Post Presser Thoughts

[a smell of green grass]

Another bit of perspective...

Give consideration to the question of where this team would be if all that it had was Armstrong's drafting...

No Fowler, Faksa, Holloway, or Broberg. What shape would the team be in? Accidental and gross tanking is the answer.

Hey sportswriters... You think you could ask a few more questions about our draft scouting department? We don't need to know that Stenberg is finding himself on the bus more often. A key characteristic of legit cup teams is being loaded with their own drafted talent. Doug Armstrong was pretty quiet about our prospects yesterday, don't you think?

When Armstrong doesn't say much about our own drafted prospects.... you better listen, because history may be repeating.

Sure, finding players released from other clubs and trades can help, but it can also hurt. Teams tend to keep their best--obviously.
For every Fowler on our roster, there are 2 Leddys, and a 3rd Leddy on payroll and injured.

What? Why would he talk about the prospects more? Only one prospect question was asked and he answered it. He answered the questions that were asked of him. Why must you always find some nefarious hidden meaning to things?

And I’ll never understand your critique of our scouting dept that somehow it’s bad or underperforming. You’ve been shown numerous times now how the Blues scouts have outperformed most other teams over the years.

Who is the 2C, 3C and 4C going to be next year? You don't know, do you? You are not expecting any great things at these C positions in 2025, are you? How many years now have these positions been a squishy spot? You don't know the ETA for a solution, do you?

Dallas has known who their 4 C's are for 2 years, and they are expecting the best set in the NHL.

Our scouting departing is one of the worst in the league, and the presser questioning didn't even touch on it. IMO, disgraceful.

[wiscrev]

Hmmmm, Smellie's getting worse. What a DA.

[Bubble4427]

Dvorsky is great and ready, and we are going to plug him into 2C next year, and I think we are going to win a Cup because that was a key missing piece. He didn't say 1 of those 20 simple words.

Yep it's always good to put as much pressure as possible on your 19 year old prospect. Especially while guaranteeing him a spot on the roster, which potentially gives him less motivation to work hard this summer.

Oh, I didn't know Dvorsky's mom was on here. Sorry, mam.

Let's do it this way instead. Let's dust off the old "welcome to the NHL manual - Scott Perunovich". Let's wait 8 years to find out what we have, and then if it doesn't work out, let's arrange a presser to blow kisses to the leaving train.

Bomac, is that you?
DA broke you long ago.
Too funny.

I'm not Bomac. From what I hear, I wish I knew who he was because he and I probably drink the same beer at the same bar. I'm ASOGG. It's my one and only account ever.

Without a doubt, DA has landed some punches to me. However, you will find that I enjoy 5-minute majors. Somebody has to hold DA accountable in this town.

Didn’t you say you were done posting here?
The fact that you couldn’t keep your word for a week says a lot about how much weight we should put into what you say.

So we have now established that DA is in my head, and ASOGG is in your head.

Can you let your therapist know that your mental illness is catching?

Did you not say you were done posting here and complaining about the same stuff?
Simple question.

[a smell of green grass]

Hmmmm, Smellie's getting worse. What a DA.

Just remember, my biggest problem with DA occurs during the off-season. . DA may not have to answer any questions at his official presser because he controls the sportswriters somehow, but I suspect that the BluesTalk skies are going to be filled with exploding rockets.

Tell my sock puppet, DA, to block me.

[sdaltons]

viewtopic.php?p=13011607#p13011607

[STL fan in MN]

Another bit of perspective...

Give consideration to the question of where this team would be if all that it had was Armstrong's drafting...

No Fowler, Faksa, Holloway, or Broberg. What shape would the team be in? Accidental and gross tanking is the answer.

Hey sportswriters... You think you could ask a few more questions about our draft scouting department? We don't need to know that Stenberg is finding himself on the bus more often. A key characteristic of legit cup teams is being loaded with their own drafted talent. Doug Armstrong was pretty quiet about our prospects yesterday, don't you think?

