Player Discussion Sammy Blais

[NYR Viper]

Could we possibly discuss the player Blais is and how he will help the team and NOT bring up Buch with every post?

 

[DelZottoHitTheNetJK]

Blais thus far to me looks like a clone of JT Miller out there... and that's a very good thing. They play a very similar game. Does Blais have the same offensive upside? Probably not, but I wouldn't be shocked to see him pot 20 goals for us this year if healthy

 

[2014nyr]

if he stays healthy i see him adding a ton to this lineup. the hate for him is people who've never seen him play and draw conclusions from his stats. if you've watched stl at all the last few years he's a guy who'd flash pretty regularly. he was seen as a top 6 talent there but fell out of favor btw injuries and inconsistency. but he's always been a good skater, a wrecking ball, and had skill you could see producing a lot more than he has.

i like the jt miller comparison a lot and agree, not quite that offensive upside, but also think he's going to be more committed to being a physical presence forechecking.

also the postgame comments from him last night seemed really telling and gives me hope there's a whole lot there to still emerge with him. going out of his way to mention how nice the guys here have been to him and making him feel comfortable, and then that it was very different to where he was before, and how excited he was to be a part of this group. to me that explains a lot about the consistency issues...btw berube and guys like oreilly /schenn feel like that locker room takes a very in your face to the point of being demeaning approach to pushing guys for more. just hearing him talk briefly not hard see how he's not that kind of guy and would struggle. it can go a long, long way for a guy like him to love what he's part of, just hope he can stay healthy.

 

[Chytilmania]

It was refreshing he didn't look to pass on that goal and just went to the net and scored. Need more aggressive players like that.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Why is everyone surprised at Blais? This is who he's always been, its just that he's never been healthy.

 

[will1066]

I'm forecasting 50 points for him playing on the fourth line.

 

[apoptygma]

We can't get cup winning depth paying everyone what they are worth. We need to find players that are taking the next step late or contributing on a ELC/cheap 2. contract. Those cheap but decent scoring players for a cup winning 3./4. line is hard to find before they becoming higher paid top-sixers (like Coleman when he went from TBL to Cgy). Really hope Blais, Barron and maybe Pajuniemi can become those kind of players in the next years.

 

[jay from jersey]

We can't get cup winning depth paying everyone what they are worth. We need to find players that are taking the next step late or contributing on a ELC/cheap 2. contract. Those cheap but decent scoring players for a cup winning 3./4. line is hard to find before they becoming higher paid top-sixers (like Coleman when he went from TBL to Cgy). Really hope Blais, Barron and maybe Pajuniemi can become those kind of players in the next years.

We’ve got a lot of good options now
Barron/Cuylle/Othmann/Korzcak/Richards/Blais/Hunt/Ruesschoff /Edstrom and more.
If 50% of these guys can turn out to be bottom/middle 6 options, we’ll be in solid shape as long as our top 6 is locked up

 

[Clark Kellogg]

Darren Pang said he had issues committing to fitness in St L so maybe the trade and it being a contract year he's finally all in on his career.

Delete. Read it wrong.

 

[Thirty One]

Could we possibly discuss the player Blais is and how he will help the team and NOT bring up Buch with every post?

You know the answer to this.

 

[Levitate]

Why is everyone surprised at Blais? This is who he's always been, its just that he's never been healthy.

probably because most of us haven't watched the Blues closely enough to have any real sense of who Blais is and how he plays

 

[Shesterkybomb]

probably because most of us haven't watched the Blues closely enough to have any real sense of who Blais is and how he plays

Ya but everyone buried Drury for the trade and we haven't even done anything with the draft pick yet.

 

[NYROrtsFan]

Isn't his issue staying healthy? That's probably going to be his biggest issue.

 

[egelband]

Ya but everyone buried Drury for the trade and we haven't even done anything with the draft pick yet.

I do think there’s a largely silent group of us who knew someone had to go and Buch was probably the most feasible and likely choice.

 

[gravey9]

Isn't his issue staying healthy? That's probably going to be his biggest issue.

His issues as far as I understand are

1) health. He hits so much he gets banged up.

2) His game gets too risky at times to be a bottom 6 forward.

3) He isn't always great in his own zone.

But the skill and size has always been there. His wheels aren't terrible either. He was dynamite in the playoffs for the Blues when they won the cup. Finally, it's possible Gallant is just a better fit for him. We will see. I mean it's been pre-season. 82 games + playoffs is a long haul for a kid who plays like Blais. I'm curious to see what he looks like after he's settled in here after 30-40 games. Does he revert back to inconsistency? Or can he keep grinding and get to that next level?

Someone said it before, but he's got a lot of Adam Graves in his game. The hands, size and hitting are certainly enticing. We shall see.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

His issues as far as I understand are

1) health. He hits so much he gets banged up.

2) His game gets too risky at times to be a bottom 6 forward.

3) He isn't always great in his own zone.

But the skill and size has always been there. His wheels aren't terrible either. He was dynamite in the playoffs for the Blues when they won the cup. Finally, it's possible Gallant is just a better fit for him. We will see. I mean it's been pre-season. 82 games + playoffs is a long haul for a kid who plays like Blais. I'm curious to see what he looks like after he's settled in here after 30-40 games. Does he revert back to inconsistency? Or can he keep grinding and get to that next level?

Someone said it before, but he's got a lot of Adam Graves in his game. The hands, size and hitting are certainly enticing. We shall see.

