Is it time for a rebuild ?

[TK 421]

Can't do a rebuild, too many long term contracts. Retool on the fly is the only option and I'm not convinced we need to do that this year.

 

[BlueMed]

They need to retool and get some youth in the system. Are they one of the best-8 teams in the West? Yeah...probably. But only barely if they are, and likely because there are some pretty terrible teams in the West (which unfortunately may mask some of the short-comings this roster already has). Squeaking into the playoffs and immediately getting waxed shouldn't be the objective, but I'm not sure if the upside is much higher than that. You can't be all-in every year, and if this team doesn't lock itself firmly into a playoff spot by mid-January I fully expect Army to be a seller.

It's shocking how thouroughly the defensive corps have been dismantled since the Cup squad. Beyond unfathomable how Army so quickly saw a team strength turn into a glaring weakness.

Wait, hold on a second.

Last year, this Blues team was the toughest opponent against Colorado in the playoffs and was clearly a top 3 team in the West, factoring Vegas' shenanigans.

Now, after this team loses 4 straight games, the Blues are considered to be borderline 8th in the West? I get that this team hasn't looked good these past few games, but that's not a sufficient sample size to make these presumptions about not making the playoffs or potentially rebuilding. I'm not saying that can't happen, but the reactivity of this forum is completely ridiculous. Look around the league; Colorado, Pittsburgh, and Toronto are all sitting at 0.500. I guess everyone should just sell and rebuild together. No playoffs for anyone this year.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Retool sure, Rebuild no.

 

[DatDude44]

No, but if we suck I see retool trades at the deadline going down like Barbashev and Tarasenko

Wait, hold on a second.

Last year, this Blues team was the toughest opponent against Colorado in the playoffs and was clearly a top 3 team in the West, factoring Vegas' shenanigans.

Now, after this team loses 4 straight games, the Blues are considered to be borderline 8th in the West? I get that this team hasn't looked good these past few games, but that's not a sufficient sample size to make these presumptions about not making the playoffs or potentially rebuilding. I'm not saying that can't happen, but the reactivity of this forum is completely ridiculous. Look around the league; Colorado, Pittsburgh, and Toronto are all sitting at 0.500. I guess everyone should just sell and rebuild together. No playoffs for anyone this year.

We didn’t have Krug in playoffs either. We’ll be fine. Everyone has a scorched earth philosophy now.

 

[Stealth JD]

Wait, hold on a second.

Last year, this Blues team was the toughest opponent against Colorado in the playoffs and was clearly a top 3 team in the West, factoring Vegas' shenanigans.

Now, after this team loses 4 straight games, the Blues are considered to be borderline 8th in the West? I get that this team hasn't looked good these past few games, but that's not a sufficient sample size to make these presumptions about not making the playoffs or potentially rebuilding. I'm not saying that can't happen, but the reactivity of this forum is completely ridiculous. Look around the league; Colorado, Pittsburgh, and Toronto are all sitting at 0.500. I guess everyone should just sell and rebuild together. No playoffs for anyone this year.

Dallas is good. Vegas is good. Calgary is good. Colorado is good.

Edmonton/Minnesota/Nashville/Winnipeg/LA are all right there neck-and-neck with STL for a wild card or #3 spot.

Duck, Nucks, Hawks, Yotes, Sharks should be trash. Blues are fighting for 5th-10th in the West and providing little confidence in doing much more than getting ousted early in Rd. 1.

 

[Xerloris]

Chicago is obviously better than we are since they have more points, I'll ignore the difference in games played because it doesn't fit my narrative.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

The heart and soul left this team a while back. It was more than just a few guys leaving for elsewhere. Something else happened. I can't put my finger on it.

Maybe it's just the ebb and flow of professional sports nowadays. There used to be pride in the Blue note. I just don't see that in the younger guys.

Also, Tank's desire to be elsewhere has had a significant impact on the teams culture. It has sown doubt in what this organization is about and how players perceive it. I know on the national level it's one of the first things that the pundits/announcers talk about when they do Blues games. I know that much of this is driven by their shallow understanding of teams. But that kind of sucks as our national identity now: Tarasenko's bad land lord. We used to be know has a hard blue collar team that made you pay.

Sometimes you have to ditch unhappy people before it becomes a cancer. I just wonder if DA's cold blooded negotiation style missed something big...like paying for heart and soul. (love and miss you DP...come back soon). Getting kudos from the GM world for maximizing perceived return on trade deals only lasts as long as the headline. I want a team full of players who want to be here, want to play their asses off, and want to bring it every night for their city and fans.

 

[BlueSeal]

The heart and soul left this team a while back. It was more than just a few guys leaving for elsewhere. Something else happened. I can't put my finger on it.

Maybe it's just the ebb and flow of professional sports nowadays. There used to be pride in the Blue note. I just don't see that in the younger guys.

Also, Tank's desire to be elsewhere has had a significant impact on the teams culture. It has sown doubt in what this organization is about and how players perceive it. I know on the national level it's one of the first things that the pundits/announcers talk about when they do Blues games. I know that much of this is driven by their shallow understanding of teams. But that kind of sucks as our national identity now: Tarasenko's bad land lord. We used to be know has a hard blue collar team that made you pay.

