Is it time for a rebuild ?

[DataMan357]

O'Reilly is a lost soul without Perron on his line. He can NOT keep up with Kyrou's speed on his line now much less with anyone else. We should trade him now, make Schenn or Vladi captain; And go from there. O'Reilly is the ONLY Blue's Captain that I have never seen stick up for his players. No hitting, fighting, NOTHING. Yes he helped us win the Cup back in 2019. Three years later; His tank is about empty and we should trade him NOW.........​

 

[Mike Liut]

O'Reilly is a lost soul without Perron on his line. He can NOT keep up with Kyrou's speed on his line now much less with anyone else. We should trade him now, make Schenn or Vladi captain; And go from there. O'Reilly is the ONLY Blue's Captain that I have never seen stick up for his players. No hitting, fighting, NOTHING. Yes he helped us win the Cup back in 2019. Three years later; His tank is about empty and we should trade him NOW.........​

its too early for that. Give it a couple months first.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

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.

The problem is last year was pretty fluky in a good way for the Blues

 

[Ranksu]

Crazy how big factor Perron was to this team. Powerplay went south right away. Ofc it was red hot franchise best pp season for Blues, but it got hit this badly it's sad.

There is reason why you don't want to break good chemistry. Perron was team soul.

It will take time to team mess in, found out how to work this out.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Crazy how big factor Perron was to this team. Powerplay went south right away. Ofc it was red hot franchise best pp season for Blues, but it got hit this badly it's sad.

There is reason why you don't want to break good chemistry. Perron was team soul.

It will take time to team mess in, found out how to work this out.

The PP is sitting at 23.8%. That's solid enough, the only issue with the PP is that the team isn't playing hard/well enough to draw more penalties, as they're currently 31st in PP opportunities per game.

 

[Sgt Schultz]

I am yet to see this team on the tube this year (not in the St. Louis market). So forgive any shortsightedness, as what I am getting is based on various highlights and discussion here.

What bothers me right now is the lack of defensive discipline. How many back-door goals did LA score, 3 or 4?

The formula that won this team a cup was one based on strong defensive play. Binner gives up rebounds, and that team was pretty good at collecting them and pushing them out of a scoring danger or gaining possession. They also did a good job of protecting the front of the net. What I saw on the Monday highlights was the opposite of that.

DA correctly realized the team could not stand still after hoisting the cup. The problem is that has led to a shift from strong defensive play to what looks like much less disciplined defensive play in an effort to generate quicker transitions and more scoring chances. That works, although it gets slowed down in the playoffs.

I don't even think we can rebuild right now, given the contracts involved, and I'm not convinced that is the cure. But I am not seeing anything in my limited exposure that causes me to dismiss the possibility that our problems are in the way the team is built (the structure), not just lackluster effort......which would compound the structural problem.

Tell me what I am not seeing, since I don't claim that this is an educated opinion.

Incidentally, I've seen comparisons to the Penguins issues right now, and they have been shown a lot here lately. Their problems are not dissimilar at all. They are having breakdowns that result in good scoring opportunities, and their opponents are capitalizing.

 

[Ridge1982]

And now 13 players are out for optional skate.

Release them all except for Binny. Lazy asses and I hope no one blames Berube for this.

 

[Cotton McKnight]

And now 13 players are out for optional skate.

Release them all except for Binny. Lazy asses and I hope no one blames Berube for this.

That's nuts, they need more practice than ever right now!

 

[Stealth JD]

O'Reilly is a lost soul without Perron on his line. He can NOT keep up with Kyrou's speed on his line now much less with anyone else. We should trade him now, make Schenn or Vladi captain; And go from there. O'Reilly is the ONLY Blue's Captain that I have never seen stick up for his players. No hitting, fighting, NOTHING. Yes he helped us win the Cup back in 2019. Three years later; His tank is about empty and we should trade him NOW.........​

I'll do it. I'll be the first to like this post.

ROR has had a shit attitude for most of his career and experienced hockey nirvana in the first year he was here. Of course things have looked peachy during his time with the Blues. They've won. Now that they're facing a bit of adversity and things aren't coming as easily, I expect ROR to be the biggest pouter of the bunch and look for and easy-out via a big pay-day in UFA. I actively do NOT want him resigned, unless it's at the Perron-level discount that was offered (and rejected). Trade him to somebody who will re-light his fire and trade a bundle in hopes of a Conn Smythe performance. It ain't coming from him here this year.

