Warning: sappy positivity post ahead.
I’m pleased with the state of the team currently, and how this offseason went. I’m excited for this season and for the next 10 after that again. I see the vision coming together and it feels like things may have just been accelerated in a big way by poaching the Edmonton guys.
As someone who has been critical of Armstrong in the past, I do appreciate how hard he works and how aggressive he is. I don’t always agree with all his moves, but I much prefer a GM that goes out there and takes risks, as opposed to one that is too conservative. Army’s effort to move Krug in a deal for Sanheim last year, and then the offer sheet to Broberg now, shows that he identified the need to get a Bouwmeester-like guy on the left side again and he was going to keep trying until it happened. And that’s awesome that he wasn’t going to settle. I’m happy with how it worked out and am excited to see if Broberg can fill that role.
We have added the equivalent of 7 first round picks over just the last year and a half. That’s fairly incredible. This is including the guys we drafted (Dvorsky, Stenberg, Lindstein, Jiricek) as well as recent 1st rounders we acquired (Dean, Holloway, Broberg). I’m now convinced that our re-tool is going to be pretty quick. The amount of young talent we are stockpiling in our organization is thrilling.
It appears that Armstrong is going to set up Steen to be in a very good spot when he takes over in a couple years. As it stands now, we might just have our entire future “core” in place.
F: Thomas, Kyrou, Neighbours, Dvorsky, Holloway, Stenberg, Snuggerud, Bolduc, Dean, Texier
Vets: Buch, Schenn
D: Broberg, Lindstein, Jiricek, Kessel
Vet: Parayko
G: Hofer, Zherenko
Vet: Binnington
I’m not saying every one of those guys is going to hit their ceiling and be great, and I also know that things can change quickly. But that’s a group of players who all either have high potential to be very good in the NHL, or already are proven NHL talent. If a handful of those key players DO hit their ceiling (mainly Broberg and a couple other d-men, Dvorsky, and Snuggerud IMO) I don’t see a glaring weakness that we’re missing. Sure we may need to acquire a guy here and there in the future but as it currently stands, there is clear light at the end of the tunnel. As of now, it looks like we won’t be putting Steen in a high-pressure situation where he will absolutely HAVE to go out and acquire something, because we have high ceiling prospects at every position. I think Armstrong is getting all the pieces in place and we can just watch it all develop and play out under Steen, and let him be patient. Who knows how it will play out, but I see an organization that is building a future contending team, and one that will be fun to watch to boot. I’m amped and think we will be back to the Blues hockey we all know and love pretty soon.