Sometimes you have to ditch unhappy people before it becomes a cancer.

Army can read a stat sheet but he either can't or refuses to read a room. It's more than a stat sheet, if your players don't like playing with each other, have a beef with the front office and I'm sorry but 91's beef is absolutely legitimate and your friends are either being allowed to walk or are traded off and you're left with fragments of what was, I can see disgruntled players. Army is invested in the numbers, not in the people and it seems easy to get on his bad side quick.

Yes, I'm going to say Army because as much as it can be Chief, he can only work with what he has and no matter how much pull he may have, he doesn't make the ultimate decisions so he's left looking like a problem. Army is left as being some sort of divine entity because we won the Cup; he is perfect and he can do no wrong and if we don't have Army, who do we get - kind of questioning. We totally lose sight on the lessons forgotten when Dallas sent him on his way. Look at that and look at which way we're trending. Ignore it at your peril.

The whole it's been a few games is tone deaf to the situation - Hell, even the Habs walked us. But we're not worried because 'those things happen'. Fact is, with this roster, that shouldn't ever happen. If it gets worse, we may lose Chief and that angers me - how do you blame him for the nonsense upper management does and then claims it's things they had to do. If you sit down and do the numbers, you'll realize they could have done things differently.

Watch the games. These guys don't look like they like playing together.

 

[Reality Czech]

They need to retool and get some youth in the system. Are they one of the best-8 teams in the West? Yeah...probably. But only barely if they are, and likely because there are some pretty terrible teams in the West (which unfortunately may mask some of the short-comings this roster already has). Squeaking into the playoffs and immediately getting waxed shouldn't be the objective, but I'm not sure if the upside is much higher than that. You can't be all-in every year, and if this team doesn't lock itself firmly into a playoff spot by mid-January I fully expect Army to be a seller.

It's shocking how thouroughly the defensive corps have been dismantled since the Cup squad. Beyond unfathomable how Army so quickly saw a team strength turn into a glaring weakness.

Blame Benedict Petro and extreme bad luck with JayBo. The Blues were still above average defensively last year no matter how often people repeat the narrative that our defense was completely terrible. Turns out Scandella wasn't the problem after all.

i mean, what team doesn't rebuild after every losing streak in the season?

I just read that this is our first 4-game losing streak since Berube took over as coach.

So obviously tear it all down, fire everyone!

I mentioned earlier about how we need a tough guy on the team to get the team fired up and most people scoffed at me. But I bet we would play with a lot more heart and fire if we had someone like Reaves or Lucic on our team. I'm more upset that Army let Maroon go than most other guys who have left in recent years.

 

[BlueSeal]

Blame Benedict Petro and extreme bad luck with JayBo. The Blues were still above average defensively last year no matter how often people repeat the narrative that our defense was completely terrible. Turns out Scandella wasn't the problem after all.



I just read that this is our first 4-game losing streak since Berube took over as coach.

So obviously tear it all down, fire everyone!

I mentioned earlier about how we need a tough guy on the team to get the team fired up and most people scoffed at me. But I bet we would play with a lot more heart and fire if we had someone like Reaves or Lucic on our team. I'm more upset that Army let Maroon go than most other guys who have left in recent years.

Army is blind to heart. To him these are numbers, not people.

 

[Xerloris]

Watch the games. These guys don't look like they like playing together.

We said the same thing in 2018 before things turned around in 2019 and we won the cup. Things can change and you don't always have to fire/trade people for it to happen.

 

[Reality Czech]

Army is blind to heart. To him these are numbers, not people.

That may be true but I don't know if having more heart would result in a better winning percentage. I don't think his approach is that different from most other GMs. But the Blues have been built on depth rather than a top heavy team like Toronto so it makes sense we can't afford to keep everyone.

But not finding a million per year to sign Maroon is a head scratcher to me considering how much he brought both off the ice and on. For a team that has lacked identity, we could use a guy like that.

 

[BlueSeal]

We said the same thing in 2018 before things turned around in 2019 and we won the cup. Things can change and you don't always have to fire/trade people for it to happen.

We’ve said it long before that too, it’s been the rule even with the exception.

 

[Blueline2757]

Army can read a stat sheet but he either can't or refuses to read a room. It's more than a stat sheet, if your players don't like playing with each other, have a beef with the front office and I'm sorry but 91's beef is absolutely legitimate and your friends are either being allowed to walk or are traded off and you're left with fragments of what was, I can see disgruntled players. Army is invested in the numbers, not in the people and it seems easy to get on his bad side quick.

Yes, I'm going to say Army because as much as it can be Chief, he can only work with what he has and no matter how much pull he may have, he doesn't make the ultimate decisions so he's left looking like a problem. Army is left as being some sort of divine entity because we won the Cup; he is perfect and he can do no wrong and if we don't have Army, who do we get - kind of questioning. We totally lose sight on the lessons forgotten when Dallas sent him on his way. Look at that and look at which way we're trending. Ignore it at your peril.

