2024-2025 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread. | Page 149 | HFBoards - NHL Message Board and Forum for National Hockey League

2024-2025 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread.

Schenn’s foot speed will be a little bit more limiting next year and the next. Dvorsky has work to do on his skating.

I’d like them to add a middle 6 center with enough gears to center the Kyrou/Holloway line. That could become a matchup headache for opponents. Then have a line with Thomas, Snuggerud and someone else that blends with them (probably Buchnevich but there are other options) and you start to have the pieces to uograde the 3rd line a lot too. Now we are starting to look at the lineup of a contending team.
This is where I’m at. Acquire a 2C for HolloRou and Schenn can center Buch and Jake. Put Bolduc with RT and Snuggs.

Sunny and Tex the extras.
 
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I know this is totally stupid and it’s not happening, but……..it would be cool if DA or a representative of his went to Kyrou and Holloway and asked them who’d they’d like to play with.
 
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Bolduc—Thomas—Snuggerud
Holloway—ACQUISITION—Kyrou
Neighbours—Schenn—Buchnevich
Walker—Faksa—Toropchenko

Sundqvist & Texier are the extra forwards.

With this configuration, Texier becomes the roster luxury that I saw in him. But there are up-and-comers, so it will look different.

Someone will force their way into this roster. Kaski, Simon, Dylan. Etc
 
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Could our answer for 2C already be on the team?

Buch-Thomas--Snuggy
Neighbours-Holloway-Kyrou
Schenn-Dvorsky-Bolduc
Walker-Sunny-Toropchenko

Alot easier to upgrade bottom 6 at the deadline if these lines work out. Also frees up cap to resign Faksa and make a splash in FA on defense.
 
Could our answer for 2C already be on the team?

Buch-Thomas--Snuggy
Neighbours-Holloway-Kyrou
Schenn-Dvorsky-Bolduc
Walker-Sunny-Toropchenko

Alot easier to upgrade bottom 6 at the deadline if these lines work out. Also frees up cap to resign Faksa and make a splash in FA on defense.
Not bad.
 
Last time we had to give them a 2026 2nd and 2025 3rd to get our 2025 2nd back. I’d prefer to not keep paying Pitt 3rds (or whatever additional compensation would get Dubas to do it) to keep getting our 2nd back.

Just take a year off from offer sheets. Or go bigger with a 1st and 3rd offer. Or just trade for the player with other assets.
We don’t have a 3rd. Or 4th. We have a 1st, 5th and 6th. Going to be a boring draft for the Blues and no offer sheets with no picks.
 
Could our answer for 2C already be on the team?

Buch-Thomas--Snuggy
Neighbours-Holloway-Kyrou
Schenn-Dvorsky-Bolduc
Walker-Sunny-Toropchenko

Alot easier to upgrade bottom 6 at the deadline if these lines work out. Also frees up cap to resign Faksa and make a splash in FA on defense.
I don’t see Dvorsky as an immediate center addition. I can’t help but think that he must latch on as a more-than-decent center or else be he will be moved.
 
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Could our answer for 2C already be on the team?

Buch-Thomas--Snuggy
Neighbours-Holloway-Kyrou
Schenn-Dvorsky-Bolduc
Walker-Sunny-Toropchenko

Alot easier to upgrade bottom 6 at the deadline if these lines work out. Also frees up cap to resign Faksa and make a splash in FA on defense.
Based on Armstrong’s quotes alone from the end of season press conference, the expectation the Blues have is that Dvorsky will start the year in Springfield outside of an incredible camp in the fall.
 
I don’t see Dvorsky as an immediate center addition. I can’t help but think that he must latch on as a more-than-decent center or else be he will be moved.

Based on Armstrong’s quotes alone from the end of season press conference, the expectation the Blues have is that Dvorsky will start the year in Springfield outside of an incredible camp in the fall.
Easy enough to slide Schenn to 3C and put Dvorsky on the wing and/or sign a LW. Enter Trent Frederic.

Frederick/Schenn/Bolduc for 3rd line.
 
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We don’t have a 3rd. Or 4th. We have a 1st, 5th and 6th. Going to be a boring draft for the Blues and no offer sheets with no picks.
You’re talking about this year’s draft. I’m talking about 2026 picks in which as of today, we’re only missing our 2nd (to PIT). Any offer sheet this summer would involve 2026 picks.
 
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Easy enough to slide Schenn to 3C and put Dvorsky on the wing and/or sign a LW. Enter Trent Frederic.

Frederick/Schenn/Bolduc for 3rd line.
No thanks on Frederic unless he comes very cheap, would likely be on the 4th line though. Really depends on if they bring Faksa back, you will have Walker, Faksa, Sunny, Torp all fighting for 4th line minutes so not sure the need to bring in a bottom 6 guy like Frederic is really a priority when there are much better options for the third line already in house.
 
We got pretty limited viewings of Holloway at center, but I wasn't impressed with what I saw. From a skillset perspective, I think his game translates better to flying around lower in the O zone laterally instead of hanging up higher. I also like his speed to match Kyrou as the first 2 guys to exit our zone on the transition. I think you minimize some of his strengths by asking him to take the defensive center assignments. Even if he can learn to effectively do the stuff you need your center doing in the middle of the ice, I think having him doing that stuff prevents him from doing the best parts of his game as much as we'd like.

We have a pretty decent sample size of Holloway/Kyrou having chemistry and being an absolute nightmare for opponents to deal with as wingers on the same line. Having a wing duo like that is a pretty rare commodity that can offer a massive advantage when you have them on a separate line from your franchise center. I have zero desire to tinker with that in order to avoid acquiring a 2C. I'd rather spend money/assets to bring in a 2C to complete that line instead of seeing if we can rebuild the line by moving Holloway to center and asking him to change his game.

When I'm thinking about the 5 year plan, there are very few things that I consider a near-lock to play the same 5 on 5 role the entire time. I have 3 players who I have extremely defined roles for and then everything else is subject to acquisitions, development, chemistry, etc:

X-Thomas-X
Holloway-Y-Kyrou
X-Y-X

Every decision I'd make about the forward group is about filling those roles around that structure. I very much believe that those 3 guys in the 3 roles above forms the heart of two Cup-caliber top 6 lines. I also think that we currently have more than enough X shaped players/prospects in the system to effectively fill those 4 X roles at below-market cap dollars for the next 5 years.

I'd much rather spend assets/cap to bring in a Y shaped player than try to fundamentally change the Holloway/Kyrou pairing.
 
I’m being much more simplistic.
IMG_0909.jpeg


Holloway looks like 99

Or does 99 look like Holloway?

Hard to decide which way to go with it.

Regardless, Holloway Should therefore emulate 99, take C.
 

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