When Armstrong doesn't say much about our own drafted prospects.... you better listen, because history may be repeating.

Sure, finding players released from other clubs and trades can help, but it can also hurt. Teams tend to keep their best--obviously.
For every Fowler on our roster, there are 2 Leddys, and a 3rd Leddy on payroll and injured.

What? Why would he talk about the prospects more? Only one prospect question was asked and he answered it. He answered the questions that were asked of him. Why must you always find some nefarious hidden meaning to things?

And I’ll never understand your critique of our scouting dept that somehow it’s bad or underperforming. You’ve been shown numerous times now how the Blues scouts have outperformed most other teams over the years.

Who is the 2C, 3C and 4C going to be next year? You don't know, do you? You are not expecting any great things at these C positions in 2025, are you? How many years now have these positions been a squishy spot? You don't know the ETA for a solution, do you?

Dallas has known who their 4 C's are for 2 years, and they are expecting the best set in the NHL.

Our scouting departing is one of the worst in the league, and the presser questioning didn't even touch on it. IMO, disgraceful.

So roster uncertainty heading into the summer, when contracts expire, is somehow an indictment of poor drafting now? That makes absolutely no sense. As for next season, the Cs could be all sorts of combos and configurations. Could be…

Thomas, Schenn, Sunny, Faksa

Thomas, UFA/trade target, Schenn, Faksa

Thomas, Schenn, UFA/trade target, Faksa

Thomas, UFA/trade target, Schenn, UFA/trade target

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, Faksa

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, Sunny

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, UFA/trade target

or even

UFA/trade target, Thomas, Schenn, Faksa/Sunny/UFA/trade target

I could go on. Yeah, there’s uncertainty there as of today. Dallas’s picture is clearer? Good for them. We’re not there yet. Trying to get there. Won’t happen overnight.

As for our drafting, show me some sort of proof that the Blues are bad at it. Here’s my proof that they’re above average:

Analysis showing they’re the 4th best:
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/wh ... he-draft/

Additional analysis showing they're the 3rd or 4th best.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/249952 ... d_article

Analysis showing the Blues have produced the 9th most NHL level players (the ones above measure the impact of those players while this one just looks at the raw number of players produced):
https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/ ... ftHistory

I’ve seen plenty of others over the years and they all show the Blues being in the top third no matter how the the analysis is done.

The bottom line is my opinion is based on probable facts. Real, hard data. Results. Yours is based on your feelings and a hatred for Doug Armstrong.

[callitwhatyouwant]

Another bit of perspective...

Give consideration to the question of where this team would be if all that it had was Armstrong's drafting...

No Fowler, Faksa, Holloway, or Broberg. What shape would the team be in? Accidental and gross tanking is the answer.

Hey sportswriters... You think you could ask a few more questions about our draft scouting department? We don't need to know that Stenberg is finding himself on the bus more often. A key characteristic of legit cup teams is being loaded with their own drafted talent. Doug Armstrong was pretty quiet about our prospects yesterday, don't you think?

When Armstrong doesn't say much about our own drafted prospects.... you better listen, because history may be repeating.

Sure, finding players released from other clubs and trades can help, but it can also hurt. Teams tend to keep their best--obviously.
For every Fowler on our roster, there are 2 Leddys, and a 3rd Leddy on payroll and injured.

What? Why would he talk about the prospects more? Only one prospect question was asked and he answered it. He answered the questions that were asked of him. Why must you always find some nefarious hidden meaning to things?

And I’ll never understand your critique of our scouting dept that somehow it’s bad or underperforming. You’ve been shown numerous times now how the Blues scouts have outperformed most other teams over the years.

Who is the 2C, 3C and 4C going to be next year? You don't know, do you? You are not expecting any great things at these C positions in 2025, are you? How many years now have these positions been a squishy spot? You don't know the ETA for a solution, do you?

Dallas has known who their 4 C's are for 2 years, and they are expecting the best set in the NHL.

