Army ruined the Blues this year

[rezero]

In 2024, Army made some great moves securing Holloway and Broberg, but 2025 was a totally different situation.

1) He traded away Bolduc who was the #4 rookie scorer and a potential perennial 20-25 goal scorer for a project defenseman that is mistake prone and doesn’t seem to learn from his mistakes.

2) He signed Bjugstad who seems as slow as a glacier and for being 6’6’ plays very soft

3) He let Leddy walk for nothing when we are in desperate need of D help.

4) Signs Hofer for $6.8M only to find he has trouble playing with that large of a wallet slowing him down.

5) The one decent move was Suter as he look as expected as steady 3rd line center.

This may be a long year!

[Backesdraft]

In 2024, Army made some great moves securing Holloway and Broberg, but 2025 was a totally different situation.

1) He traded away Bolduc who was the #4 rookie scorer and a potential perennial 20-25 goal scorer for a project defenseman that is mistake prone and doesn’t seem to learn from his mistakes.

Yep, you nailed it. The reason the Blues are struggling is because our #6 defensemen is a rookie. Astute. Also, Bolduc had one solid 4 month span. Yes, I think he’s going to be good but let’s everyone pump the [fork]ing brakes already. Christ almighty. People acting like we traded away the 2nd coming of Ovie. For Christ sakes, Bolduc had 19 goals last year, not 50.

2) He signed Bjugstad who seems as slow as a glacier and for being 6’6’ plays very soft

He’s been better than we could have expected. He’s not the problem.

3) He let Leddy walk for nothing when we are in desperate need of D help.

Really? Nick Leddy is the answer? Really? Come on…guy could barely crack the top 6 last year.

4) Signs Hofer for $6.8M only to find he has trouble playing with that large of a wallet slowing him down.

Honest question - did you predict this sort of meltdown from Hofer? Of course you didn’t - nobody did. Easy to monday morning quarterback it now, but most people applauded the signing in the moment.

5) The one decent move was Suter as he look as expected as steady 3rd line center.

This may be a long year!

[rezero]

In 2024, Army made some great moves securing Holloway and Broberg, but 2025 was a totally different situation.

1) He traded away Bolduc who was the #4 rookie scorer and a potential perennial 20-25 goal scorer for a project defenseman that is mistake prone and doesn’t seem to learn from his mistakes.

Yep, you nailed it. The reason the Blues are struggling is because our #6 defensemen is a rookie. Astute. Also, Bolduc had one solid 4 month span. Yes, I think he’s going to be good but let’s everyone pump the [fork]ing brakes already. Christ almighty. People acting like we traded away the 2nd coming of Ovie. For Christ sakes, Bolduc had 19 goals last year, not 50.

2) He signed Bjugstad who seems as slow as a glacier and for being 6’6’ plays very soft

He’s been better than we could have expected. He’s not the problem.

3) He let Leddy walk for nothing when we are in desperate need of D help.

Really? Nick Leddy is the answer? Really? Come on…guy could barely crack the top 6 last year.

4) Signs Hofer for $6.8M only to find he has trouble playing with that large of a wallet slowing him down.

Honest question - did you predict this sort of meltdown from Hofer? Of course you didn’t - nobody did. Easy to monday morning quarterback it now, but most people applauded the signing in the moment.

5) The one decent move was Suter as he look as expected as steady 3rd line center.

This may be a long year!

Knowing what you know right now, would you make the Bolduc move? He is second on the Habs in goals and second in hits. Mailloux is watching games from the press box. You can’t seriously thing that was a good trade.

[Zizzle1297]

You cant blame LM for the lose tonight. He didnt play against Detroit so cant blame him there either. Him and Tucker had there best game tonight. Hofer cant stop a beach ball right now. Glad to see Joseph get a goal. Hes one of the fastest and hardest workers on the team.

[BalotelliMassive]

They've bought into the idea that they can go on a hot streak once it matters to make the playoffs?

[Backesdraft]

In 2024, Army made some great moves securing Holloway and Broberg, but 2025 was a totally different situation.

1) He traded away Bolduc who was the #4 rookie scorer and a potential perennial 20-25 goal scorer for a project defenseman that is mistake prone and doesn’t seem to learn from his mistakes.

Yep, you nailed it. The reason the Blues are struggling is because our #6 defensemen is a rookie. Astute. Also, Bolduc had one solid 4 month span. Yes, I think he’s going to be good but let’s everyone pump the [fork]ing brakes already. Christ almighty. People acting like we traded away the 2nd coming of Ovie. For Christ sakes, Bolduc had 19 goals last year, not 50.

