The Blues Need To Figure Out Who They Are This Offseason

[Blues Dave]

No offense intended to the OP but I have to agree with the opposite side. This Blues team was far from squeaking into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nuff said.

[BalotelliMassive]

No offense intended to the OP but I have to agree with the opposite side. This Blues team was far from squeaking into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nuff said.

?

They got in on the last game of the season and needed help along the way.....right?

I don't think they'll have problems getting in this season but last season required a ridiculous win streak...at one point the Blues were projected to pick in the top 8.

[TheJackBurton]

They definitely have holes when one player getting injured affects the whole lineup - we saw it with Thomas, Broberg, and Holloway that were injured at different times last year - just one of them being out threw the rotation into a funk. Having Faulk on the roster next season will be a terrible mistake - he has to go even if it takes a pick or prospect to sweeten the deal. If Hofer signs elsewhere then getting into the playoffs again isn't a guarantee - he was the better goalie at times last season.

Calling the Blues a finished product today is settling for mediocre imo.

To be completely fair, for all but about 5 teams, losing a #1 center for an extended period of time is going to cause massive issues. It's even worse when you really don't have a 2nd line center.

Then lose a top 4 dman that will effect you as well, but his wasn't as huge a loss, but still hurt over time.

The one that surprised me was Holloway. It was unbelievable the job he did this season and how much he drove that line. It's hard to imagine that a guy who was expected to be a 3rd line 25-30 point player has become almost irreplaceable but here we are.

[dan1121]

Not seeing an identity crisis with this team.

They're missing a few pieces but know that and let's see what the summer brings.

The team needs an (donkey)-kicker.

[smilinjoefission]

They were a .500 non-playoff club for all but 12 games. Then gave away Game 1 and Game 7 of the playoffs and was basically a .500 club in the playoffs.

Blues need to rid themselves of Faulk and Leddy on D, Joseph, Texier, and Sunny at F for starters. I'd move Kyrou, sign Marner and then see what needs to be filled out.

[Army's Mom]

Agree with everyone else about how they already know who they are.

Their to do list this offseason:

1) 2nd line center preferably, if not a top 3rd line center (this is the absolute priority)

2) See if you can acquire a younger top 4 RHD (this likely doesn't happen unless they go crazy in UFA)

3) Fix the 6-5

4) Fix the PK

Do those 4 things and we are in for a great year boys and girls.

I think adding a defensively solid center who can win faceoffs and kill penalties should the priority - takes care of items 3, 4, and arguably 1.

Faksa was a defensively solid center who won faceoffs.

It was the absolute panic they went into when it was 6-5 that caused all the issues.

Faksa is a 12/13 minute a game player at this stage of his career. I'm thinking someone who can give you that level of responsibility, but for more like 15+ minutes. I'd look hard at Christian Dvorak.

[DawgDad]

No offense intended to the OP but I have to agree with the opposite side. This Blues team was far from squeaking into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nuff said.

?

They got in on the last game of the season and needed help along the way.....right?

I don't think they'll have problems getting in this season but last season required a ridiculous win streak...at one point the Blues were projected to pick in the top 8.

The Blues had a near-disastrous start to the season. Monty pulled them together and they started playing like a team after the 4Nations. They may have "squeaked" in but they were playing very well. Ask MacKinnon.

They took the Predident's Trophy team to double OT in game 7, and they flat out dominated them in St. Louis, embarrassed them. They have a team that could have won that series.

It's my view they are a very good team, a team that should be expected to play much more consistently coming out of camp and throughout the season. Their strength was their ES play, they will need to focus attention on special teams. And they will have to keep everyone on the same page, playing within the system and not getting lazy or sloppy. The front office needs to plug a couple of holes, they need to find guys who can blend in and be effective. Glue guys, like Bozak was. If they add a center like that they are going to be a force to contend with.

With all the prospects on the horizon and guys like Bolduc and Snuggerud in the lineup, and with Holloway coming back from injury, it's possible they plug a guy in and it just doesn't work out, the team takes a step back. Perhaps a key vet declines, a key player goes down. There are no sure things but this team has enough solid players up and down the roster to keep them from falling apart if they are reasonably healthy.

[dhsux]

Yeah bubble team.

18-19-4 first half

26-11-4 second half

I think they figured out who they are.

[Blues Dave]

No offense intended to the OP but I have to agree with the opposite side. This Blues team was far from squeaking into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nuff said.

?

They got in on the last game of the season and needed help along the way.....right?

I don't think they'll have problems getting in this season but last season required a ridiculous win streak...at one point the Blues were projected to pick in the top 8.

I understand what you're saying, and I don't dissagree with what happened and what it cost us to not be the same team at the start of the season that we were at the time of getting into the playoffs and having a good first round against a pretty decent Jets team. I'll take blame for not wording my response to the OP in the manner I was thinking it. So no disagreement from me.

[clemonsonroots]

Their to do list this offseason:

1) 2nd line center preferably, if not a top 3rd line center (this is the absolute priority)

2) See if you can acquire a younger top 4 RHD (this likely doesn't happen unless they go crazy in UFA)

3) Fix the 6-5

4) Fix the PK

Do those 4 things and we are in for a great year boys and girls.