Our scouting departing is one of the worst in the league, and the presser questioning didn't even touch on it. IMO, disgraceful.

So roster uncertainty heading into the summer, when contracts expire, is somehow an indictment of poor drafting now? That makes absolutely no sense. As for next season, the Cs could be all sorts of combos and configurations. Could be…

Thomas, Schenn, Sunny, Faksa

Thomas, UFA/trade target, Schenn, Faksa

Thomas, Schenn, UFA/trade target, Faksa

Thomas, UFA/trade target, Schenn, UFA/trade target

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, Faksa

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, Sunny

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, UFA/trade target

or even

UFA/trade target, Thomas, Schenn, Faksa/Sunny/UFA/trade target

I could go on. Yeah, there’s uncertainty there as of today. Dallas’s picture is clearer? Good for them. We’re not there yet. Trying to get there. Won’t happen overnight.

As for our drafting, show me some sort of proof that the Blues are bad at it. Here’s my proof that they’re above average:

Analysis showing they’re the 4th best:
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/wh ... he-draft/

Additional analysis showing they're the 3rd or 4th best.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/249952 ... d_article

Analysis showing the Blues have produced the 9th most NHL level players (the ones above measure the impact of those players while this one just looks at the raw number of players produced):
https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/ ... ftHistory

I’ve seen plenty of others over the years and they all show the Blues being in the top third no matter how the the analysis is done.

The bottom line is my opinion is based on probable facts. Real, hard data. Results. Yours is based on your feelings and a hatred for Doug Armstrong.

The Blues scouting department is top notch. Most metrics have them kicking above the pay grade year in and year out. This current group of young players has been exceptional drafting over the last 3 years. We will see what the payoff is in the long run. But 5 first rounders over the last 3, as well as acquiring 3 with Broberg, Holloway, and Dean. That's a lot of juice in a small window. On top of that, you had to have some pretty top tier scouting to make the plays they did on Broberg and Holloway. That was a lot of faith. People kept claiming overpay last summer. Guess what, they underpaid for their value. Blues know what they are doing from a scout/draft/league talent analysis.

You can say the Blues have an issue with contracts, but even then, they are about to be one of the best set contract teams in the league in 2 seasons. Assuming Krug is out this year, you have 12.5m to resign Faksa/Hofer and the 2C you are talking about. If you can get Faksa at 2-2.5 and you get Hofer around 3, that gives you about 7ish to play with. Can definitely find yourself a barbashev caliber player in that spot. They did say tho they might look at Suter but that would be about 1m you would hope for the last year.

People who rip on Army and his transparency clearly aren't fan of sport or the Blues. GM's are never as forthcoming as he is about what is going on.

[moose-and-squirrel]

Another bit of perspective...

Give consideration to the question of where this team would be if all that it had was Armstrong's drafting...

No Fowler, Faksa, Holloway, or Broberg. What shape would the team be in? Accidental and gross tanking is the answer.

Hey sportswriters... You think you could ask a few more questions about our draft scouting department? We don't need to know that Stenberg is finding himself on the bus more often. A key characteristic of legit cup teams is being loaded with their own drafted talent. Doug Armstrong was pretty quiet about our prospects yesterday, don't you think?

When Armstrong doesn't say much about our own drafted prospects.... you better listen, because history may be repeating.

Sure, finding players released from other clubs and trades can help, but it can also hurt. Teams tend to keep their best--obviously.
For every Fowler on our roster, there are 2 Leddys, and a 3rd Leddy on payroll and injured.

What? Why would he talk about the prospects more? Only one prospect question was asked and he answered it. He answered the questions that were asked of him. Why must you always find some nefarious hidden meaning to things?

And I’ll never understand your critique of our scouting dept that somehow it’s bad or underperforming. You’ve been shown numerous times now how the Blues scouts have outperformed most other teams over the years.

