This year is now the transition year

[theograce]

This should've happened in the offseason but instead of opening spots for rookies to grow Armstrong plugged all the holes with vets that nobody wanted. This team had problems against young speedy teams all of last year and the adjustment was to bring in players that skate like Frankenstein?

Agree - I get what Army was trying to do; but the injuries this season forced his hand and may end up being better for the Blues in the long run. I wish they had just started the season with the younger players.

And those players get hurt/aren’t ready then what. What’s the safety net?

[Frank Barone]

I’m sure this wasn’t the plan at the start of the season, but watching the last few weeks this year definitely feels like the year where the Blues transition from the old core to the new core. Take, for example:

Goaltending:
Both goalies have had rough spots this year, but Hofer has been the more consistent of the two. Hofer has 19 games and Binner has 21. Hofer has 49 goals against, Binner has 65. Binner has a negative goals saved above expected, Hofer is (at least) in positive territory. Most advanced metrics tilt towards Hofer.

Defensemen:
Broberg is on his way to replacing Parayko as the “Alpha”. Broberg leads all defensemen in icetime, leads all defensemen in shifts that start in the defensive zone, second in points. He hasn’t surpassed him in all ways and still has elements to his game that need refinement, but he’s also been more noticeable in games than Parayko.

Leadership:
Neighbours leadership has been mentioned in interviews by the players. He’s the first to jump into a scrum, isn’t scared to drop the gloves, and goes into the dirty areas. Schenn had a renaissance last year, but father time is catching up with him.

Forwards:
Tougher to look at the metrics here that point one way or another, probably since the group has been riddled with injuries. I think the eye test shows promise for younger players in Snuggerud, Holloway, and in a way to small sample size – Stenberg.

My wish list:
Hoping Dvorsky keeps adding tools to the toolbox and his play allows him to replace Thomas as the #1C. I think injuries have forced most of this, but at this point I hope the Blues management just goes with it and says “we are a young team now”. The season is almost half over – if the younger players can go on a run and push the team into the playoffs, GREAT! If not, it’s valuable learning experience.

I think the Blues will get better results in the coming weeks unless they get buried by injuries. They might even get back in the playoff race.

Their young players with higher skill levels need to play out the season to see how they perform at the NHL level. I'm talking about Mailloux, Snuggerud, Dvorsky, Stenberg and hopefully soon Lindstein. After the season, they will know more about how these guys will project into the future.

I wouldn't be in a hurry to trade Schenn and Faulk. They seem to be the guys holding the team together. Trading veterans could lead to a collapse which wouldn't be good for anyone.

[Bacchk29]

This should've happened in the offseason but instead of opening spots for rookies to grow Armstrong plugged all the holes with vets that nobody wanted. This team had problems against young speedy teams all of last year and the adjustment was to bring in players that skate like Frankenstein?

Agree - I get what Army was trying to do; but the injuries this season forced his hand and may end up being better for the Blues in the long run. I wish they had just started the season with the younger players.

And those players get hurt/aren’t ready then what. What’s the safety net?

So you agree with how Army structured the roster out of camp? He said 5% improvement with low hanging fruit and didn’t acquire a 2C.

[theograce]

This should've happened in the offseason but instead of opening spots for rookies to grow Armstrong plugged all the holes with vets that nobody wanted. This team had problems against young speedy teams all of last year and the adjustment was to bring in players that skate like Frankenstein?

Agree - I get what Army was trying to do; but the injuries this season forced his hand and may end up being better for the Blues in the long run. I wish they had just started the season with the younger players.

And those players get hurt/aren’t ready then what. What’s the safety net?

So you agree with how Army structured the roster out of camp? He said 5% improvement with low hanging fruit and didn’t acquire a 2C.