 

[Ridge1982]

Another night. Another half ass effort in front of the home faithful.

 

[Celtic Note]

I know people think our contracts are immovable. Thus, a rebuild isn’t doable. For some the NTC protection is the problem. But, if we start to slide competitively, then getting guys to waive should be easier.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Make it so!

 

[AjaxManifesto]

 

[Falco Lombardi]

If our team turns to garbage because of 1 player, then we were never a great team in the first place and it was all a mirage. Some of the overactions to the start of the season are hilariously bad

Last year WAS a mirage masked by an elite power play and inflated shooting percentages

 

[Novacain]

Last year WAS a mirage masked by an elite power play and inflated shooting percentages

I'm honestly confused how some people don't seem to realize that is a realistic scenario. We had the highest shooting percentage of any NHL team this century last season. a full 1 percent higher then second place in the NHL on the year. Only 3 teams have broken 12% in 21 years, and we almost broke 12.5. On top of that, we lost our best Powerplay player, and the goalie who had a 920 Save Percentage to keep our season afloat, and didn't really add any significant parts. We were a gigantic regression candidate from word go.

It's not like the seasons over, we probably still could make a playoff run if things break right, but the idea that we were one of the best teams in the West going into the season always felt like we were just trying to scream really loud to ignore the obvious problems.

 

[TruBlu]

The forwards need to play better two way hockey, but we aren't getting good goaltending either. As much as a headcase as Jake Allen was from time to time, I'm not seeing any different from Binnington.

 

[PJJJP]

If we do end up in a retool or rebuild it would make this forum very interesting. I've always wanted to see a crazy deadline and trades

 

[cmcalum]

I'll do it. I'll be the first to like this post.

ROR has had a shit attitude for most of his career and experienced hockey nirvana in the first year he was here. Of course things have looked peachy during his time with the Blues. They've won. Now that they're facing a bit of adversity and things aren't coming as easily, I expect ROR to be the biggest pouter of the bunch and look for and easy-out via a big pay-day in UFA. I actively do NOT want him resigned, unless it's at the Perron-level discount that was offered (and rejected). Trade him to somebody who will re-light his fire and trade a bundle in hopes of a Conn Smythe performance. It ain't coming from him here this year.

Last summer I said we should trade ROR and most people on here called me crazy as I thought his declining speed would be impediment for us improving. That certainly seems to be the case now and his trade value is decreasing as the season progresses. Unless things change dramatically there is no way we should extend him. We have enough boat anchor contracts as it is.

 

[EastVillageBlues]

At this point, we need a few things to turn things around this year.

-- We simply need better goaltending. I think everyone underestimated how important a stablizing force Husso was last year, me included. While Binner is a great playoff performer, if he can't get a team into the post-season, that's for naught. We need to either look for a cheap solution internally / via transaction (Hofer?) to platoon with Binnington, or we need to look for a way to move on from him. We simply won't be a playoff team if Binnington repeats his performance last year.
-- The PP must pick things up. While there was hope that some internal growth and perhaps someone like Bolduc would be able to offset of the loss of Perron, that clearly has not happened. At this point, I would take a PP specialist as a stop gap, someone of the ilk of Hoffman would be ideal. Maybe Frk can work with PP2 ? We don't have good options at the moment.
-- Parayko, and to a lesser extent guys like Mikkola / Bortuzzo and other Ds must step up and play to their potential. Their mistakes are really compounding the issue. Since we won't have Perunovich for a while, we really need to find a competent third pairing that actually works consistently. The current D-corps is just exposing our glaring weakness in goal.
-- It's time for young guys to also take a bigger role and make a contribution. Neighbours currently is putting in the effort, but clearly isn't cutting it. We need someone else, whether from the minors or via a deal to bolster the top-9, to get back to 3 consistent lines that can turn up the heat.
-- ROR is not his normal self, not sure if it's just an abberation, or if there is something more fundamental going on here. This team cannot succeed without his line to gell and produce consistently. Again, there is no good solutions here, except to see if he turns it around.

I guess the take away so far is that we have about another 4-6 weeks. If things do not make a turn for the better, it will be time to test the waters as sellers. I don't see the advantage of waiting until the deadline, as some of our pieces such as ROR / Tank / Parayko / etc, still have good residual values. If they have miserable seasons, we will be looking at much smaller returns than what we are expecting.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

At this point, we need a few things to turn things around this year.