Who is the 2C, 3C and 4C going to be next year? You don't know, do you? You are not expecting any great things at these C positions in 2025, are you? How many years now have these positions been a squishy spot? You don't know the ETA for a solution, do you?

Dallas has known who their 4 C's are for 2 years, and they are expecting the best set in the NHL.

Our scouting departing is one of the worst in the league, and the presser questioning didn't even touch on it. IMO, disgraceful.

So roster uncertainty heading into the summer, when contracts expire, is somehow an indictment of poor drafting now? That makes absolutely no sense. As for next season, the Cs could be all sorts of combos and configurations. Could be…

Thomas, Schenn, Sunny, Faksa

Thomas, UFA/trade target, Schenn, Faksa

Thomas, Schenn, UFA/trade target, Faksa

Thomas, UFA/trade target, Schenn, UFA/trade target

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, Faksa

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, Sunny

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, UFA/trade target

or even

UFA/trade target, Thomas, Schenn, Faksa/Sunny/UFA/trade target

I could go on. Yeah, there’s uncertainty there as of today. Dallas’s picture is clearer? Good for them. We’re not there yet. Trying to get there. Won’t happen overnight.

As for our drafting, show me some sort of proof that the Blues are bad at it. Here’s my proof that they’re above average:

Analysis showing they’re the 4th best:
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/wh ... he-draft/

Additional analysis showing they're the 3rd or 4th best.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/249952 ... d_article

Analysis showing the Blues have produced the 9th most NHL level players (the ones above measure the impact of those players while this one just looks at the raw number of players produced):
https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/ ... ftHistory

I’ve seen plenty of others over the years and they all show the Blues being in the top third no matter how the the analysis is done.

The bottom line is my opinion is based on probable facts. Real, hard data. Results. Yours is based on your feelings and a hatred for Doug Armstrong.

you are absolutely wasting your time with this troll

[blackinkbiz]

I didn't listen to the entire press conference with Monty or Army, but I just noticed he said Krug's career is over. Didn't see anyone else post it.

https://www.nhl.com/news/torey-krug-lik ... trong-says

[STL fan in MN]

Another bit of perspective...

Give consideration to the question of where this team would be if all that it had was Armstrong's drafting...

No Fowler, Faksa, Holloway, or Broberg. What shape would the team be in? Accidental and gross tanking is the answer.

Hey sportswriters... You think you could ask a few more questions about our draft scouting department? We don't need to know that Stenberg is finding himself on the bus more often. A key characteristic of legit cup teams is being loaded with their own drafted talent. Doug Armstrong was pretty quiet about our prospects yesterday, don't you think?

When Armstrong doesn't say much about our own drafted prospects.... you better listen, because history may be repeating.

Sure, finding players released from other clubs and trades can help, but it can also hurt. Teams tend to keep their best--obviously.
For every Fowler on our roster, there are 2 Leddys, and a 3rd Leddy on payroll and injured.

What? Why would he talk about the prospects more? Only one prospect question was asked and he answered it. He answered the questions that were asked of him. Why must you always find some nefarious hidden meaning to things?

And I’ll never understand your critique of our scouting dept that somehow it’s bad or underperforming. You’ve been shown numerous times now how the Blues scouts have outperformed most other teams over the years.

Who is the 2C, 3C and 4C going to be next year? You don't know, do you? You are not expecting any great things at these C positions in 2025, are you? How many years now have these positions been a squishy spot? You don't know the ETA for a solution, do you?

Dallas has known who their 4 C's are for 2 years, and they are expecting the best set in the NHL.

Our scouting departing is one of the worst in the league, and the presser questioning didn't even touch on it. IMO, disgraceful.