You didn’t answer the question

[the miracle]

I’m sure this wasn’t the plan at the start of the season, but watching the last few weeks this year definitely feels like the year where the Blues transition from the old core to the new core. Take, for example:

Goaltending:
Both goalies have had rough spots this year, but Hofer has been the more consistent of the two. Hofer has 19 games and Binner has 21. Hofer has 49 goals against, Binner has 65. Binner has a negative goals saved above expected, Hofer is (at least) in positive territory. Most advanced metrics tilt towards Hofer.

Defensemen:
Broberg is on his way to replacing Parayko as the “Alpha”. Broberg leads all defensemen in icetime, leads all defensemen in shifts that start in the defensive zone, second in points. He hasn’t surpassed him in all ways and still has elements to his game that need refinement, but he’s also been more noticeable in games than Parayko.

Leadership:
Neighbours leadership has been mentioned in interviews by the players. He’s the first to jump into a scrum, isn’t scared to drop the gloves, and goes into the dirty areas. Schenn had a renaissance last year, but father time is catching up with him.

Forwards:
Tougher to look at the metrics here that point one way or another, probably since the group has been riddled with injuries. I think the eye test shows promise for younger players in Snuggerud, Holloway, and in a way to small sample size – Stenberg.

My wish list:
Hoping Dvorsky keeps adding tools to the toolbox and his play allows him to replace Thomas as the #1C. I think injuries have forced most of this, but at this point I hope the Blues management just goes with it and says “we are a young team now”. The season is almost half over – if the younger players can go on a run and push the team into the playoffs, GREAT! If not, it’s valuable learning experience.

I think the Blues will get better results in the coming weeks unless they get buried by injuries. They might even get back in the playoff race.

Their young players with higher skill levels need to play out the season to see how they perform at the NHL level. I'm talking about Mailloux, Snuggerud, Dvorsky, Stenberg and hopefully soon Lindstein. After the season, they will know more about how these guys will project into the future.

I wouldn't be in a hurry to trade Schenn and Faulk. They seem to be the guys holding the team together. Trading veterans could lead to a collapse which wouldn't be good for anyone.

Yes - time to see if these kids have what it takes to play at the NHL level. I'd hesitate to get too excited or too down on one season's performance, but all the young guys you mention should be playing over scrap heap pickups like Fabbri. The only reason Fabbri should play is if the Blues think he's a major upgrade over a guy like Stenberg. If its close between two players, youth should be the winning/deciding factor.

[BalotelliMassive]

This should've happened in the offseason but instead of opening spots for rookies to grow Armstrong plugged all the holes with vets that nobody wanted. This team had problems against young speedy teams all of last year and the adjustment was to bring in players that skate like Frankenstein?

Agree - I get what Army was trying to do; but the injuries this season forced his hand and may end up being better for the Blues in the long run. I wish they had just started the season with the younger players.

And those players get hurt/aren’t ready then what. What’s the safety net?

When your rookies are hurt then it's time to hire waiver bums.

[theograce]

This should've happened in the offseason but instead of opening spots for rookies to grow Armstrong plugged all the holes with vets that nobody wanted. This team had problems against young speedy teams all of last year and the adjustment was to bring in players that skate like Frankenstein?

Agree - I get what Army was trying to do; but the injuries this season forced his hand and may end up being better for the Blues in the long run. I wish they had just started the season with the younger players.

And those players get hurt/aren’t ready then what. What’s the safety net?

When your rookies are hurt then it's time to hire waiver bums.

Thats some great GMing. Guys would love to compete for it

[DawgDad]

I’m sure this wasn’t the plan at the start of the season, but watching the last few weeks this year definitely feels like the year where the Blues transition from the old core to the new core. Take, for example:

Goaltending:
Both goalies have had rough spots this year, but Hofer has been the more consistent of the two. Hofer has 19 games and Binner has 21. Hofer has 49 goals against, Binner has 65. Binner has a negative goals saved above expected, Hofer is (at least) in positive territory. Most advanced metrics tilt towards Hofer.

