Is it time for a rebuild ?

[ChicagoBlues]

have you watched this years team yet?

You're ruining my fantasy.

Go away.

 

[Stealth JD]

Those calling to blow the whole thing up and rebuild must feel pretty foolish right now, given our winning streak of one in a row.

I feel better than I would have had we lost to the Sharks (in which case I might have given up all hope). But we didn't exactly look like the 1978 Canadiens in the process.

‘78 Canadiens? We’re striving for ‘22 Canadiens at this point.

 

[Xerloris]

"you are not going to dominate teams for 60 minutes" - Tell that to the several teams who have dominated us ..........

As for the goals off our D, that could be bad luck. Or it could be our D suck and made bad plays/bad positioning.
The Faulk goal specifically wasn't bad luck, it was f***ing dumb of Faulk to try to catch up a spinning puck with an overhand catch while having to lean way foward and having someone on his back while pointing directly at the net. That goal was 0% bad luck, 0% sharks good play, and 100% Faulk being dumb. Which is fine.. Every NHL player will make bone head plays now and again. But let's call a spade a spade and a dumb play a dumb play.

We did it a lot last year as well. I think it's not bad luck but poor defensive positioning or decisions.

 

[Stealth JD]

Back in a playoff spot. Crisis seemingly averted…or at least postponed.

 

[Mike Liut]

Back in a playoff spot. Crisis seemingly averted…or at least postponed.

Do we let all our UFA’s walk for free?

 

[Xerloris]

Do we let all our UFA’s walk for free?

f*** ya we do. Only losers need draft picks.

 

[Mike Liut]

f*** ya we do. Only losers need draft picks.

I’m trying to picture this team next year without ROR, Tarasenko, Barbashev and Mikkola. Not too pretty. And zero cap room. And a crappy prospect pool.

 

[Xerloris]

I’m trying to picture this team next year without ROR, Tarasenko, Barbashev and Mikkola. Not too pretty. And zero cap room. And a crappy prospect pool.

Right? If we were going to suck this was the year for it but in typical Blues fashion we're f***ing ourselves.

 

[Moose and Squirrel]

I’m trying to picture this team next year without ROR, Tarasenko, Barbashev and Mikkola. Not too pretty. And zero cap room. And a crappy prospect pool.

if I had to guess, one of ROR/Barby will be back along with Mikkola. Just feels like Vladi is gone

ymmv

 

[Mike Liut]

Right? If we were going to suck this was the year for it but in typical Blues fashion we're f***ing ourselves.

I’m glad I’m not the decision maker. I suck

if I had to guess, one of ROR/Barby will be back along with Mikkola. Just feels like Vladi is gone

ymmv

I’d take Barbs and Mikkola for sure. I’m not comfortable extending ROR. I think he’s in terminal decline and won’t age well.

 

[Moose and Squirrel]

I’m glad I’m not the decision maker. I suck




I’d take Barbs and Mikkola for sure. I’m not comfortable extending ROR. I think he’s in terminal decline and won’t age well.

yeah.. that has the makings of an iffy extension, depending on length/term...etc

 

[tfriede2]

IF the cap goes up by 4 mil, as Bettman said was possible, we could conceivably re-sign ROR, Barbashev and Mikkola. Not sure yet if that’s what I’d do, but that’s a possibility.

 

[TruBlu]

The question is whether we want to resign ROR for the money he's going to want? DA is not going to want to put up more than 4 years of term. I can imagine that ROR's acceptance price is going to be too steep to accept as he's most assuredly going to be looking for max term on a retirement contract. I don't see any scenario where he's kept that doesn't put the club in a bad position cap-wise. I just don't think he's going to be the kind of guy that gives a discount.

 

[Majorityof1]

The question is whether we want to resign ROR for the money he's going to want? DA is not going to want to put up more than 4 years of term. I can imagine that ROR's acceptance price is going to be too steep to accept as he's most assuredly going to be looking for max term on a retirement contract. I don't see any scenario where he's kept that doesn't put the club in a bad position cap-wise. I just don't think he's going to be the kind of guy that gives a discount.

