Blues Discussion Thread 2018-2019

[justmuckit]

With ROR and Schenn, Bozak wasnt going to be a 2C

I think we have crossed wires here...

Before the ROR trade, our center depth was Schenn-Bozak-Thomas.

Now that we have ROR, I can't imagine we'll play Thomas on the 4th line...so who's moving to wing to make room for Thomas at 3C?

 

[mk80]

Interesting interview about the trade.

 

[Mike Liut]

I think we have crossed wires here...

Before the ROR trade, our center depth was Schenn-Bozak-Thomas.

Now that we have ROR, I can't imagine we'll play Thomas on the 4th line...so who's moving to wing to make room for Thomas at 3C?

Bozak and Thomas will both be the 3rd line

 

[shpongle falls]

Blues have had two A+ offseasons in a row now. Somebody needs to buy Army a cigar lol

 

[justmuckit]

Bozak and Thomas will both be the 3rd line

So who's moving to wing?

*Army made a comment in the interview with Kerber posted above about ROR moving to wing eventually.

 

[Stealth JD]

Just look how "clean" this is. Blues are well positioned to re-sign Schenn & Petro no problem. Blues have aced this salary cap thing (finally).

St. Louis Blues - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Thorburn, JBo, Gunnar & Bortz all come off the books next year, and could presumably be replaced by ELC. That's $10M out, and potentially only ~ $4M back in. Excellent stuff from Army and team.

 

[Mike Liut]

So who's moving to wing?

*Army made a comment in the interview with Kerber posted above about ROR moving to wing eventually.

Tough call between Bozak / Thomas moving to wing. Somebody mentioned Bozak can play wing. Have no idea really

 

[STLBloosiers]

Schwartz Schenn Perron
Maroon ROR Tarasenko
Steen Bozak Thomas
Soshnikov Barbie Thorbs

Perron interchangeable with Thomas


I trade fabbri for D depth or picks

 

[pricer502]

Entire organization looks good right now. From ownership commitment to GM and all the way down to prospect pool. I think Armstrong did everything he could to improve team this offseason given Tavares would not consider Stl. I think we now have our opening day roster. However if Allen is not cutting it in net I can see Armstrong making another play for a goalie at the deadline. My only concern is tougness although it’s skowly being phased out of the game. Would love to see Maroon on the team as a 3rd liner who gets some PP time in front of the net and this teal would be complete.

 

[TruBlu]

We can now wait for the eye test to see how this team works out. DA has put us in a winning position now. We can finally turn an eye to goaltending now that the hole has been adressed, although, I think that problem will resolve itself now that we have offense and defense. I'm excited about the season to come. Thank you, DA!

 

[Novacain]

I think we have to give Army the benefit of the doubt for the next long while, right? I'm not sure what more he could have done in the last 18 months to try to make this team a powerhouse.

 

[Thallis]

I think we have to give Army the benefit of the doubt for the next long while, right? I'm not sure what more he could have done in the last 18 months to try to make this team a powerhouse.

Yep. My only criticism remaining is his judgement of goaltending talent. Hopefully Husso makes him not have to make any decisions on that.

 

[BrokenFace]

Trying to project your team's lineup is a lot more fun when you have center depth. Short of getting Tavares (something I was STILL holding out hope for up until about a week ago), this was an ideal day for the Blues. Basically reallocated the cap space going to two third liners into a single legit top 6 C, which also frees up roster spots for the young guys.

Our center depth is as strong as it's been in a LONG time. You could say that the seasons of Backes/Stastny is about as good as Schenn/ROR (I expect Schenn/ROR to be considerably better), but Bozak tips the scales.

I flip-flop a lot on Army. He has his weaknesses (getting ahead of league trends and evaluating goalies) and strengths (makes bold moves, never puts a sub par D core on the ice, continues to employ Bill Armstrong), but today was a massive win for him and the team.

 

[Thallis]

We can now wait for the eye test to see how this team works out. DA has put us in a winning position now. We can finally turn an eye to goaltending now that the hole has been adressed, although, I think that problem will resolve itself now that we have offense and defense. I'm excited about the season to come. Thank you, DA!

We need to start looking at deals for Steen. If we don't get rid of him within 2 years, we will be forced to protect him and expose one of our young defensemen to the expansion draft.

 

[TruBlu]

We need to start looking at deals for Steen. If we don't get rid of him within 2 years, we will be forced to protect him and expose one of our young defensemen to the expansion draft.

Why would we be forced to protect him? He doesn't have a no move clause.

 

[Oberyn]

Suddenly I'm a lot more excited for next season.

 

[Thallis]

Why would we be forced to protect him? He doesn't have a no move clause.

Capfriendly says he has a full NTC that expires with his contract.

 

[WeWentBlues]

I was already excited after Bozak and Perron. Now I am completely floored.

I also don't think the Blues are done.

 

[Meatball]

Ecstatic, pumped for next season.

What else could we do? What else do we need? Wingers? I'd rather wait to see what we have before making any other moves.

 

[Novacain]

Suddenly I'm a lot more excited for next season.

I was actually kinda content with next year being a transitional season, and looking forward to Thomas and Kyrou developing into what I think they are going to be (Our new Schwartz/Tarasenko esqe power duo). Now I think that might happen with a totally revamped forward core that actually has a chance to stand up to the best of the West.

I'm still bordering on shell shocked. I was actually pretty happy with how today had gone. I thought Army had played his hand as well as he could. Then this trade popped up and suddenly I went from excited for our future to being excited for our future AND present.

 

[simon IC]

I thought I read somewhere that Bozak can play RW. If so that's where I would deploy him .

 

[Novacain]

I thought I read somewhere that Bozak can play RW. If so that's where I would deploy him .

I mean, he is a RHS. I could see him getting some time there on the 3rd line, maybe taking faceoffs a good deal for Thomas at times (he is a very good faceoff guy).

Man... I thought we needed to badly address adding RHS Right Wings and Center Depth, but didn't want to trade our elite prospect to get them. And I'm generally floored we did it as well as we did, while still not touching Thomas or Kyrou, or even Kostin.

 

[TruBlu]

Capfriendly says he has a full NTC that expires with his contract.

NTC and NMC are two different things.

 

[simon IC]

I mean, he is a RHS. I could see him getting some time there on the 3rd line, maybe taking faceoffs a good deal for Thomas at times (he is a very good faceoff guy).

Man... I thought we needed to badly address adding RHS Right Wings and Center Depth, but didn't want to trade our elite prospect to get them. And I'm generally floored we did it as well as we did, while still not touching Thomas or Kyrou, or even Kostin.

I can see Bozak taking the draws, but I really want to see Thomas get as much time at C as possible. Perhaps they can platoon?

 

[Meatball]

Oh yeah, we upgraded on the dot and in shootouts, didn't we?