GDT: Game 26/82 Blues @ Jets 7PM CST FDSNMW

[CaliforniaBlues310]

once you get on the trade list, no getting off it.

takes alot to get on it, very few souls ever make it as far as he has.

He could score the GWG in a G7 OT cup winner and I would still want him gone

The commitment to the bit is truly incredible.

 

[Reality Czech]

And why is 400 minutes an insufficient sample size?

It takes a lot of time for D partners to gel. If it was 400 consecutive minutes that's a lot different than 400 minutes scattered over 5 seasons.

What can Kyrou do to get off the trade list

Convert scoring chances more consistently and stop making bad turnovers. People will blame bad "puck luck" but at some point you've gotta admit he has issues finishing scoring chances. At least he didn't in this game, which is nice to see.

 

[MissouriMook]

Convert scoring chances more consistently and stop making bad turnovers. People will blame bad "puck luck" but at some point you've gotta admit he has issues finishing scoring chances. At least he didn't in this game, which is nice to see.

He leads the team with 9 goals (a 28 goal pace) and has probably hit the crossbar or the post a dozen times. Sure, he’s missed some opportunities, but he’s still the most consistent scorer (and scoring threat) on the team. He’s been snake bit and eventually some of those near misses are going to start going in. He may have dug too big of a hole to get to 40 as I predicted preseason, but I certainly think 35 won’t be a stretch. Pointing to him as someone we need more from is a bit odd - we need more scoring from everyone else not named Holloway or Neighbours.

 

[HighNote]

Convert scoring chances more consistently and stop making bad turnovers. People will blame bad "puck luck" but at some point you've gotta admit he has issues finishing scoring chances. At least he didn't in this game, which is nice to see.

I mean, this is how I sum Kyrou up as a player. He creates offense through his playmaking, but he's not an elite finisher. He's always been a playmaker first as far as I know. I don't really understand why people expect him to be a 35-40 goal scorer. To me, he's a 30 goal, 40 assist player. I expect him to score a goal every few games, and if he's scoring more than that it shouldn't be the expectation, it should be considered an added bonus. Sure, it would be nice if he were to finish more often and put up 40+ goals, but that's just not what I'm expecting from him.

I'll give you the turnovers, that's something he needs to improve on. I'd just rather him improve that while he's on the Blues instead of another team.

 

[Reality Czech]

He leads the team with 9 goals (a 28 goal pace) and has probably hit the crossbar or the post a dozen times. Sure, he’s missed some opportunities, but he’s still the most consistent scorer (and scoring threat) on the team. He’s been snake bit and eventually some of those near misses are going to start going in. He may have dug too big of a hole to get to 40 as I predicted preseason, but I certainly think 35 won’t be a stretch. Pointing to him as someone we need more from is a bit odd - we need more scoring from everyone else not named Holloway or Neighbours.

That's fair. It's not like I'm giving him an F for his performance but I'm also not giving him an A. Maybe I'd give him a B/B- overall based on my expectations. True, he is our leading scorer but until Monty took over we were one of the worst offensive teams in the league. I believe he had a ten game goalless drought while Thomas was out, and we lost two games directly because of his turnovers.

I'm harder on Kyrou than some other players because he's being paid to be THE guy. If he wasn't one of our two top scorers at his salary then there would be a big problem. I expect more out of an $8.5 million player in his prime years than an aging vet, a young 22 year old or a role player making a couple of million. Obviously everyone needs to do their job but when your top star isn't doing his then it hurts a lot more than a bottom six guy not doing his.

For the record, I think he's been playing at his expected level for maybe 75% of the season, but I would like to see him be a difference maker almost every game. Buch has been the biggest disappointment, however, followed by Saad. People single out Schenn for criticism and he deserves some as well, but if we're talking production then I'd only expect him to score roughly 2/3 of what Kyrou does considering their salaries and role. Well Kyrou has 22 points and Schenn 13 so it's not that far off. But I don't expect as much out of Schenn since he's on the back end of his career while these should be the best year's of Kyrou's. But some fans act like Schenn should be shot into the sun while Kyrou shouldn't be criticized at all.

All I'm saying is if Kyrou can bury a few more chances and cut down on bad turnovers then he'll be a force and his critics won't have any ammo to use against him.

 

[Brian39]

Convert scoring chances more consistently and stop making bad turnovers. People will blame bad "puck luck" but at some point you've gotta admit he has issues finishing scoring chances. At least he didn't in this game, which is nice to see.

No, we do not have to agree with your opinion because you keep saying it. I'm not aware of any metric that supports your opinion, but every metric I can find leads to the exact opposite conclusion.

His shooting percentage this year is 11.5% and his career shooting percentage is 13.1%. Those are strong numbers that do not indicate that he has issues finishing chances.

Since the start of the 2023/24 season, he is tied for 11th in goals at 5 on 5 despite being 55th in individual expected goals and 85th in individual high danger chances at 5 on 5. In all situations, he is tied for 36th in goals, but is 71st in individual expected goals and 115th in individual high danger chances.

His individual expected goals this season at 5 on 5 is currently 4.92 but he has 7 actual goals at 5 on 5. In the previous 3 seasons he has had 22 goals at 5 on 5 each year despite his expected goal total being 16 or lower each year.