I don't know that money is going to be the prime motivator on this contract for O'Rei. People say he will be looking for a big money long term deal, and that has been his MO in the past. But he is a changed person from those days. He signed his last contract for big money 7 years ago. That contract took him to the place where he ran his truck into a Tim Horton's while driving drunk. It took him to the place where he lost his love of the game. He is a far cry from that now, having found a team that respects what he brings and found team success too.

RoR has already made over $75M in his career in contracts alone. He has a pretty decent amount of endorsement deals here, where he is in more commericals than anyone but Panger. I don't know how much those pay, but he might not be as big of a draw if he goes somewhere else., That can offset some lost income on a discounted deal. He has the captaincy here. He has friends, even if his best friend left. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he was wiling to give us a pretty decent home town discount.

The question then becomes, do we want to sign him even at that discount? His slow start this year and his age are definitely worrisome. I'd probably go mid-term, 3-5 years, at $5-6.5M. Whether he goes that low, I don't know. But if he comes in and says "I want this and here is why I can get that on the open market", then I say "Thank you for your time here, good luck".

 

[Reality Czech]

The question is whether we want to resign ROR for the money he's going to want? DA is not going to want to put up more than 4 years of term. I can imagine that ROR's acceptance price is going to be too steep to accept as he's most assuredly going to be looking for max term on a retirement contract. I don't see any scenario where he's kept that doesn't put the club in a bad position cap-wise. I just don't think he's going to be the kind of guy that gives a discount.

I tend to agree with you. As much as I would love to see ROR stick around to be a mentor to Thomas and our other young players, it's hard to see the Blues offering him as much as he could get on the open market. We've got two centers signed long-term, and it's hard to see the Blues spending a lot of money on a guy who would end up a middle six center. The way Schenn is playing right now, he's capable of being a 2C in the short term and I'm not sure it a guarantee that ROR will age better than Schenn will.

And I also agree ROR isnt the type to take a hometown discount. If another team is willing to make him their top center, and pay him accordingly, I can't see him staying here for a lesser role and less money.

 

[BlueSeal]

*looks at Tyler Bozak* Why didn’t we sign him again?

I don't know that money is going to be the prime motivator on this contract for O'Rei. People say he will be looking for a big money long term deal, and that has been his MO in the past. But he is a changed person from those days. He signed his last contract for big money 7 years ago. That contract took him to the place where he ran his truck into a Tim Horton's while driving drunk. It took him to the place where he lost his love of the game. He is a far cry from that now, having found a team that respects what he brings and found team success too.

RoR has already made over $75M in his career in contracts alone. He has a pretty decent amount of endorsement deals here, where he is in more commericals than anyone but Panger. I don't know how much those pay, but he might not be as big of a draw if he goes somewhere else., That can offset some lost income on a discounted deal. He has the captaincy here. He has friends, even if his best friend left. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he was wiling to give us a pretty decent home town discount.

The question then becomes, do we want to sign him even at that discount? His slow start this year and his age are definitely worrisome. I'd probably go mid-term, 3-5 years, at $5-6.5M. Whether he goes that low, I don't know. But if he comes in and says "I want this and here is why I can get that on the open market", then I say "Thank you for your time here, good luck".

I agree with what you say. I’ve been concerned about the overall attitude and feel of the room, it’s not just ROR and it seems his mo to be occasionally be not so engaged. That’s a bad way to say it but the right words are failing me atm.

 

[ValHaller]

*looks at Tyler Bozak* Why didn’t we sign him again?

Nobody else did either. That should tell you something.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

I'm hoping Detroit implodes and we need to fill a spot due to LIR at the trade deadline.

Enter DP57 for another Cup run!

 

[Robb_K]

I'm hoping Detroit implodes and we need to fill a spot due to LIR at the trade deadline.

Enter DP57 for another Cup run!

View attachment 611302

What does "LIR" stand for?