The whole it's been a few games is tone deaf to the situation - Hell, even the Habs walked us. But we're not worried because 'those things happen'. Fact is, with this roster, that shouldn't ever happen. If it gets worse, we may lose Chief and that angers me - how do you blame him for the nonsense upper management does and then claims it's things they had to do. If you sit down and do the numbers, you'll realize they could have done things differently.

Watch the games. These guys don't look like they like playing together.

I agree with this 100%. Armstrong is like the CEO at where I used to work, He only cares about $$$ I didn't have a life, I was constantly working to death. One time I was in the hospital because of anxiety issues due to my job and at the same time getting yelled at by a manager on the phone because I didn't show up to work. I quit right then and there. I work at a different company and I get treated like a family now instead of being a number and that I actually love my job again.

I'm sorry to say I totally get Petro's frustration when he didn't get a NMC or Perron not even getting a contract offer. On DA's team the players are just numbers to him, He doesn't give an ounce about a player's family. That's why I'm on the player's side. Armstrong has gotten worse since winning the cup and that's why I've been a vocal critic.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I agree with this 100%. Armstrong is like the CEO at where I used to work, He only cares about $$$ I didn't have a life, I was constantly working to death. One time I was in the hospital because of anxiety issues due to my job and at the same time getting yelled at by a manager on the phone because I didn't show up to work. I quit right then and there. I work at a different company and I get treated like a family now instead of being a number and that I actually love my job again.

I'm sorry to say I totally get Petro's frustration when he didn't get a NMC or Perron not even getting a contract offer. On DA's team the players are just numbers to him, He doesn't give an ounce about a player's family. That's why I'm on the player's side. Armstrong has gotten worse since winning the cup and that's why I've been a vocal critic.

This is something that people keep spitting out but it's not true. DA offered DP a contract, DP declined, so DA changed directions.

 

[Mohko]

I'm glad Army hasn't given up on Kyrou as quickly as some of the people around here. Anyway, I could see this year being like 2018 at the TDL when we traded Stastny even though we were in a playoff spot. IIRC we had three straight games vs the Jets and Preds, 2 of our likely opponents in the first or second round, and we looked like we couldn't compete with them. So we traded pending UFA Stastny to look towards the future even though we didn't rebuild. We should do the same this year with our UFAs if we are in a playoff spot but just don't look like we can compete with the real contenders.

I don't think a lot of people on HF know what a rebuild really means. I don't even know what that would look like for a team with the contracts the Blues have.

I saw the '21 TDL same way. We were way behind COL and were destined to face them on the first round.
Selling Schwartz and Hoffman could have had same impact or even better. Though, I was content how '21 offseason went with acquiring Buch and Saad.

 

[BlueDream]

Blame Benedict Petro and extreme bad luck with JayBo. The Blues were still above average defensively last year no matter how often people repeat the narrative that our defense was completely terrible. Turns out Scandella wasn't the problem after all.



I just read that this is our first 4-game losing streak since Berube took over as coach.

So obviously tear it all down, fire everyone!

I mentioned earlier about how we need a tough guy on the team to get the team fired up and most people scoffed at me. But I bet we would play with a lot more heart and fire if we had someone like Reaves or Lucic on our team. I'm more upset that Army let Maroon go than most other guys who have left in recent years.

We do miss Maroon. If I could take any former player back, taking contracts into account, it would be Maroon.

Yes there are better players like Perron, Petro, Edmundson, etc but we can’t really afford them within the current roster setup. But we could definitely afford Maroon on the 4th line.

 

[Thallis]

This is something that people keep spitting out but it's not true. DA offered DP a contract, DP declined, so DA changed directions.

And DP ended up signing an extremely reasonable contract that we could have afforded while expressing disappointment that he didn't get a similar offer from the Blues. I don't understand the pretzels some people will twist themselves into to defend some of Armstrong's moves. He's not infallible.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

And DP ended up signing an extremely reasonable contract that we could have afforded while expressing disappointment that he didn't get a similar offer from the Blues. I don't understand the pretzels some people will twist themselves into to defend some of Armstrong's moves. He's not infallible.

Did I defend it right there? No I didnt. All I did was call out a lie that is constantly brought up.

 

[Reality Czech]

And DP ended up signing an extremely reasonable contract that we could have afforded while expressing disappointment that he didn't get a similar offer from the Blues. I don't understand the pretzels some people will twist themselves into to defend some of Armstrong's moves. He's not infallible.

No, but it's also far too early to declare that letting Perron go was the wrong choice. Sure it's easy to say right now it was a mistake, but you act like it's a fact rather than just your opinion. Time will tell but I don't think having Perron on the team right now would solve our issues.

 

[Stealth JD]

They’re barely better than the Sharts at this point…

 

[TheDizee]

Yes.

 

[BlueDream]

They’re barely better than the Sharts at this point…

Calling them the Sharts will never get old lol

 

[buches gooches]

Yikes... they are bad.

 

[Ranksu]