So roster uncertainty heading into the summer, when contracts expire, is somehow an indictment of poor drafting now? That makes absolutely no sense. As for next season, the Cs could be all sorts of combos and configurations. Could be…

Thomas, Schenn, Sunny, Faksa

Thomas, UFA/trade target, Schenn, Faksa

Thomas, Schenn, UFA/trade target, Faksa

Thomas, UFA/trade target, Schenn, UFA/trade target

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, Faksa

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, Sunny

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, UFA/trade target

or even

UFA/trade target, Thomas, Schenn, Faksa/Sunny/UFA/trade target

I could go on. Yeah, there’s uncertainty there as of today. Dallas’s picture is clearer? Good for them. We’re not there yet. Trying to get there. Won’t happen overnight.

As for our drafting, show me some sort of proof that the Blues are bad at it. Here’s my proof that they’re above average:

Analysis showing they’re the 4th best:
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/wh ... he-draft/

Additional analysis showing they're the 3rd or 4th best.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/249952 ... d_article

Analysis showing the Blues have produced the 9th most NHL level players (the ones above measure the impact of those players while this one just looks at the raw number of players produced):
https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/ ... ftHistory

I’ve seen plenty of others over the years and they all show the Blues being in the top third no matter how the the analysis is done.

The bottom line is my opinion is based on probable facts. Real, hard data. Results. Yours is based on your feelings and a hatred for Doug Armstrong.

The Blues scouting department is top notch. Most metrics have them kicking above the pay grade year in and year out. This current group of young players has been exceptional drafting over the last 3 years. We will see what the payoff is in the long run. But 5 first rounders over the last 3, as well as acquiring 3 with Broberg, Holloway, and Dean. That's a lot of juice in a small window. On top of that, you had to have some pretty top tier scouting to make the plays they did on Broberg and Holloway. That was a lot of faith. People kept claiming overpay last summer. Guess what, they underpaid for their value. Blues know what they are doing from a scout/draft/league talent analysis.

You can say the Blues have an issue with contracts, but even then, they are about to be one of the best set contract teams in the league in 2 seasons. Assuming Krug is out this year, you have 12.5m to resign Faksa/Hofer and the 2C you are talking about. If you can get Faksa at 2-2.5 and you get Hofer around 3, that gives you about 7ish to play with. Can definitely find yourself a barbashev caliber player in that spot. They did say tho they might look at Suter but that would be about 1m you would hope for the last year.

People who rip on Army and his transparency clearly aren't fan of sport or the Blues. GM's are never as forthcoming as he is about what is going on.

Well said. Although it would mostly be the pro scouts that would get the credit for the acquisitions of Broberg, Holloway and Dean though…although with them being relatively recent draftees, I’m sure the amateur scouts still had opinions on them and were consulted. But either way, kudos to the team as a whole for adding a lot of talent to the org.

And I just can’t see how the Blues drafting is considered bad. As you said, all the metrics point to it being good. And while none of the metrics would include the last 2-3 drafts (you have to give the players time to either make it or fail before counting the chickens), Neighbours has exceeded his draft position, Bolduc is looking like he will likely exceed his draft position, Snuggerud is looking like he might REALLY exceed his draft position. Meanwhile, you have Dvorsky playing in the AHL as a teenager (not too many do) and put up the 2nd most pts of any U20 player in the league. Stenberg comes over and instantly fits in, also at age 19. And Lindstein being a solid contributor for a top tier SHL team. All 3 had really good seasons as did some of the other prospects as well. We don’t have a pending superstar but we have a lot of really talented prospects on the way and almost all of them took positive steps this season.

[a smell of green grass]

BluesTalk is lousy at providing analysis. I get timed out 9 out of 10 times, and then my content is lost. BluesTalk is the Kyrou of Talk forums. It can only do so much.

Summary:

Just consider what the team would look like right now if we only had our drafted players. Throw out Broberg, Holloway, and Fowler.

Colorado would have Landeskog, MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Makar.

No. Our scouting department is lousy, and any list that says otherwise is a worthless read.

[Army's Mom]

Another bit of perspective...

Give consideration to the question of where this team would be if all that it had was Armstrong's drafting...

No Fowler, Faksa, Holloway, or Broberg. What shape would the team be in? Accidental and gross tanking is the answer.

