GDT: Game 48/82 Blues @ VGK 5PM CST FDSNMW

[Xerloris]

he is auditioning to take over sunny's roster spot in the future

He would have to be likable.

 

[PocketNines]

Calgary is on pace for 93-
Vancouver is on pace for 91+
Blues are on pace for 85+

Blues have 34 games left and need 43 points in them to reach 93. That's 9 games over .500 in a 34 game stretch, which is .632 pace.

21-12-1
20-11-3
19-10-5
18-9-7

those records til the end of the season all = 93 points

and if Calgary or Vancouver ticks it up they are going to need even more

If you're looking at the standings and thinking "a mere 1 point out" then you are hoping the Blues can get in around 86 points because the other teams all biff their games in hand. Is hoping the Blues get in with 86 points legitimate?

I don't think this team is a .632 team down the stretch personally. I think it's more like .590

 

[Reality Czech]

As if cross ice one timers are easy to save

Who are you to question the multiple goalie experts on this forum?

When do we start the Binnington is washed convo? I know its uncomfortable but he lets in 4+ almost every game now. Hofer the much better goalie

Go right ahead if you don't mind being wrong. Never seemed to stop you before.

 

[Stlblue50]

I still can’t believe Buffalo gave away Eichel for Tuck!!!! You let a player of that caliber have whatever surgery from whichever doctor he wants!!

I remember hating the trade because it made Vegas significantly better for a long period of time. How could there not have been a better offer than Tuck and change??!!! I assume Army was interested but I don’t think Tage developed yet and that ROR trade was still in “pure theft” status

 

[Majorityof1]

I still can’t believe Buffalo gave away Eichel for Tuck!!!! You let a player of that caliber have whatever surgery from whichever doctor he wants!!

I remember hating the trade because it made Vegas significantly better for a long period of time. How could there not have been a better offer than Tuck and change??!!! I assume Army was interested but I don’t think Tage developed yet and that ROR trade was still in “pure theft” status

Hindsight is 20/20. At the time he had a severe back injury issue that needed surgery. Back issues are scary because the player may be able to play but be a shell of their former self. Trade for him and he doesn't regain his form, he is a $10M anchor. That scared enough teams off that Vegas was able to capitalize.

 

[Xerloris]

I don't know what our comparable offer would have been to land him but I sure wish we would have done it

 

[Stlblue50]

Hindsight is 20/20. At the time he had a severe back injury issue that needed surgery. Back issues are scary because the player may be able to play but be a shell of their former self. Trade for him and he doesn't regain his form, he is a $10M anchor. That scared enough teams off that Vegas was able to capitalize.

Eichel was in his 4th year of an 8 year deal. So the acquiring team would have been responsible for just over half of that deal. Seeing how young Eichel was and the fact he chose to have this type of surgery would lead most people to have confidence that he did his research and will recover based on his age and confidence in the surgery.

A top tier talent like him almost never becomes available and to get him for Tuch and a top 10 protected 1st is insane. I was hoping Army learned from this trade to never be passive when a golden opportunity for a young star shows up (when Matthew Tkachuk was there for the Blues to grab). He didn’t learn

 

[TheDizee]

For sure, Atleast the cap looks to continue to explode, I saw something the other day that it might be at 97 mill next year..... With thomas and kyrou making 8 as well... It could atleast help balance buch's overpayment, He could provide alot of long term value as a veteran to the kids throughout our middle 6 in the steen era, but if his contract were 6.5 it'd feel alot better lol.

It would feel alot better if we had the cap space along with a king's ransom which is what Buch would have hauled last trade deadline.

This is why myself and a few others wanted him traded. He is not a superstar player and by the time this team will be ready to be a elite cup contender, he will be out of his prime years and would be severely overpaid.

This team needs to only be adding and signing long term deals to players that actually make sense. Even Kyrou's deal makes more sense than Buch resigning did. Schenn, Krug & Buch types of contracts are why we suck.

 

[Majorityof1]

Eichel was in his 4th year of an 8 year deal. So the acquiring team would have been responsible for just over half of that deal. Seeing how young Eichel was and the fact he chose to have this type of surgery would lead most people to have confidence that he did his research and will recover based on his age and confidence in the surgery.

A top tier talent like him almost never becomes available and to get him for Tuch and a top 10 protected 1st is insane. I was hoping Army learned from this trade to never be passive when a golden opportunity for a young star shows up (when Matthew Tkachuk was there for the Blues to grab). He didn’t learn

Search "Eichel" in everywhere posted by Stlblues50. You joined in 2019, so let's see all those "we absolutely must trade for Eichel posts" from 2021 rolling in...ummm, nope. Nada. It's easy to make your argument now. But people were far from that confident then.

As for Tkachuk, we were in on him. We just didn't have the assets. They got a 100 point winger and top pair D and they resigned both. Huberdeau tanked after the trade but again hindsight us 20/20. Nobody expected such a drastic decline so soon. We didn't have comparable players at the time.

And Tkachuk controlled his destiny by threatening to take his qualifying offer and go to UFA after a year. He chose Florida over us as well. So how was he there for the Blues to grab?

