Opening night lineup predictions

[BlueSeal]

I think Krug-Faulk are going to do extremely well. D-Corps should be able to hold their own as long as they keep it meat and potatoes and don’t get cute. The Forwards are going to steamroll everyone, that’s four lines of badass right there.

The only person I’m pretty much done with is Husso. He needs to show up or get out. I’d be very happy to give another rookie a shot behind Binny.

 

[stlbluz]

IIRC Husso was next in line before Binny but he was injured(?) or having a bad season when Binny got the call up. I think he'll get back to form soon. I can't remember the kids name but we apparently have a pretty good G prospect in the ranks now as well.

 

[Brian39]

IIRC Husso was next in line before Binny but he was injured(?) or having a bad season when Binny got the call up. I think he'll get back to form soon. I can't remember the kids name but we apparently have a pretty good G prospect in the ranks now as well.

You're correct about Husso and Binner. Husso was viewed as our top goalie prospect (and one of the league's better goalie prospects) for a while. He was out top goalie prospect heading into 2017/18 in a year where we shared an AHL affiliate with Colorado. He had a great 2017/18 in the AHL for our affiliate while Binner had a great season on loan to the Bruins affiliate (since we shared our affiliate and Colorado had one of their goalies down there too). Heading into 2018/19, Husso was still seen as the top goalie prospect, but Binner had gone from 'this guy is probably a career AHLer' to 'maybe he has a chance to still make the NHL.' Husso had an atrocious 2018/19 that was derailed by an injury that he reportedly tried to play through. Binner picked up right where he left off the year before and looked great. Husso was hurt at the time we cut bait with Chad Johnson and called up Binner, but Binner was also pretty squarely outplaying him to start the year. Binner was not just fortunate that Husso was hurt, he was easily our best goalie outside the NHL at the time we made the decision to shed Johnson.

The concern with Husso is that he has never really returned to the 2017/18 version. He was the worst goalie in the AHL in 2018/19. Even if you fully chalk that up to injury, he didn't wow in 2019/20. The team was poor defensively, but you want a 25 year old pushing to make the NHL to put up better numbers than a .909 SV%. And then you have his rookie NHL year last year where he was a bottom 10 backup in the league.

The tools are there and he was absolutely considered a top prospect at one point. But he is 3 years removed from looking like one and he's going to be a 27 year old UFA next summer. I think it is just as likely (probably more likely) that he is going to wash out than he is going to hit the potential we thought he would.

 

[izzy]

IIRC Husso was next in line before Binny but he was injured(?) or having a bad season when Binny got the call up. I think he'll get back to form soon. I can't remember the kids name but we apparently have a pretty good G prospect in the ranks now as well.

Both Hofer and Ellis look like potential nhl goalies

I’ve started watching what I can of Zherenko too, I think maybe theres something there

 

[LGB]

Wouldn't be surprised if Walman takes the top four role from Scandella at some point. I thought he played really well last year.

 

[blueper]

Wouldn't be surprised if Walman takes the top four role from Scandella at some point. I thought he played really well last year.

I hope he plays well enough defensively to force the coaches to at least try him with Parayko at some point. He has a ways to go obviously.
But Scandella might be sliding a notch too. A lot of people think Mikkola would eventually be a good partner for 55. I don't think Niko M. moves well enough to play against 1st line talent though.
In the preseason games Wally looked like he might be upping his game from what we saw last year. His defense in space is the concern. I like how aggressive he was in the O zone in preseason. Colt could cover for him if 55 is healthy.

 

[LGB]

I hope he plays well enough defensively to force the coaches to at least try him with Parayko at some point. He has a ways to go obviously.
But Scandella might be sliding a notch too. A lot of people think Mikkola would eventually be a good partner for 55. I don't think Niko M. moves well enough to play against 1st line talent though.
In the preseason games Wally looked like he might be upping his game from what we saw last year. His defense in space is the concern. I like how aggressive he was in the O zone in preseason. Colt could cover for him if 55 is healthy.

He played 86 minutes with Parayko last year and they played fairly well. Parayko was not 100% and they weren't playing the top competition, but still encouraging. I have a lot more faith in Walman than Mikkola. I feel like people don't realize they're the same age, and Walman is clearly better.

 

[Reality Czech]

Wouldn't be surprised if Walman takes the top four role from Scandella at some point. I thought he played really well last year.

Walman is nowhere near Scandella's level. There's a big difference between playing 14 sheltered minutes and 20 tough defensive minutes.

 

[stl76]

Why not Krug-Parayko and Scandella-Faulk pairings? Only thing I don’t get. I don’t mind them as a whole.

I think rumrokh pretty much hit the nail on the head.