2) He signed Bjugstad who seems as slow as a glacier and for being 6’6’ plays very soft

He’s been better than we could have expected. He’s not the problem.

3) He let Leddy walk for nothing when we are in desperate need of D help.

Really? Nick Leddy is the answer? Really? Come on…guy could barely crack the top 6 last year.

4) Signs Hofer for $6.8M only to find he has trouble playing with that large of a wallet slowing him down.

Honest question - did you predict this sort of meltdown from Hofer? Of course you didn’t - nobody did. Easy to monday morning quarterback it now, but most people applauded the signing in the moment.

5) The one decent move was Suter as he look as expected as steady 3rd line center.

This may be a long year!

Knowing what you know right now, would you make the Bolduc move? He is second on the Habs in goals and second in hits. Mailloux is watching games from the press box. You can’t seriously thing that was a good trade.

Not saying it was a good or bad trade because you can’t judge a trade when one of the players involved has played a whopping 15 games in the league.

I do think that many on this board are way overvaluing Bolduc. He was a quality 3rd line winger who may be able to fill in on a 2nd line in a pinch. Nothing more nothing less.

[a smell of green grass]

Army's mistakes this year:

1. Overvaluing Hofer and letting Ellis go. Who gave that personnel advice?

2. Overvaluing Mailloux and letting Bolduc go. Who gave that personnel advice?

3. An aging defense did not need extra shifts to help Mailloux.

4. The re-whatever is over, and there is not one player on the roster to show for it. Precious time to "rebuild" was lost by waiting for the wrong eggs to hatch.

[theograce]

I hate saying this … cuz I hate him … but Suter was a real loss

[somni]

In 2024, Army made some great moves securing Holloway and Broberg, but 2025 was a totally different situation.

1) He traded away Bolduc who was the #4 rookie scorer and a potential perennial 20-25 goal scorer for a project defenseman that is mistake prone and doesn’t seem to learn from his mistakes.

Yep, you nailed it. The reason the Blues are struggling is because our #6 defensemen is a rookie. Astute. Also, Bolduc had one solid 4 month span. Yes, I think he’s going to be good but let’s everyone pump the [fork]ing brakes already. Christ almighty. People acting like we traded away the 2nd coming of Ovie. For Christ sakes, Bolduc had 19 goals last year, not 50.

2) He signed Bjugstad who seems as slow as a glacier and for being 6’6’ plays very soft

He’s been better than we could have expected. He’s not the problem.

3) He let Leddy walk for nothing when we are in desperate need of D help.

Really? Nick Leddy is the answer? Really? Come on…guy could barely crack the top 6 last year.

4) Signs Hofer for $6.8M only to find he has trouble playing with that large of a wallet slowing him down.

Honest question - did you predict this sort of meltdown from Hofer? Of course you didn’t - nobody did. Easy to monday morning quarterback it now, but most people applauded the signing in the moment.

5) The one decent move was Suter as he look as expected as steady 3rd line center.

This may be a long year!

Knowing what you know right now, would you make the Bolduc move? He is second on the Habs in goals and second in hits. Mailloux is watching games from the press box. You can’t seriously thing that was a good trade.

Not saying it was a good or bad trade because you can’t judge a trade when one of the players involved has played a whopping 15 games in the league.

I do think that many on this board are way overvaluing Bolduc. He was a quality 3rd line winger who may be able to fill in on a 2nd line in a pinch. Nothing more nothing less.

Rezero is being disingenuous. Bolduc has 4 goals. Same as Slafkovsky and Kapanen. But he's really tied for 6th in overall scoring. And a -1.

I'm pulling for the kid, I like the Habs. But he's on the 4th or 3rd line. But he does get some PP time, so that's promising.

Bolduc wouldn't have anything to help this team. Unless he suddenly played goalie.

[hockey jedi]

Army made no mistakes this year other than poor asset management in regard to Colton Ellis. The team is just playing poorly. The Bolduc trade makes perfect sense. It just takes awhile for defenseman to season. Malloux will be fine. Suter and Bjugstad were smart decisions. No blame is deserved for anyone. The team looks out of sync. Hofer is terribly frustrated. He didn't just wake up terrible one day. The team just needs to keep working hard and play through this.

[a smell of green grass]

Army made no mistakes this year other than poor asset management in regard to Colton Ellis. The team is just playing poorly. The Bolduc trade makes perfect sense. It just takes awhile for defenseman to season. Malloux will be fine. Suter and Bjugstad were smart decisions. No blame is deserved for anyone. The team looks out of sync. Hofer is terribly frustrated. He didn't just wake up terrible one day. The team just needs to keep working hard and play through this.