 

[Robb_K]

if I had to guess, one of ROR/Barby will be back along with Mikkola. Just feels like Vladi is gone

ymmv

Tarasenko is likely going. I would sign ROR for 6.5 million for 3 years. I definitely wouldn't give longer term, or a higher average salary per year. So ROR is like likely going, too. I would keep Barbashev, for sure. I don't believe he will be declining, or that his scoring last season was an anomaly. He might not score as many goals in the next 3 seasons, but he should be a very similar player with no major drop-off. And he is still relatively young, compared with Tarasenko and ROR. He will continue to provide net-front goals, toughness, energy, good forechecking, etc. Mikkola should be kept on the 3rd pairing, as long as his CAP hit doesn't prevent The Blues from being able to keep another player they want to keep more, at a price that could otherwise be met, and is acceptable to Blues' management, and myself.

If, somehow, The Blues could keep ROR for a couple years at a discounted price, and Barbashev's salary prevents that, I would rather see The Blues give up Mikkola and perhaps another lower-salaried player, to make room to keep Barbashev.

 

[execwrite1]

IF the goal is to win another Cup, then let's break this team up at the deadline and start rebuilding.

Everyone is available for the right price - picks and prospects.

You build from the goal out. This defense is a mess and won't be getting much better.

 

[BlueMed]

IF the goal is to win another Cup, then let's break this team up at the deadline and start rebuilding.

Everyone is available for the right price - picks and prospects.

You build from the goal out. This defense is a mess and won't be getting much better.

Colorado's goaltending was atrocious last year, and they still won. Believe it or not, there's more than one way to win a championship. And it's probably easier to add one more LHD to this roster than to blow the whole thing up and wait another 8+ years to even be as close as this team is...

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

IF the goal is to win another Cup, then let's break this team up at the deadline and start rebuilding.

Everyone is available for the right price - picks and prospects.

You build from the goal out. This defense is a mess and won't be getting much better.

For all that we complain about the d, when we struggle it’s almost always bc of our forwards. They get lazy on d and/or not scoring. Faulk or Parayko or whomever gets attention bc they are standing closest to goal, but they aren’t usually reason fir the goal. When Buffalo scored 3 on 1, the fault wasn’t with the 1; it was the other 4 that put Faulk in that position.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

For all that we complain about the d, when we struggle it’s almost always bc of our forwards. They get lazy on d and/or not scoring. Faulk or Parayko or whomever gets attention bc they are standing closest to goal, but they aren’t usually reason fir the goal. When Buffalo scored 3 on 1, the fault wasn’t with the 1; it was the other 4 that put Faulk in that position.

The three on one happened b/c Mikkola went for a line change and Krug stood there flat footed instead of immediately breaking back towards the d-zone. That was 100% on Mikkola and Krug. Granted, it would have been a three on two instead of a three on one, but still, better odds you stop that.

 

[cmcalum]

Tarasenko is likely going. I would sign ROR for 6.5 million for 3 years. I definitely wouldn't give longer term, or a higher average salary per year. So ROR is like likely going, too. I would keep Barbashev, for sure. I don't believe he will be declining, or that his scoring last season was an anomaly. He might not score as many goals in the next 3 seasons, but he should be a very similar player with no major drop-off. And he is still relatively young, compared with Tarasenko and ROR. He will continue to provide net-front goals, toughness, energy, good forechecking, etc. Mikkola should be kept on the 3rd pairing, as long as his CAP hit doesn't prevent The Blues from being able to keep another player they want to keep more, at a price that could otherwise be met, and is acceptable to Blues' management, and myself.

If, somehow, The Blues could keep ROR for a couple years at a discounted price, and Barbashev's salary prevents that, I would rather see The Blues give up Mikkola and perhaps another lower-salaried player, to make room to keep Barbashev.

We are a 500 team with these FA’s. Why do we want to sign ROR on the downside of his career? I can see signing Barbashev to a reasonable contract but can’t see how we would sign ROR or Tarasenko when we can get cap flexibility and hopefully start to restock the pool of young players. In addition, if we sign ROR he will likely be the 3rd line center behind Thomas and Schenn. How much do you want to pay for him when his slowness only gets slower over the next few years. I think we have enough boat anchor contracts.