To elaborate, I think having 2 more specialized pairings allows for different utilization of each pairing which can, in theory, elevate the overall defense to a level greater than the sum of it's parts. Like, if we say a Scandella - Parayko pairing is 1st pairing quality defensively, while a Krug - Faulk pairing is first pairing quality offensively, then if you utilize them properly it's almost like having two 1st quality pairings (even if in reality neither is truly all-around 1st pairing quality on it's own).

Pairing Krug w/ Parayko and Scandella w/ Faulk would lead to better balanced pairings - and for the record, I'm sure we will see these pairings at times and they may actually end up being the most effective. However, I just think that by balancing the pairings, you neuter some of the potential benefit the team could get from more specialized pairings. If you're ever studied economics, there's a theory of specialization that could be sort of relate to/explain the potential benefits the team could get from using one more offensive pairing and another more defensive one.

 

[blueper]

Walman is nowhere near Scandella's level. There's a big difference between playing 14 sheltered minutes and 20 tough defensive minutes.

You might be right. From my point of view, Walman has taken what most consider a long time but is now ascending, while the other could be reaching a point in his career where he might be descending. Let's see how this season goes. I root for both of them because I'm a Blues fan. As long as we find a good partner for a healthy 55 by playoff time (as long as we get in), I'll be happy. If we have to trade for a first pairing LD, that's fine too. But we need a really solid top pairing back there regardless.

 

[Ranksu]

Why not Krug-Parayko and Scandella-Faulk pairings? Only thing I don’t get. I don’t mind them as a whole.

Mark my word Berube is forced to split those pairs. Teams will eat up Krug - Faulk pair alive. Simply just too bad pair defensively.

 

[HighNote]

Mark my word Berube is forced to split those pairs. Teams will eat up Krug - Faulk pair alive. Simply just too bad pair defensively.

Did you watch Faulk last season? He was phenomenal for at least the 1st half of the season in place of Parayko. He was easily our best defenseman. Assuming 55 is healthy this year, Faulk will be on the 2nd pairing playing against weaker competition and getting more favorable zone starts. I'm not too worried about Krug-Faulk as a 2nd pairing, if that's what it's going to be. I actually think that's a really good 2nd pairing. What worries me is whoever is playing on the top pairing with Parayko, whether it be Scandella, Krug or someone else. I don't know if we have anyone that is capable of playing those kinds of minutes. And because of the weak link on the top pairing, that could spill over into the other pairings because we might feel like we need to take some weight off of that top pairing and put it onto pairings 1 and 2.

 

[Mike Liut]

Love the idea of Thomas centering Vlad and Neal… especially on the 3rd line. That line could do some serious damage with matchups.

 

[Mike Liut]

Saad-O’Reilly-Perron
Kyrou-Schenn-Buchnevich
Neal-Thomas-Tarasenko
Neighbours-Bozak-Barbashev

is also like to see Kyrou and Neal switched. Not a huge deal

 

[Brian39]

I have to say, I like the mystery that has come with the Blues heading out of town Monday before their opening night Saturday. The break in daily "here are the practice lines" tweets is pretty cool going into the 1st game of the year.

 

[EXTRAS]

Boo I wanted to see kostin tonight

 

[rumrokh]

Saad-O’Reilly-Perron
Kyrou-Schenn-Buchnevich
Neal-Thomas-Tarasenko
Neighbours-Bozak-Barbashev

is also like to see Kyrou and Neal switched. Not a huge deal

Other than just chemistry and time on ice, I'm going to guess the idea is keeping the speed and dynamism of Kyrou and Thomas hitting on two different lines. That way, they'll always be able to put one of those guys out against the opposition's third pairing.

 

[Mike Liut]

Might be avoiding Mac and Landy Saturday night. Shame

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

Might be avoiding Mac and Landy Saturday night. Shame

We really have to win if Mac doesn’t come back

 

[mk80]

Something to consider for tomorrow

 

[blueper]

Less than 5 hours from puck drop and we can guess the starting lines now if Perron (50/50 to start) is scratched.
Who gets bumped up to ROR's line in that case?

 

[Stealth JD]

Guess we’re really half-assing the GDT today. How late can we go before somebody breaks down and creates one?

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

Less than 5 hours from puck drop and we can guess the starting lines now if Perron (50/50 to start) is scratched.
Who gets bumped up to ROR's line in that case?

Kostin was a placeholder on that line for practice yesterday

 

[bluesXwinXtheXcup]

Less than 5 hours from puck drop and we can guess the starting lines now if Perron (50/50 to start) is scratched.
Who gets bumped up to ROR's line in that case?

Just glad it's not Sanford...

 

[HighNote]

Guess we’re really half-assing the GDT today. How late can we go before somebody breaks down and creates one?

Idk, it's just a lot of work.

I think we should just use this thread as the GDT, has opening night in the title