Is it time for a rebuild ?

[Bye Bye Blueston]

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.

If we are changing it’s incumbent on forward’ Schenn in this case, to not turn puck over near blue line.

 

[Bluesguru]

It’s coming. The team as is still has some game. You can see it. Which still surprises me that Army didn’t bring Perron back on a 2 year deal. This year is probably their last shot.

I say this cause I’m assuming we lose Tarasenko to free agency and quite possibly ROR as well. Lose those 2 guys for nothing and this team is no longer a playoff team and you just don’t replace a 30-40 goal scorer and a Conn Smythe/Captain/Leader thru free agency. Not happening.

 

[Ridge1982]

Still believe it’s time. They’re going nowhere with what they have.

 

[Mike Liut]

Really hope Army doesn’t hold onto our UFA’s to make one more run and letting them all walk for free.

 

[stl76]

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.

It was 1000% on Mikkola changing at a bad time and Schenn turning the puck over. There was NOTHING Krug could have done there.

 

[Majorityof1]

It was 1000% on Mikkola changing at a bad time and Schenn turning the puck over. There was NOTHING Krug could have done there.

How so? Krug was on the ice, between the puck carrier and the goal. He had time to swipe at it, but his stick wasn't long enough. If he starts skating instead he could of at least put back pressure on the puck carrier if nothing else. That's better than swiping at it from 5 feet away with a 4 foot reach.

 

[Xerloris]

How so? Krug was on the ice, between the puck carrier and the goal. He had time to swipe at it, but his stick wasn't long enough. If he starts skating instead he could of at least put back pressure on the puck carrier if nothing else. That's better than swiping at it from 5 feet away with a 4 foot reach.

Krug just got on the ice and was literally at a stand still flat footed. He was not going to catch or pressure anyone. It's an absolute joke that you think he could have.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

He could have started skating back - he didn't. He took a shot at making a desperation play. If he makes the poke, it's an amazing play. If he skates back, at least he can put some back pressure on one side. He whiffed and it was a 3 on 1 - it's honestly not the worst play he's had all year, but it's just tough to watch when he's been so poop in general.

 

[stl76]

There are plenty of plays to be mad at Krug about, but this was just not one of them.

Should we blame him for not having a longer stick? Seems dumb to me.

Should we blame him for not immediately skating back as soon as his skates touched the ice to try to maybe catch up with 3 guys instead of trying to make a stick check? Again, seems dumb to me. Seems way more reasonable to look at the guy who made the horrible change and put Krug in that position (Mikkola) or the guy who turned to puck over while the D were trying to make a change (Schenn). If you are in a position where your skates have barely touched the ice and the opposition has possession and is on top of you/coming back at full speed, something has already gone horribly wrong.

Seriously, watch the play again. Mikkola isn't even fully off the ice, Krugs skates have barely touched the ice, and there are already 3 Buffalo skaters moving at full speed at the blueline. What the actual f*** is Mikkola doing here?

This goal is not Krug's fault.

 

[TheOrganist]

Mikkola’s change just looked bad because of Schenn’s horrendous turnover. As others have pointed out, this is an odd goal against to pick apart our D. There are plenty of other candidates.

 

[Majorityof1]

There are plenty of plays to be mad at Krug about, but this was just not one of them.

Should we blame him for not having a longer stick? Seems dumb to me.

Should we blame him for not immediately skating back as soon as his skates touched the ice to try to maybe catch up with 3 guys instead of trying to make a stick check? Again, seems dumb to me. Seems way more reasonable to look at the guy who made the horrible change and put Krug in that position (Mikkola) or the guy who turned to puck over while the D were trying to make a change (Schenn). If you are in a position where your skates have barely touched the ice and the opposition has possession and is on top of you/coming back at full speed, something has already gone horribly wrong.

Seriously, watch the play again. Mikkola isn't even fully off the ice, Krugs skates have barely touched the ice, and there are already 3 Buffalo skaters moving at full speed at the blueline. What the actual f*** is Mikkola doing here?

View attachment 613798




This goal is not Krug's fault.

Yes, look at that pic. His feet are firmly planted. He is leaning forward, not toward the boards as if he just got off. The puck carrier is not yet at the blue line and Krug is half-way between the Blue-line and the red line. He is 12.5+ foot lead on the puck carrier. He should be ready to move the second his feet hit the ice. He should be able to get up to speed quickly enough to pressure the puck carrier if that is what he chose to do. I am not blaming him for his stick being too short. He should know how long his stick is. He should know he has no chance to swipe the puck away from a fast moving puck carrier. He made the wrong choice. That is on him. It is also on Mikkola and Schenn, but we don't excuse a bad play merely because other people made bad plays too. I actually agree Mikkola is most responsible for the goal with that change, but Krug did make a bad play as well.

