Do you view this team as real Stanley Cup Contender?

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Blues real Stanley Cup Contender 2021-2022 season?


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    81

Ranksu

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Apr 28, 2014
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Now it's pretty settled Tarasenko won't be traded (yet). How team looks currently let's re-evaluate what you see on team.





Please keep talk in topic. No off-topic.
 

Spektre

Registered User
Apr 10, 2010
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Krynn
It's a pretty easy yes. You really have to ask is it a playoff team and the answer is yes. Time and time and time and time and time and time again we've seen a team can gel after making the playoffs and contend for the Cup.
 

TruBlu

Registered User
Feb 7, 2016
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I went on record as saying Tank wouldn't be traded back when the news first broke. My outlook at the time was that we were post season competitive, and that was without Tank having been a factor for the last two years. If he's back and healthy, we are absolutely a cup contender.
 

finnishflash13

Registered User
Oct 28, 2020
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They are a playoff team, whether it's as a wild card team or somewhere in the division. Every year the Stanley Cup playoffs show that if you can get into the playoffs, then anything can happen. So, yes.
 
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Ranksu

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Apr 28, 2014
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I think you guys have understood question wrong.

It's not do we win a Cup or no. Ofc it's possible. Even Buffalo has chance to win a Cup, but it's not most realistic outcome. They are team which is re-building.

It's about are we real Stanley Cup Contenders? Teams who will most likely win a Cup.


I view us a wild card/bubble team. Who can go playoffs, but not pass 1st round.
 

Meatball

2018-19 Stanley Cup Champions! :3
Jul 1, 2014
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The forward group is just as good as the cup squad with multiple upgrades from that team. 1-4, we're one of the deepest teams in the league, and we get to keep our star sniper.

The goaltending is also the same. Don't forget that Husso got our only shutout last year, and I think he'll be a capable backup who plays solid minutes without the gaffes of Jake Allen. Binnington is still the man, let the haters hate. :lol:

This brings us to our defense....I think we're going to surprise people with how good our defense will perform. Krug gets a whole year to get comfortable, Faulk improves, Parayko takes the next step forward, Bortuzzo and Scandella need only play solidly, and I think we'll get major contributions from the likes of Mikkola, Walman and (maybe) Perunovich.

All this to say, yes. I think we're a legitimate cup contender. :nod:
 

Mike Liut

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The forward group is just as good as the cup squad with multiple upgrades from that team. 1-4, we're one of the deepest teams in the league, and we get to keep our star sniper.

The goaltending is also the same. Don't forget that Husso got our only shutout last year, and I think he'll be a capable backup who plays solid minutes without the gaffes of Jake Allen. Binnington is still the man, let the haters hate. :lol:

This brings us to our defense....I think we're going to surprise people with how good our defense will perform. Krug gets a whole year to get comfortable, Faulk improves, Parayko takes the next step forward, Bortuzzo and Scandella need only play solidly, and I think we'll get major contributions from the likes of Mikkola, Walman and (maybe) Perunovich.

All this to say, yes. I think we're a legitimate cup contender. :nod:


Agree. Also, I think Kyrou, Thomas and Kostin are going to play huge roles this year. And Buchnevich is going to instantly be a force and a fan favorite. And Saad will add in the secondary scoring that’s so vital. Just need to get Sunny back healthy and being Sunny. This is a deep and talented team.
 

BlueMed

Registered User
Jul 18, 2019
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not a stanley cup contending defense on paper

Hard to say though with Parayko's injury last year. Could it be better? Certainly, but people need to stop acting like its a below average D core...it's clearly not. Look around the league. There's only maybe 5 D cores in the NHL that make me envious. And you don't necessarily need a perfect team to gel at the right time and win a cup.
 

Mike Liut

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One more thing… A healthy and motivated Tarasenko is the wild card. He could score 40g with this roster.
 

Meatball

2018-19 Stanley Cup Champions! :3
Jul 1, 2014
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Agree. Also, I think Kyrou, Thomas and Kostin are going to play huge roles this year. And Buchnevich is going to instantly be a force and a fan favorite. And Saad will add in the secondary scoring that’s so vital. Just need to get Sunny back healthy and being Sunny. This is a deep and talented team.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again....

We're a loooong way from the Backes and Oshie days. I remember we used to dream of lineups like the ones that we're capable of putting out now.

No reason this team can't content for another cup as long as everyone steps up and stays healthy, but what else is new, right?
 