Hey sportswriters... You think you could ask a few more questions about our draft scouting department? We don't need to know that Stenberg is finding himself on the bus more often. A key characteristic of legit cup teams is being loaded with their own drafted talent. Doug Armstrong was pretty quiet about our prospects yesterday, don't you think?

When Armstrong doesn't say much about our own drafted prospects.... you better listen, because history may be repeating.

Sure, finding players released from other clubs and trades can help, but it can also hurt. Teams tend to keep their best--obviously.
For every Fowler on our roster, there are 2 Leddys, and a 3rd Leddy on payroll and injured.

What? Why would he talk about the prospects more? Only one prospect question was asked and he answered it. He answered the questions that were asked of him. Why must you always find some nefarious hidden meaning to things?

And I’ll never understand your critique of our scouting dept that somehow it’s bad or underperforming. You’ve been shown numerous times now how the Blues scouts have outperformed most other teams over the years.

Who is the 2C, 3C and 4C going to be next year? You don't know, do you? You are not expecting any great things at these C positions in 2025, are you? How many years now have these positions been a squishy spot? You don't know the ETA for a solution, do you?

Dallas has known who their 4 C's are for 2 years, and they are expecting the best set in the NHL.

Our scouting departing is one of the worst in the league, and the presser questioning didn't even touch on it. IMO, disgraceful.

So roster uncertainty heading into the summer, when contracts expire, is somehow an indictment of poor drafting now? That makes absolutely no sense. As for next season, the Cs could be all sorts of combos and configurations. Could be…

Thomas, Schenn, Sunny, Faksa

Thomas, UFA/trade target, Schenn, Faksa

Thomas, Schenn, UFA/trade target, Faksa

Thomas, UFA/trade target, Schenn, UFA/trade target

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, Faksa

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, Sunny

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, UFA/trade target

or even

UFA/trade target, Thomas, Schenn, Faksa/Sunny/UFA/trade target

I could go on. Yeah, there’s uncertainty there as of today. Dallas’s picture is clearer? Good for them. We’re not there yet. Trying to get there. Won’t happen overnight.

As for our drafting, show me some sort of proof that the Blues are bad at it. Here’s my proof that they’re above average:

Analysis showing they’re the 4th best:
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/wh ... he-draft/

Additional analysis showing they're the 3rd or 4th best.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/249952 ... d_article

Analysis showing the Blues have produced the 9th most NHL level players (the ones above measure the impact of those players while this one just looks at the raw number of players produced):
https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/ ... ftHistory

I’ve seen plenty of others over the years and they all show the Blues being in the top third no matter how the the analysis is done.

The bottom line is my opinion is based on probable facts. Real, hard data. Results. Yours is based on your feelings and a hatred for Doug Armstrong.

The Blues scouting department is top notch. Most metrics have them kicking above the pay grade year in and year out. This current group of young players has been exceptional drafting over the last 3 years. We will see what the payoff is in the long run. But 5 first rounders over the last 3, as well as acquiring 3 with Broberg, Holloway, and Dean. That's a lot of juice in a small window. On top of that, you had to have some pretty top tier scouting to make the plays they did on Broberg and Holloway. That was a lot of faith. People kept claiming overpay last summer. Guess what, they underpaid for their value. Blues know what they are doing from a scout/draft/league talent analysis.

You can say the Blues have an issue with contracts, but even then, they are about to be one of the best set contract teams in the league in 2 seasons. Assuming Krug is out this year, you have 12.5m to resign Faksa/Hofer and the 2C you are talking about. If you can get Faksa at 2-2.5 and you get Hofer around 3, that gives you about 7ish to play with. Can definitely find yourself a barbashev caliber player in that spot. They did say tho they might look at Suter but that would be about 1m you would hope for the last year.

People who rip on Army and his transparency clearly aren't fan of sport or the Blues. GM's are never as forthcoming as he is about what is going on.