The slippery slope of Mailloux tells us otherwise...

Where we started - Mailloux will be given every opportunity to make this roster... It's on him to do more.

Where we are currently - Our other defenseman are going to pull extra duty so that we can help Mailloux along... It's on our other defenseman to do more.

The trade makes sense if Mailloux shapes up into a valuable asset. Bolduc may not be a top winger, but he was trending heavily to being a valuable piece of a roster. Mailloux is looking like a waste of time and energy.

[swatski]

Trending heavily to you is a 30 game sample for Bolduc?

[somni]

Army made no mistakes this year other than poor asset management in regard to Colton Ellis. The team is just playing poorly. The Bolduc trade makes perfect sense. It just takes awhile for defenseman to season. Malloux will be fine. Suter and Bjugstad were smart decisions. No blame is deserved for anyone. The team looks out of sync. Hofer is terribly frustrated. He didn't just wake up terrible one day. The team just needs to keep working hard and play through this.

How is it poor management with Ellis? There was literally nothing they could do. He was of age and couldn't be sent down.

Do you really think Army could have traded him when other teams are trying to figure out where to put players. Or did you foresee him suddenly being better than Hofer...who some on here thought the Blue should trade Binnington and have Hofer be #1.

[skilles]

You cant blame LM for the lose tonight. He didnt play against Detroit so cant blame him there either. Him and Tucker had there best game tonight. Hofer cant stop a beach ball right now. Glad to see Joseph get a goal. Hes one of the fastest and hardest workers on the team.

Well you can't blame LM but we need 6 NHL d man and we don't have 6 NHL d men and yes trading a player that makes us score more goals for one that makes us give up more goals has A LOT to do with what is happening here.

[hockey jedi]

Army made no mistakes this year other than poor asset management in regard to Colton Ellis. The team is just playing poorly. The Bolduc trade makes perfect sense. It just takes awhile for defenseman to season. Malloux will be fine. Suter and Bjugstad were smart decisions. No blame is deserved for anyone. The team looks out of sync. Hofer is terribly frustrated. He didn't just wake up terrible one day. The team just needs to keep working hard and play through this.

How is it poor management with Ellis? There was literally nothing they could do. He was of age and couldn't be sent down.

Do you really think Army could have traded him when other teams are trying to figure out where to put players. Or did you foresee him suddenly being better than Hofer...who some on here thought the Blue should trade Binnington and have Hofer be #1.

Fair enough. I believe Army could have traded either Hofer or Ellis. We all knew Ellis was coming off a great year. If he's a good asset manager, he can forecast with some reliability.

[DawgDad]

Army made no mistakes this year other than poor asset management in regard to Colton Ellis. The team is just playing poorly. The Bolduc trade makes perfect sense. It just takes awhile for defenseman to season. Malloux will be fine. Suter and Bjugstad were smart decisions. No blame is deserved for anyone. The team looks out of sync. Hofer is terribly frustrated. He didn't just wake up terrible one day. The team just needs to keep working hard and play through this.

How is it poor management with Ellis? There was literally nothing they could do. He was of age and couldn't be sent down.

Do you really think Army could have traded him when other teams are trying to figure out where to put players. Or did you foresee him suddenly being better than Hofer...who some on here thought the Blue should trade Binnington and have Hofer be #1.

Fair enough. I believe Army could have traded either Hofer or Ellis. We all knew Ellis was coming off a great year. If he's a good asset manager, he can forecast with some reliability.

Frankly, you don't know that he didn't try to trade Hofer. I suspect, though, he believed the Blues had a solid tandem in goal, right out of the gate. I have no respect for posters attacking Army over Hofer, this meltdown is on Hofer.

Army is playing a [now] tenuous balance between sustaining a veteran playoff caliber team and infusing a couple of young players with an eye on the long term. I do not believe this is all on him. It was Army's decision to ride with Snuggerud, Mailloux, and Tucker. Snuggs has had defensive lapses much like Bolduc early last season. Tucker and Mailloux together have not clicked out of the gate (they did look better in Pittsburgh), it appears that may take some time. I do not view it as fair to hang veteran performance problems around Army's neck, not at all, not short term slumps. The players need to wake up and get their act together, they are better than this.

Monty must keep his cool and not lose the team, coach them through this, through the frustration, and back to playing Blues hockey. Mainly, it's on the players.