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Mike Liut

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This team has 25 goal scorers on all 3 lines

ROR, Perron, Buch, Schenn, Kyrou, Saad, Tarasenko are all 25g scorers in the top 9. Thomas and Kostin are plenty capable too. That’s a loaded top 9.
 

Mike Liut

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You do realize that he is only here bc nobody wanted him? If he starts off hot he will be gone.


Man I don’t know. Army will not just give him away. If somebody makes an offer and it improves the team, then maybe. If Tarasenko is healthy, playing hard, not being a distraction and scoring goals, why even trade him? 35g scores don’t grow on trees.
 

BlueOil

"well-informed"
Apr 28, 2010
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Hard to say though with Parayko's injury last year. Could it be better? Certainly, but people need to stop acting like its a below average D core...it's clearly not. Look around the league. There's only maybe 5 D cores in the NHL that make me envious. And you don't necessarily need a perfect team to gel at the right time and win a cup.
below average and not a stanley cup contender aren't the same thing at all. i haven't indicated i believe them to be subpar as you framed, but if i'm being asked if i think this defense can compete for a cup by winning multiple playoff rounds, i don't think so. happy to be wrong. actually would be very happy to be wrong. i expect it to be better than last year's results, but that's not saying all that much.

i'd rank the defense as decent overall. likely a playoff team, but likely bounced in an early round from my perspective. so not a stanley cup contender. i do acknowledge any team that makes the playoffs can win, but a contender is someone expected to win.
 

BlueMed

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Jul 18, 2019
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below average and not a stanley cup contender aren't the same thing at all. i haven't indicated i believe them to be subpar as you framed, but if i'm being asked if i think this defense can compete for a cup by winning multiple playoff rounds, i don't think so. happy to be wrong. actually would be very happy to be wrong. i expect it to be better than last year's results, but that's not saying all that much.

i'd rank the defense as decent overall. likely a playoff team, but likely bounced in an early round from my perspective. so not a stanley cup contender. i do acknowledge any team that makes the playoffs can win, but a contender is someone expected to win.

How does Boston get to game 7 of the cup finals with washed-up Chara, McAvoy, Krug, Carlo, Moore and Clifton?
 

MissouriMook

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Jul 4, 2014
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Our current D is much better that that one
Krug was 2nd on that D in total TOI/G in the playoffs for them (not far behind McAvoy) that year and 1st among their D in points and just about every advanced stat category you can imagine. He was sheltered in OZ starts big time, but you still have to put up the results and he did.
 

Thallis

No half measures
Jan 23, 2010
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This team is a bubble team. The roster is basically a wash from last year's team that barely made the playoffs in the worst division in the league. This is a better division with teams that improved much more than we did. We'll likely end up in the 4-6 range battling with Minnesota and Chicago. We're dreaming if we think this team is competing for the cup unless Armstrong pulls another rabbit from his hat the like Buch trade.
 

BlueOil

"well-informed"
Apr 28, 2010
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How does Boston get to game 7 of the cup finals with washed-up Chara, McAvoy, Krug, Carlo, Moore and Clifton?
tampa gets unexpectedly knocked out by columbus

i'll say it again, since you're soapboxing off my post and being rather dramatic about it, happy to be wrong, but if the question is: are the blues one of the teams in the league expected to win a cup? it's a no from me dawg. that's what a stanley cup contender is and the exact question posed. even says "real" cup contender to further delineate the most expected teams to win. now, is it possible this team could end up winning the cup (which seems to be everyone's preferred interpretation of the question)? anything's possible and i think they at least get a small chance to dance. i am not saying this defense can't win a cup, just that i don't expect it. i'm ranking them a 4/5 instead of a 5/5 and somehow you've devolved that into being upset about some subpar perception you've clearly been chewing on elsewhere.
 

BlueMed

Registered User
Jul 18, 2019
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Krug was 2nd on that D in total TOI/G in the playoffs for them (not far behind McAvoy) that year and 1st among their D in points and just about every advanced stat category you can imagine. He was sheltered in OZ starts big time, but you still have to put up the results and he did.

So he could do it then and he can't do it now? He's not even considered our 2nd best defensemen...
 

TK 421

Barbashev eats babies pass it on
Sep 12, 2007
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Not yet, but we're one top 4 LD and a reworked PK away from being back imo.
 

BlueKnight

Registered User
Apr 19, 2015
4,588
2,987
Alberta, Canada
I'll get straight to the point.

Without a #1 defensemen we are not true contenders. If Army paid that one player what he was worth I would be signing a different tune right now.

With that said I expect the Blues to be better by not getting swept.
 

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