Well said. Although it would mostly be the pro scouts that would get the credit for the acquisitions of Broberg, Holloway and Dean though…although with them being relatively recent draftees, I’m sure the amateur scouts still had opinions on them and were consulted. But either way, kudos to the team as a whole for adding a lot of talent to the org.

And I just can’t see how the Blues drafting is considered bad. As you said, all the metrics point to it being good. And while none of the metrics would include the last 2-3 drafts (you have to give the players time to either make it or fail before counting the chickens), Neighbours has exceeded his draft position, Bolduc is looking like he will likely exceed his draft position, Snuggerud is looking like he might REALLY exceed his draft position. Meanwhile, you have Dvorsky playing in the AHL as a teenager (not too many do) and put up the 2nd most pts of any U20 player in the league. Stenberg comes over and instantly fits in, also at age 19. And Lindstein being a solid contributor for a top tier SHL team. All 3 had really good seasons as did some of the other prospects as well. We don’t have a pending superstar but we have a lot of really talented prospects on the way and almost all of them took positive steps this season.

Others may say youre wasting time on a troll, and while I agree the trolls ain't worth it, the rest of us sure do appreciate the data you continue to add while you crush the argument.

At worst, we've been outpicking our draft slot on average throughout Army's tenure. So much so that he's even able to trade his misses for value (Faulk, Tarasenko). There's no objective way to conclude otherwise, just looking at the numbers.

As for the troll's argument that Army only talked about guys he acquired, who arent as important as his own picks, who obviously suck since he's not talking about them; Where would Dallas be without other team's castoffs? Seguin, Duchene, Rantanen? The entire Caps team is full of castaways. Same with Col, Vegas, and Winn. Obviously, acquiring players drafted by other teams is just as important a roster building strategy.

Army has never been one to talk up prospects before they get here. Thats part of being a veteran manager and knowing not to unreasonably raise expectations amd set kids up to fail (he does talk often about only putting kids in positions to succeed amd not asking too much of them).

He's easily a Top 5 GM coming off one of his best years. Bow down and kiss the ring, barbecue boy!

[sdaltons]

Now he's comparing us to the Avs, who undoubtedly have world-class players. And it got them the exact same result as us this year. Yay!

[Army's Mom]

Now he's comparing us to the Avs, who undoubtedly have world-class players. And it got them the exact same result as us this year. Yay!

The Avs, who traded for Erik Johnson twice. The same EJ we drafted. Ergo, we're better drafters than they are!

[Frank Underwood]

BluesTalk is lousy at providing analysis. I get timed out 9 out of 10 times, and then my content is lost. BluesTalk is the Kyrou of Talk forums. It can only do so much.

Summary:

Just consider what the team would look like right now if we only had our drafted players. Throw out Broberg, Holloway, and Fowler.

Colorado would have Landeskog, MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Makar.

No. Our scouting department is lousy, and any list that says otherwise is a worthless read.

Talk about an apples and oranges comparison, or cherry picking your data…..or any other fruit-related thing you can come up with!

So tell me, when did the Blues scouts have the luxury of the 2nd overall pick (Landeskog), 1st overall pick (MacKinnon), 10th overall pick (Rantanen), and 4th overall pick (Makar…who should have gone even higher if Philadelphia didn’t screw the pooch)

The 10th overall pick we used on Dvorsky is the highest pick we have had in years. Otherwise, the Blues have consistently picked in the 20’s. Given where the Blues have picked, they have done really well, and the 2023 draft looks like it could really be a home run.

[TheJackBurton]

Another bit of perspective...

Give consideration to the question of where this team would be if all that it had was Armstrong's drafting...

No Fowler, Faksa, Holloway, or Broberg. What shape would the team be in? Accidental and gross tanking is the answer.

Hey sportswriters... You think you could ask a few more questions about our draft scouting department? We don't need to know that Stenberg is finding himself on the bus more often. A key characteristic of legit cup teams is being loaded with their own drafted talent. Doug Armstrong was pretty quiet about our prospects yesterday, don't you think?

