The post you quoted asked for examples of 23 year olds. Are there enough of those examples that it’s reasonable right now today to plug Perunovich into top pairing minutes? Of course there aren’t because my position is infinitely more reasonable than believing Perunovich is a top pairing defenseman as of November 18, 2021.
JBo was pretty physical in his last few years. He certainly was no push over in front of the net in comparison to league wide defensemen at that point in time.
I can’t recall who, but there was an interview of another NHL player talking out of his ass about how easy it was to play against Bouwmeester, which I recall was cited against him when the Blues were on the market for LHD. Bouwmeester definitely stepped up and played some of his best hockey in the postseason, particularly the Cup run. Heck, that shot ROR tipped to open the scoring in Game 7 was one of the most memorable shots in Blues’ history. I think his ‘softness’ was overstated prior to the acquisition. It wasn’t really a deficiency that hurt his game.
JBo was pretty soft before the acquisition and the first couple of seasons after, but, as his offense declined, his aggression picked up. If grizzled veteran was ever a worthwhile term, JBo was quite representative of that in the ice as he aged. He certainly battled harder in the end and probably had the highest number of in the crease crosschecks of any D player on the team.
Sarcastic? I'm being serious. If you have information on Perunovich that other people don't have, then present it because I know a lot of people on here who would gladly have a discussion. Getting butthurt because people are criticizing the way you dispute things is perfectly fine; you haven't really said anything here to say why he wouldn't be a fine #1 defenseman. I don't really have time to look at your activity to find out what you think and it's easier if you refute claims here where you're being asked. Personally I can't say whether he's a #1 or not because again, I haven't seen his NCAA or AHL play. He scores at a high clip, moves the puck well, and has good skating ability. I have no idea how well he defends, so I would never intensely argue that he could or couldn't be a top pairing d-man. I think his talent makes him more likely to be a #3/#4 guy just from the stuff I've seen, and there's plenty of evidence to suggest a player like him would do well in that position. I'm assuming he will keep a spot in the lineup until he has a minor setback, but I'm more looking forward to how teams play against him next year once they've seen him. Thomas did well his first 2 seasons because he was sheltered behind Schenn and ROR, but teams really started to hone in on him his 3rd season. Now he's made adjustments and looks really close to being that 1st line guy we thought he could be, along with improving his faceoffs dramatically. This is the type of thing I'm looking for when I watch Perunovich, but right now I can't say much to his game.
Don’t the Blues have a Michael Peca under contract right now? I sort of assumed they were related
We have Matthew Peca in Springfield. They don't appear to be related.
My issue with Mikkola is how he handles the puck. I know there is more time to breakout or set up plays in either the Euro leagues or the AHL, but Mikkola has had ample time to really work on his stick handling and getting the puck out of the d-zone. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like that was a primary focus of his because in his only games, he had trouble getting the puck out. I recall vividly him trying to pass the puck on the right boards like 3 times, but it kept either getting blocked at the blue line, hitting players, or he just flubbed a pass. I would be perfectly fine letting him play a portion of games like Walman did to see how he shapes up, we honestly need a big guy like him to be clearing the crease, blocking shots, and playing on the penalty kill. But if he can't fix his major issue, then he won't have a long career in the NHL.
If we don’t trade Tarasenko we can’t really add anyone for next year. Might not even be able to bring back Perron,
I've pondered, if it is a forgone conclusion that we are making a play for Tkachuck after this season if there could potentially be a move to be made for a promising LHD who has already knocked on the door, similar to Neighbours and a swap could be made there. I'm not advocating trading him after what he showed in his debut. But he projects to be a similar player to Tkachuck (likely not as high of a ceiling) and is ahead of schedule in his development which would make him quite appealing to a team with a logjam of defensemen.
No Way I'm trading Thomas or Kyrou.
