure if we have room for him next year we'll bring him back, and if not, i'll wish him the best.

On ice, Suter has been a great value for us, no question.

I'd take lack of negative news or Army saying nice things with a small grain of salt. We are a tight lipped org on top of how rare it is for players/management to badmouth current teammates. This stuff often comes out in the wash later. I wouldn't be surprised either way if 5 years from now we hear Broberg saying Suter was a great teammate, or if we hear he was still a diva.

Army will know the truth though, and that info will help him determine if we re-sign him or not. But we as fans can't know for sure either way

 

[Klockis]

Okay, but what about the writers who have basically confirmed that Suter was the only defenseman who refused to play his off side and essentially forced his way onto the second PP ahead of Harley?

What is this line of thinking? Not even the biggest Suter haters on the Stars board would seriously argue this. If he tried to actually force the coaching staffs hand then they'd just laugh. DeBoer may not be a perfect coach but I can't imagine him giving in to the demands of a non-essential player. I'm sure DeBoer will listen to his players opinions but at the end of the day it's his call.

Anyway, he played pp2 two years ago because NHL coaches overrate veterans over rookies. He played LD because he wad way more comfortable at it while Heiskanen has played RD most of his career (and is just as effective at it).

If your narrative is true, that he had enough influence on the Stars front office to force these things, then we should have fired the coach and GM.

Anyways, good luck on the rest of the season Blues fans!

 

[STL fan in MN]

Okay, but what about the writers who have basically confirmed that Suter was the only defenseman who refused to play his off side and essentially forced his way onto the second PP ahead of Harley?

I recall hearing stuff like that but it just doesn’t make sense to me. If a player truly somehow has the ability to overpower the coach and force his way onto the PP or into the lineup when he really isn’t the best option then that’s a super weak minded coach.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I thought Suter was going to wash out and potentially be the 7th D healthy scratch or even get assigned to the AHL this year. He's been a pleasant surprise. If I were the front office and coaches, I would ignore any previous history and base my decision based 100% on my personal relationship with Suter and how he was this season.

I don't have strong feelings either way if they re-sign him, but right now he's part of a defensive line-up that is looking pretty improved.

 

[Thallis]

Players aren't able to force their way onto the 2nd PP unit. The composition of PP lineups is a coaching decision and there is about a 0.0001% chance that Suter was just jumping over the boards for the PP when the coach said was Harley on PP2. Suter may have made his opinions on the matter well known and been a whiny brat about getting his way, but it is ultimately the coach who caved to that. Veterans have sway, but they are not the decision-maker. For the sake of argument, let's all assume the reality was that he was a diva about his deployment which led the coach to give him what he wanted.

So long as we don't give him the term/money to allow him to act like a diva, I don't really care about him being a diva for a coach with no backbone in the past. Our staff has made it abundantly clear that he isn't getting PP time here and I'm perfectly content building the D group around him playing on the left side (or siting in the press box if we have 3 better LHD options and he declines to slide to the right side). His current contract (and what I imagine a 2nd contract would look like) give Monty the very clear ability to tell him to sit in the press box and/or GTFO if he doesn't like the deployment offered.

All that said, I don't have a huge problem with a 1000+ game veteran advocating for himself to not play on his off side. I'd prefer that every veteran be a great team-first teammate and do whatever the coach says even if it puts them out of their comfort zone. But insisting to play your natural position isn't a crazy stance for a 39 year old to take. I fully understand a team moving on from a guy who is doing that, but it also doesn't make me concerned about extending a guy who is effective in the role that we have given him.

This is exactly what is reported to have happened by both Sean Shapiro and Dave Castillo, and fits in with his history in Minnesota. Sure, obviously the coach and GM have final say, but Suter was considered an important cog until the very end, and even then he was overplayed. Maybe the 2nd buyout was a wakeup call and he's chilled a little, but I'm not going to doubt the words of people employed to cover the Stars on this one.

What is this line of thinking? Not even the biggest Suter haters on the Stars board would seriously argue this. If he tried to actually force the coaching staffs hand then they'd just laugh. DeBoer may not be a perfect coach but I can't imagine him giving in to the demands of a non-essential player. I'm sure DeBoer will listen to his players opinions but at the end of the day it's his call.

Anyway, he played pp2 two years ago because NHL coaches overrate veterans over rookies. He played LD because he wad way more comfortable at it while Heiskanen has played RD most of his career (and is just as effective at it).

If your narrative is true, that he had enough influence on the Stars front office to force these things, then we should have fired the coach and GM.

Anyways, good luck on the rest of the season Blues fans!

This is coming directly (with some paraphrasing, obviously) from the mouths of writers for the Stars who have access to the team. By all accounts it was beyond just Deboer overrating him.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Not with that attitude, he isn’t.

What about this attitude?