When Armstrong doesn't say much about our own drafted prospects.... you better listen, because history may be repeating.

Sure, finding players released from other clubs and trades can help, but it can also hurt. Teams tend to keep their best--obviously.
For every Fowler on our roster, there are 2 Leddys, and a 3rd Leddy on payroll and injured.

What? Why would he talk about the prospects more? Only one prospect question was asked and he answered it. He answered the questions that were asked of him. Why must you always find some nefarious hidden meaning to things?

And I’ll never understand your critique of our scouting dept that somehow it’s bad or underperforming. You’ve been shown numerous times now how the Blues scouts have outperformed most other teams over the years.

Who is the 2C, 3C and 4C going to be next year? You don't know, do you? You are not expecting any great things at these C positions in 2025, are you? How many years now have these positions been a squishy spot? You don't know the ETA for a solution, do you?

Dallas has known who their 4 C's are for 2 years, and they are expecting the best set in the NHL.

Our scouting departing is one of the worst in the league, and the presser questioning didn't even touch on it. IMO, disgraceful.

So roster uncertainty heading into the summer, when contracts expire, is somehow an indictment of poor drafting now? That makes absolutely no sense. As for next season, the Cs could be all sorts of combos and configurations. Could be…

Thomas, Schenn, Sunny, Faksa

Thomas, UFA/trade target, Schenn, Faksa

Thomas, Schenn, UFA/trade target, Faksa

Thomas, UFA/trade target, Schenn, UFA/trade target

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, Faksa

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, Sunny

Thomas, Schenn, Dvorsky, UFA/trade target

or even

UFA/trade target, Thomas, Schenn, Faksa/Sunny/UFA/trade target

I could go on. Yeah, there’s uncertainty there as of today. Dallas’s picture is clearer? Good for them. We’re not there yet. Trying to get there. Won’t happen overnight.

As for our drafting, show me some sort of proof that the Blues are bad at it. Here’s my proof that they’re above average:

Analysis showing they’re the 4th best:
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/wh ... he-draft/

Additional analysis showing they're the 3rd or 4th best.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/249952 ... d_article

Analysis showing the Blues have produced the 9th most NHL level players (the ones above measure the impact of those players while this one just looks at the raw number of players produced):
https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/ ... ftHistory

I’ve seen plenty of others over the years and they all show the Blues being in the top third no matter how the the analysis is done.

The bottom line is my opinion is based on probable facts. Real, hard data. Results. Yours is based on your feelings and a hatred for Doug Armstrong.

The Blues scouting department is top notch. Most metrics have them kicking above the pay grade year in and year out. This current group of young players has been exceptional drafting over the last 3 years. We will see what the payoff is in the long run. But 5 first rounders over the last 3, as well as acquiring 3 with Broberg, Holloway, and Dean. That's a lot of juice in a small window. On top of that, you had to have some pretty top tier scouting to make the plays they did on Broberg and Holloway. That was a lot of faith. People kept claiming overpay last summer. Guess what, they underpaid for their value. Blues know what they are doing from a scout/draft/league talent analysis.

You can say the Blues have an issue with contracts, but even then, they are about to be one of the best set contract teams in the league in 2 seasons. Assuming Krug is out this year, you have 12.5m to resign Faksa/Hofer and the 2C you are talking about. If you can get Faksa at 2-2.5 and you get Hofer around 3, that gives you about 7ish to play with. Can definitely find yourself a barbashev caliber player in that spot. They did say tho they might look at Suter but that would be about 1m you would hope for the last year.

People who rip on Army and his transparency clearly aren't fan of sport or the Blues. GM's are never as forthcoming as he is about what is going on.

I think it'll be even more than that. I can see Leddy getting traded for a late round pick. On July 1 his contract goes to a 16 team no trade list.

It will be a little bit easier to trade him as it will be his last year and he is taking up a spot that younger guy and Suter can man for less combined money.