I'm one of the more critical of DA posters on here, but you are re-writing history. "Everyone knew Eichel would bounce back." "Tkachuk was there for the Blues to take easy." No, that's not what happened on either count.

 

[Stlblue50]

Search "Eichel" in everywhere posted by Stlblues50. You joined in 2019, so let's see all those "we absolutely must trade for Eichel posts" from 2021 rolling in...ummm, nope. Nada. It's easy to make your argument now. But people were far from that confident then.

As for Tkachuk, we were in on him. We just didn't have the assets. They got a 100 point winger and top pair D and they resigned both. Huberdeau tanked after the trade but again hindsight us 20/20. Nobody expected such a drastic decline so soon. We didn't have comparable players at the time.

And Tkachuk controlled his destiny by threatening to take his qualifying offer and go to UFA after a year. He chose Florida over us as well. So how was he there for the Blues to grab?

I'm one of the more critical of DA posters on here, but you are re-writing history. "Everyone knew Eichel would bounce back." "Tkachuk was there for the Blues to take easy." No, that's not what happened on either count.

Chill dude, if you read my first post about Eichel I mentioned that when he was dealt I remember the ROR deal still in “a compete steal” status for the Blues and that was a major factor as it was well talked about around the league how big of a trade that was for the Blues. So I highly doubt Buffalo would have even considered the Blues for that reason alone.

I don’t care what anyone says online, Army completely dropped the ball on MT. He went on record to officially say the Blues were 1 of 3 teams he would accept a trade to. Two aging 30 year olds that they signed to max deals vs a Kyrou and change would have 100% got it done.

 

[Brian39]

Calgary is on pace for 93-
Vancouver is on pace for 91+
Blues are on pace for 85+

Blues have 34 games left and need 43 points in them to reach 93. That's 9 games over .500 in a 34 game stretch, which is .632 pace.

21-12-1
20-11-3
19-10-5
18-9-7

those records til the end of the season all = 93 points

and if Calgary or Vancouver ticks it up they are going to need even more

If you're looking at the standings and thinking "a mere 1 point out" then you are hoping the Blues can get in around 86 points because the other teams all biff their games in hand. Is hoping the Blues get in with 86 points legitimate?

I don't think this team is a .632 team down the stretch personally. I think it's more like .590

I don't think anyone at all expects the Blues to get in with 86 points (a .518 points percentage). Anyone believing in the Blues to make the playoffs is very obviously basing that opinion on the premise that the team is playing better than it did under Bannister and the assumption/hope/optimism that they will continue to do so.

Our current .518 points percentage is the combination of a 22 game sample under Bannister where the team played at a .432 points percentage and a 26 game sample under Monty where the team has played at a .596 points percentage. Let's say the team plays at that .590 you are predicting for the rest of the schedule. That would get them 40 more points, good for 90 standings points and a season-long .549 points percentage. That very well might not be enough, but no one is basing their belief/optimism for playoffs around the team matching their current season-long .518 points percentage. They are basing it on a continuation (and potential improvement) of the way the team has played since the coaching change.

I think everyone understands games in hand and gets that the current 1 point gap isn't the full story. But our current .518 doesn't capture the full story either.

Taking the conversation away from purely the Blues perspective, part of the optimism comes from watching the chaos in Vancouver. They have opened up a path that few people believed would be there after the first 30 games of the season. They have gone 4-7-5 in their last 16 games, Demko has been awful since returning from a significant injury, and all the drama/smoke around Miller and EP hasn't gone away. Like most teams in freefall, they could absolutely turn it around. But it is also reasonable not to pencil them in for their 91 point pace when they haven't looked like a team remotely close to that in quite some time.

 

[PocketNines]

Right I spent some posts recently talking about the different pace under Montgomery and Bannister. (Which explains why I feel like they're more .590 than .518)

One of my longtime (decades long) attention focuses has been perceiving the standings properly, and I am certain that not everyone understands that the current 1 point gap isn't the full story, which is the valid reason to bring it up. I see evidence of it here and elsewhere, it is a common thing not just for this year but every year forever going back.

 

[SirPaste]

Eichel was in his 4th year of an 8 year deal. So the acquiring team would have been responsible for just over half of that deal. Seeing how young Eichel was and the fact he chose to have this type of surgery would lead most people to have confidence that he did his research and will recover based on his age and confidence in the surgery.

A top tier talent like him almost never becomes available and to get him for Tuch and a top 10 protected 1st is insane. I was hoping Army learned from this trade to never be passive when a golden opportunity for a young star shows up (when Matthew Tkachuk was there for the Blues to grab). He didn’t learn

I obviously would love to have Eichel but I think you are downplaying the return a little bit. At the time of the trade Tuch was a 24 year old emerging power forward with some succesful seasons already under his belt, a very recent first round pick in Peyton Krebs, a 1st and a 2nd for Eichel and a third. Obviously still a clear win for Vegas but saying it was for Tuch and a 1st is downplaying it a little and not sure what a comparable offer would have been from the Blues at the time, we weren't exactly flush with prospects or picks but something like Thomas/Kyrou, Neighbours a 1st and a 2nd would be in the same ballpark at the time of the trade.