He has 249 shots at 5 on 5 since the start of the 2023/24 season and an 11.49% shooting percentage. Here is the list of guys league wide with 200+ shots and a better shooting percentage at 5 on 5: Panarin, Hyman, Matthews, Rantanen, Tage, Kaprizov, Peterka, Connor, Nelson, Marchessault, Kucherov, MacKinnon, and Nylander. Here are some other notable 200+ shooters with lower shooting percentages than him: Pastrnak, Forsberg, Crosby, Hughes, McDavid, Horvat, Eichel, Necas, and DeBrincat. Are you claiming that a bunch of those guys also have issues finishing scoring chances?

Those 249 shots are 12th in the league. 10 of the 11 guys ahead of him also have more unblocked shot attempts than him. His shooting percentage isn't inflated because he is missing the net more than other volume shooters.

Nothing suggests that he has issues finishing scoring chances. In fact, everything suggests that he finishes chances at a very high level.

I think that you wildly overestimate the frequency that scoring chances go into the net around the league, even among the league's top tier of players and 'finishers.' There are 66 goalies league wide who have played 1000+ minutes in the timeframe I pulled stats from. The worst high danger SV% from that group is 75.2% and the best is 88.4%. The best players/finishers in the game are going to fail to convert on high danger chances substantially more often than they score them.

 

[shpongle falls]

Rouzy really looked good against the Jets, he looks like he’s starting to figure it out with Monty coaching him.

If the Blue Jackets can beat Edmonton tonight and the Blues win tonight and Saturday they can make up some serious ground in the standings.

Heard from someone on 101 espn that Buchy feels better and is hopefully ready to go tonight.

 

[Brian39]

I'm harder on Kyrou than some other players because he's being paid to be THE guy...I would like to see him be a difference maker almost every game.

I think that your expectations at that pay level are unrealistic.

His $8.125M AAV is tied as the 41st highest paid forward and 57th highest paid skater in the league. There are 25 forwards making $9M+ against the cap. There is a pretty small handful of players around the league who are difference makers almost every game. They all make more or will be making more very soon because their current longer-term deal is expiring.

Are Bo Horvat, Mika Zibanejad, or Mark Scheifele THE guy who is a difference maker almost every night? They all make $8.5M on deals that take them through their age 35+ seasons. Dubois makes $8.5M, but is the same age as Kyrou. He certainly doesn't match your description. Forsberg makes $8.5M and you can certainly make a good case for him over Kyrou. But he is also inconsistent, I'm not sold that he's ever been the best player on his non-elite team, and his deal goes through his age 35 season. Drai is the last $8.5M player because he signed his deal 8 years ago. He is very much the guy you describe and his AAV next year jumps to $14M.

Hintz, Stutzle, B Tkachuk, Hertl, Thomas, Raymond, J Hughes, R Johansen, Stamkos, JT Miller, and Couture are all in the $8M-$8.499M range. Lots of good players in there. I'd say Jack Hughes fits your description and is an absolute bargain. He also signed that deal before his first 50 point (or point pace) season and it was a gamble based purely on potential. JT Miller arguably fits the description too, but I would note that his contract takes him through age 36 and there are plenty of people who say he doesn't meet the 'difference maker almost every night' prong. My stance on Thomas being awesome is well known.

I think there is an argument that Kyrou is overpaid by $500k-$1M and his contract is certainly not the bargain that the Thomas contract is. But $8.125M AAV is absolutely not the level of compensation given to players who are considered THE guy and a difference maker almost every night. $8.125M is currently in line with a really damn good guy who is riding shotgun to/with THE guy.

People single out Schenn for criticism and he deserves some as well, but if we're talking production then I'd only expect him to score roughly 2/3 of what Kyrou does considering their salaries and role. Well Kyrou has 22 points and Schenn 13 so it's not that far off.

Schenn makes $6.5M and Kyrou makes $8.125M. You have to do a ton of selective rounding in opposite directions to call that roughly two thirds. In reality, $6.5M is exactly 80% of $8.125M. It's a gap of $1.625M. By both percentage and raw total, the gap between Schenn and Kyrou's AAV is pretty noticeably less than the gap between Saad and Schenn's AAVs. Saad makes 69% of Schenn's AAV ($2M a year less).

Probably worth noting that we are still waiting for Schenn's first goal at 5 on 5 this year since we're comparing production.

 

[LGB]

I agree Kyrou’s finishing is a lot closer to average than elite.

 

[Klank Loves You]

Kyrou hate is way over-blown. But i get it. Kyrou is part of the new age. Probably came into the league a little too entitled, was not committed to playing a 200 foot game, and needed time to mature as a person. That perception will be impossible for him to break in this community.

Kyrou clearly tried to step up to be "The Guy" when Thomas was out. Is it a perfect fit? No. But he clearly put in the effort. I know we sucked with Bannister, but they started making Kyrou the focal point of the offense when Thomas went down. That's continued under Montgomery.

Our last top winger, Vladdy, was also built different. Could get physical, WANTED to be a leader, and lived for the big moments. Kyrou isn't that kind of player. He wont win most puck battles with physicality. He will win them with his agility and dexterity. He doesn't want to be a leader. That's fine. Our leadership core is excellent. Vladdy was a big game player, but that alos meant he floated against the scrubs. I would love to see Kyrou be more clutch, but I think he will be more consistant.

People want Kyrou to be something he isnt, and would rather jam a square peg into a round hole, until the peg cracks. And feel justified that they were right all along. Im happy to have a player like Kyrou, and im excited to see him to continue to grow as a player, as he has proven this year.