Defensemen:
Broberg is on his way to replacing Parayko as the “Alpha”. Broberg leads all defensemen in icetime, leads all defensemen in shifts that start in the defensive zone, second in points. He hasn’t surpassed him in all ways and still has elements to his game that need refinement, but he’s also been more noticeable in games than Parayko.

Leadership:
Neighbours leadership has been mentioned in interviews by the players. He’s the first to jump into a scrum, isn’t scared to drop the gloves, and goes into the dirty areas. Schenn had a renaissance last year, but father time is catching up with him.

Forwards:
Tougher to look at the metrics here that point one way or another, probably since the group has been riddled with injuries. I think the eye test shows promise for younger players in Snuggerud, Holloway, and in a way to small sample size – Stenberg.

My wish list:
Hoping Dvorsky keeps adding tools to the toolbox and his play allows him to replace Thomas as the #1C. I think injuries have forced most of this, but at this point I hope the Blues management just goes with it and says “we are a young team now”. The season is almost half over – if the younger players can go on a run and push the team into the playoffs, GREAT! If not, it’s valuable learning experience.

Frankly, not much here I agree with.

Goaltending:
Hofer appears to be playing better than Binner right now, except when he allows a goal in the first minute and loses 5-whatever. He may be playing better than Binner, we'll see. It must be noted it's a small sample size and the two goaltenders do not start the same games. Binner got the tougher assignment this week. For now I'd say they should roughly split starts.

Leadership:
It's good for Neighbours to emerge as a leader. That does not necessarily detract from Schenn, it hopefully ADDS value to the team leadership. Jake might be the next Captain, he might not be. Time will tell.

Forwards:
As you note, injuries have wreaked havoc. The younger forwards are in no way ready to step up and lead this team.

Wish list.
Dvorsky is light years away from replacing Thomas as the 1C. He's not the 2C. He can barely find the net at ES and he's not an ES playmaker. He is improving, slowly, but he isn't remotely a 1 or 2C until he starts DRIVING point production at ES. Unfortunately Snuggerud and Holloway are out, progress is at a dead stop. Stenberg has one game under his belt and will be fighting for his NHL life because he's the easiest forward to dispatch without exposing him to waivers. That's it, no one else is even in the discussion though in time others might emerge.

My wish list starts with health. The most important guy to get back is Snuggerud, he needs the game experience. I'd like to see the team make the playoffs because that means the active guys are figuring out how to win together, if nothing else adding to the depth. Mostly, I with for guys to get off IR and get back into form because there are a half-dozen forwards on the roster that ideally shouldn't be on the team.

Appreciate the sentiments - my thinking behind this post was this: if in 5 years the Blues are perennial playoff performers, challenging for a cup, we might look back on this year as the year it all really started. And if so, these may be the reasons why. I definitely don't want to get into the prediction business on where these guys will end up as players.

Yeah, 5 years out there will be a new core and even the defense will be a bunch of younger guys. Even guys like Thomas and Kyrou will be running out their contracts. Some of the young defensemen prospects presumably will be regulars and depth, and even some pending draft picks will be in the mix. Really hard to predict who stays and who moves on.

I think the team can be much better before five years out but they cannot have another meltdown like the start of this season.

[juan good eye]

What’s nexts season?

Its likely that at the very least, Schenn, Faulk and or Binnie will be gone at some point maybe more (Buch or Kyrou?). Neighbours, Dvorksy, Stenberg, Snuggerud, Mailloux, Hofer are all ascending. Maybe a surprise as well, Jiricek, Carbonneau, Stancl some or all could make an appearance.

Hope to see it along with a much needed elite draft pick or two added to the mix.

[a smell of green grass]

This should've happened in the offseason but instead of opening spots for rookies to grow Armstrong plugged all the holes with vets that nobody wanted. This team had problems against young speedy teams all of last year and the adjustment was to bring in players that skate like Frankenstein?

Army's well dried up. He could get quality veterans from other rosters because of the rising cap.

The problem that we are seeing this year is because the team has to rely on Army draft picks, and his draft picks are nothing special. Average at best.