So yes, we should blame him for not immediately skating back to try to break up a 3-on-1 or at least make it a 3-on-2. Back pressure on the puck carrier could have caused him to make a mistake. Swiping at a puck you are too far away from does nothing. Very few goals against can be broken down to "that one guy made a mistake and everyone else was fine". What seems dumb to me is to give a bad play a pass because someone else made a bad play too, and it fits your narrative to blame them instead.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Come on guys. You know the real reason that goal happened was because of that Scrub Kyrou.

 

[stl76]

Come on guys. You know the real reason that goal happened was because of that Scrub Kyrou.

Nah man, the real issue is that a defenseman who was barely on the ice didn't back check hard enough

 

[TruBlu]

I just have a hard time watching this year's team and having any excitement about potentially making any kind of realistic run at the cup. My fear is that we keep Tank and ROR at the TDL and bow out in the first round. Trading those guys for some pics/prospects is the difference between a 3 year turnaround for another open cup window or a 7 year turnaround for an open cup window. I would not propose this if we weren't so imbalanced, but this teams' chemistry and balance is off....and by a big margin.

 

[PocketNines]

We don't know what the team is because they don't know who they are. There are certain moments in the season the team has a chance to establish an identity and tonight's game against Dallas is a big one. Division rival, they're leading the division, home game, have to overcome the loss of a key player.

They've been getting caved for bursts and periods all season but they built a short stretch of resilience during the win streak and now they've added an inspiring road comeback to their story. If they can go on another medium win streak and begin building a momentum-recapture identity then they can solidify a playoff position in a soft conference.

It's very significant that most of the league is in an identity crisis with a ton of teams' fans feeling like we do. This season is ripe for some team to emerge at the halfway point and storm to the Cup. The league feels like it's in flux as to who the consistently top performers are among the younger cohort reaching their primes.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Nah man, the real issue is that a defenseman who was barely on the ice didn't back check hard enough

Nope, everything is Kyrou's fault. EVERYTHING

 

[PocketNines]

Nope, everything is Kyrou's fault. EVERYTHING

Which posters here have said this? Just curious

 

[stl76]

Nope, everything is Kyrou's fault. EVERYTHING

OK, you’ve convinced me. We will have to burn Kyrou at the stake now. *sigh* I’ll start to gather some wood…

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Which posters here have said this? Just curious

Sarcasm my friend. Sarcasm. Also making fun of the tons of Twitter posts blaming Kyrou for multiple goals where he was doing his job but others weren't.

 

[PocketNines]

Sarcasm my friend. Sarcasm. Also making fun of the tons of Twitter posts blaming Kyrou for multiple goals where he was doing his job but others weren't.

I feel like it's legit sarcasm if people here are really saying that. I don't see every post or anything and it could easily be in GDTs, maybe someone is, that was why I asked.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

These last 4 games (BUF, TB, FLA, DAL) convince me that we are flawed.

Blow it up.

 

[Mike Liut]

These last 4 games (BUF, TB, FLA, DAL) convince me that we are flawed.

Blow it up.

Flawed? Just because we don’t have a very good defense and our offense is bad? Lol

We are currently drafting 10th. We need to suck worse than that.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Flawed? Just because we don’t have a very good defense and our offense is bad? Lol

We are currently drafting 10th. We need to suck worse than that.

After we sell, we will nose dive like a lawn dart.

 

[Sgt Schultz]

Eh, talk to me in about two months on this subject of a rebuild/dramatic retool. I do not put too much stock in anything that happens on the ice before the new year, other than just raw point production (and how much of a hole has been dug) and injuries. Right now we are inconsistent and pretty much middle of the pack.

Some teams that fired out of the gate will come back to earth, some that can't get off the ground will take flight. Seems like that happens every year. I seem to remember the Blues being a historic case of taking flight a few years back.

That said, I don't have a warm, fuzzy about the "architecture" of this team. Last year may have been about as high as we can go like that, I don't know. But, that could just be me and my own biases.

 

[TruBlu]

Defense in general is a weak point for this team. Our defenseman corps are built to move the puck and no one is currently holding down the fort when it comes to actual defense. The forwards are floaters and playmakers and do not even try to back check. One of the reasons why we've been successful post cup is that Chief held each and every member of the team accountable to being at least defensibly sound. Tank has never been much defensively, but all he cares about now is boosting his stats for that next contract from whichever team he signs with. Binnington is also not the god some have made him out to be. The team is probably about where we should be in the standings, in my opinion. Defense has degraded, our shot attempts are down, and our goalie isn't making some of the saves he needs to make.

The more I watch the team the more certain I become that DA has to see the same thing. I think this season is pretty in line with 2018 when we traded Stastny. I have no optimism that we can mount any legitimate run for a cup this year...we are simply too flawed in almost every area that matters. Trading ROR and Tank won't save us next year, or even the year after, but it would put us on a good path toward building another core group in their mid twenties ready to compete again in just a few years. If the few assets we have walk for nothing after this season we are looking at a Chicago level of rebuild going forward.