Number one is extend Broberg and Holloway, but yes those follow after. Dream scenario would trading off Krug's contract so that we can utilize the 6.5 million in the offseason. The pipe dream scenario would also be to get someone to take Faulk. If you were able to do those two things, you could bring in any RHD to put in the top 4, like Ekblad or through a trade or RFA. If we keep Faulk, you still need to either pay off someone to take the krug contract or take Texier or Joseph to free up enough space to get a no 2 or 3 center. There is a world where we can't do this and we just sign Faksa and Hofer and figure out trading for the center in season. That isn't the end of the world, our team could be a playoff team without getting one til the break but we have to add a center to be a real contender. Army can be a magician at times so I don't think this happens.

[TheJackBurton]

Their to do list this offseason:

1) 2nd line center preferably, if not a top 3rd line center (this is the absolute priority)

2) See if you can acquire a younger top 4 RHD (this likely doesn't happen unless they go crazy in UFA)

3) Fix the 6-5

4) Fix the PK

Do those 4 things and we are in for a great year boys and girls.

Number one is extend Broberg and Holloway, but yes those follow after. Dream scenario would trading off Krug's contract so that we can utilize the 6.5 million in the offseason. The pipe dream scenario would also be to get someone to take Faulk. If you were able to do those two things, you could bring in any RHD to put in the top 4, like Ekblad or through a trade or RFA. If we keep Faulk, you still need to either pay off someone to take the krug contract or take Texier or Joseph to free up enough space to get a no 2 or 3 center. There is a world where we can't do this and we just sign Faksa and Hofer and figure out trading for the center in season. That isn't the end of the world, our team could be a playoff team without getting one til the break but we have to add a center to be a real contender. Army can be a magician at times so I don't think this happens.

The problem with Ekblad is you will be paying him 8+ million to be your #4 dman.

He'll be 30, want max years, and is the jump between him and Faulk 2.5+ million better, or is it just because he isn't Faulk? In 3 years we'll have the exact same complaints with him as we do now with Faulk. The only way I'm trading Faulk is if we get a younger RHD, otherwise I'm keeping him and just letting the year play out.

We don't have to send Krug anywhere, barring a miracle his NHL career is essentially over and he can go on LTIR.

I do expect one of Joseph or Texier to be traded, even if its simply for a Frank Charles to a team like San Jose or something like that.

Yes I will agree with getting Broberg and Holloway extended that should be priority #1 and I can see it being that way.

[clemonsonroots]

You don't have to move Krug...but if you want to use that money before the season starts you do. We could wait to add until after the season starts via trade, but that 6.5 million is not available minus a 10 percent overage until the season begins and he is placed on ltir

[callitwhatyouwant]

I don't know what this means. If you watched the Blues day in and day out, you know what they were. They were a slightly above average defensive team that after getting Montgomery turned into a team that could score. They had one of the best scoring defenses in the league, and had elite speed everywhere on the ice except at Center. The Blues were one of the fastest teams in the league this year from defense to wingers. We saw what happened when you take one of those elite speed 2 way guys out in Holloway. They lost a little bit of that identity. They still outplayed Winnipeg in a 7 game series but ended up on the losing side.

The Blues are a team on the ascent. Doesn't mean diddly this year because they could miss the playoffs with a couple guys banged up. But they are a team that has speed for this current year. The question is when guys like Joseph leave who provide some of that, are the young guys replacing those positions going to have that same skating ability? What I hear about Dvorsky and Stenberg is that they are more IQ skill guys not necessarily game breakers. That is when they will have to find an identity. Will the team have extraordinary mits and playmaking ability? Or will it be a hodge podge of skillsets.

[dhsux]

18-19-4 first half

26-11-4 second half

This team knows who they are. They have zero to figure out. All of you who STILL claim "barely made it in" and "bubble team" refuse to acknowledge the 2 halves of the past season.

[theograce]

It’s like he looks for the worst hockey takes lol

[JoshInFenton]

The blues are a pretty easy team to figure out. They are the the little brother of the Panthers model. They are the Little Joe McEwing to Big Mac McGwire. They pump the physicality up and get tenacious, and it creates room for someone else.

If you play this strategy, you need more people than we currently have that are capable of that, because you will lose some guys. Joseph was close but ended up not being good enough offensively to be a threat to create positional openings imho. Texier wasn't even remotely close to good enough at that style of play (which is why Monty tended not to play him).

I don't think they are all that far away from making it work, but they only really have 1 season left to pull it off with the defensive core they have now, and then they'll need to move some pieces around there. Will be losing some people this season either at the start of it or the deadline/end of it, and while i like Fowlers play i'm not betting on him continuing at that level for more than another year maybe two so i can't see us upping him from his current number (which on the UFA market someone would give him a 5/3 or 6/2 type deal pretty easily and not feel terrible about it). They won't need to rebuild it, just will need some youngsters ready to step in, and some guys able to elevate like a Broberg. Thats why i think they'll invest in another guy that has that edge that he plays with that can also chip in 15-25 goals.