-- We simply need better goaltending. I think everyone underestimated how important a stablizing force Husso was last year, me included. While Binner is a great playoff performer, if he can't get a team into the post-season, that's for naught. We need to either look for a cheap solution internally / via transaction (Hofer?) to platoon with Binnington, or we need to look for a way to move on from him. We simply won't be a playoff team if Binnington repeats his performance last year.
-- The PP must pick things up. While there was hope that some internal growth and perhaps someone like Bolduc would be able to offset of the loss of Perron, that clearly has not happened. At this point, I would take a PP specialist as a stop gap, someone of the ilk of Hoffman would be ideal. Maybe Frk can work with PP2 ? We don't have good options at the moment.
-- Parayko, and to a lesser extent guys like Mikkola / Bortuzzo and other Ds must step up and play to their potential. Their mistakes are really compounding the issue. Since we won't have Perunovich for a while, we really need to find a competent third pairing that actually works consistently. The current D-corps is just exposing our glaring weakness in goal.
-- It's time for young guys to also take a bigger role and make a contribution. Neighbours currently is putting in the effort, but clearly isn't cutting it. We need someone else, whether from the minors or via a deal to bolster the top-9, to get back to 3 consistent lines that can turn up the heat.
-- ROR is not his normal self, not sure if it's just an abberation, or if there is something more fundamental going on here. This team cannot succeed without his line to gell and produce consistently. Again, there is no good solutions here, except to see if he turns it around.

I guess the take away so far is that we have about another 4-6 weeks. If things do not make a turn for the better, it will be time to test the waters as sellers. I don't see the advantage of waiting until the deadline, as some of our pieces such as ROR / Tank / Parayko / etc, still have good residual values. If they have miserable seasons, we will be looking at much smaller returns than what we are expecting.

Binnington has been fine, minus his tantrums after the 2nd periods, most of the goals that have been scored have been solely on defensive breakdowns and allowing opposing players get on the doorstep for tap in goals with no defensive pressure. Or having a Parayko ass in his face.

 

[Brewhouse Sports]

This team hasn’t even played 10 games. You guys are the definition of insane.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

This team hasn’t even played 10 games. You guys are the definition of insane.

I Blame the lack of cheesecake from my diet. Sorry for the insanity.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

the blues org/club only cares about playoff profit and it only takes one losing round for them to make yearly profit ... its really not about winning or building a team contender as they are happy enough with the one and done Plus/hopefulluy more by pure luck profit model ..anything after round one to the blues ownership is gravy,

last time the blues were bad for a few seasons and drafted high, like in the top five ( not early 2nds/late first) it led to the first ever cup (petro)

Top 5 draft picks aren’t everything. Look at how many top 5 picks teams like Arizona, Buffalo, and Edmonton have blown through with no success. There were 3 top 5 picks on the cup winning roster, and 2/3 were acquired via trade.

As for the ownership group, they’re miles ahead of previous owners we’ve had. If all they cared about was profits, they likely would’ve demanded salary cuts after missing the playoffs in the 2017-2018 season instead of green lighting Armstrong to trade for ROR with the signing bonus attached.

 

[Majorityof1]

This team hasn’t even played 10 games. You guys are the definition of insane.

10 games may be a bit early to be calling for a rebuild, but it is not an insignificant amount of time. 10 games is over 12% of the season. It took 97 points to make the playoffs as a Wild Card in the West last year If we don't get a point in our next game, we will need 91 points in 72 games to hit 97 points. That means we will have to play a 104 point pace.. That's doable, we put up 107 last year. But the longer it keeps going, the harder it gets.

If we can just flip a switch and be good, that's fine. but if we are awful for 10 games and then bad for 10 and the ok for 10, there is no coming back. We really need to start banking points soon before we get into a hole that THIS team is not good enough to dig itself out.

The 2018 run was super rare. We will not do that again ever. It is highly possible, nobody will ever do that again. You need to be somewhat consistent over 82 games to make the playoffs. The playoff races are too tight to be dropping points.

We aren't even dropping them against good teams. We still have to play the teams that are considered favorites, The only team in the top 10 of Athletic's power rankings is Edmonton at 7. NYI is the only other team in the top half at 15. The rest of the teams we play in our first 10 games are in the bottom half. 7 games against the bottom half and 8 points is now our absolutely best case scenario. That is a terrible start and worth a little panick.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

This team hasn’t even played 10 games. You guys are the definition of insane.

You are under the impression that these are new problems that have only sprouted up this season.

That would be incorrect