Blues fan here. Love the Rangers.

Blais was a love/hate thing for us Blues fans. I love his game and accept the mistakes because he is a net plus. The Rangers are a hard-hitting team and have led the league in hits for a few seasons lately, right? Anyway, we understand the love/hate thing going on with him among Rangers fans, which I'm sure some of it is tied in with Buch. Just as we hated Brewer cuz....Pronger.

Fun story: 1994 Cup Finals, my friends and I were at a big party watching Game 7. When Leetch opened the scoring, I was the ONLY person at the party cheering. And then when Graves (my fave Rangers player back then) made it 2-0, I was ecstatic and the whole room hated me. It was great!!

Good luck this season!

 

[jay from jersey]

His issues as far as I understand are

1) health. He hits so much he gets banged up.

2) His game gets too risky at times to be a bottom 6 forward.

3) He isn't always great in his own zone.

But the skill and size has always been there. His wheels aren't terrible either. He was dynamite in the playoffs for the Blues when they won the cup. Finally, it's possible Gallant is just a better fit for him. We will see. I mean it's been pre-season. 82 games + playoffs is a long haul for a kid who plays like Blais. I'm curious to see what he looks like after he's settled in here after 30-40 games. Does he revert back to inconsistency? Or can he keep grinding and get to that next level?

Someone said it before, but he's got a lot of Adam Graves in his game. The hands, size and hitting are certainly enticing. We shall see.

Yep your right on in your description. When Blais was drafted by the blues, it wasn’t with intent that he would just be a bottom 6 guy. He always had solid hands, shot, and a nose for the net. After being drafted he grew quite a bit and put on some weight.
He never avoided physical contact per say but when he added weight, he would look to initiate it. Sometimes he doesn’t know when to pull back a bit and he was causing damage to himself.
If he keeps playing smart physical hockey and doesn’t get injured/injure himself by playing too reckless, I’d expect to see him higher up in our line up at some point soon.

 

[Inferno]

He seems like he has endurance issues for sure. His shifts are super short and he glides a lot out there. But when he hits he hits hard. And he's clearly got skill.

 

[Mac n Gs]

I agree with the conditioning concerns, but you can tell that he's a much more effective forechecker than someone like Lemieux ever was, and that's where I think he'll add the most value to us, wherever he ends up throughout the lineup. The underrated skill aspect is also there considering he was originally a really small guy that hit a huge growth spurt. He was a really good scorer in the Q on two teams that never really had much support around him, and he continued to be a good scorer at the AHL level. It still hasn't fully translated to the NHL level, and he's due for a massive Sh% regression from last year, but I do think there's good potential for him to be a valuable long-term piece here.

He should look at how Blake Coleman learned to evolve his game in his second year in Jersey through now. I think he can become a similar type of player from an impact perspective, but he has work to do to get there.

 

[jay from jersey]

I agree with the conditioning concerns, but you can tell that he's a much more effective forechecker than someone like Lemieux ever was, and that's where I think he'll add the most value to us, wherever he ends up throughout the lineup. The underrated skill aspect is also there considering he was originally a really small guy that hit a huge growth spurt. He was a really good scorer in the Q on two teams that never really had much support around him, and he continued to be a good scorer at the AHL level. It still hasn't fully translated to the NHL level, and he's due for a massive Sh% regression from last year, but I do think there's good potential for him to be a valuable long-term piece here.

He should look at how Blake Coleman learned to evolve his game in his second year in Jersey through now. I think he can become a similar type of player from an impact perspective, but he has work to do to get there.

Yup for sure. Never be an offensive dynamo but a 20 goal 40-45 pt player that hits everything and can score timely big goals is really a valuable asset. Especially come playoff time

 

[will1066]

The guy put in another good performance. Perhaps the most surprising part of his game is his vision and passing

 

[duhmetreE]

The guy put in another good performance. Perhaps the most surprising part of his game is his vision and passing

he was drafted as an undersized offensive player. He has skill. He just happened to grow a lot.

Can he finally put it all together, while staying healthy? It would be nice and make Drury look like a genius on his way to multiple cups

 

[egelband]

The guy put in another good performance. Perhaps the most surprising part of his game is his vision and passing

Noticed this too. He really looks to have a plan with the puck, so to speak. Head up. A very impactful player most shifts.

 

[zukeisgone]

American Blais

 

[LORDE]

His issues as far as I understand are

1) health. He hits so much he gets banged up.

2) His game gets too risky at times to be a bottom 6 forward.

3) He isn't always great in his own zone.

But the skill and size has always been there. His wheels aren't terrible either. He was dynamite in the playoffs for the Blues when they won the cup. Finally, it's possible Gallant is just a better fit for him. We will see. I mean it's been pre-season. 82 games + playoffs is a long haul for a kid who plays like Blais. I'm curious to see what he looks like after he's settled in here after 30-40 games. Does he revert back to inconsistency? Or can he keep grinding and get to that next level?

Someone said it before, but he's got a lot of Adam Graves in his game. The hands, size and hitting are certainly enticing. We shall see.

This is the most reasonable post on him thus far IMO.

Prior to this, it was either "...50 pts & awesome!" or lamenting who we traded for him...

I'm glad he feels comfortable here...

Admittedly, I didn't know much about him prior to the acquisition. I'm glad he's looked good thus far...

Obv the bolded is my concern too.

Hope he can sustain it.