Time for a trade.

[Harry S Deals]

The time to trade Kyrou was before this NTC kicked in.

Kyrou would accept a trade esp to LA or a similar market and there will be takers. Kempe for Kyrou is tempting hes already 29 and will score goals plays a more complete game, power forward lite. Still Kyrou has more upside in my view and is younger

[seattleblue]

^
Most teams are carried by their top 11 players (top 6 forwards, top 4 d-men, & #1 goalie) in the regular season.
The Blues top 11 is the same from last year if you include the Seagram's debut from Snuggerud.
Suter is a 3rd liner. Bjugstad is a 4th liner, and Mailloux is on the bottom pair at best.

Most of the Blues top 11 have underperformed.

It helps when your goalie can stop the puck.
Only the Sharks have a worse GAA than STL. At least the Sharks give up the most shots against.
The Blues are actually tied for 8th fewest in shots against average.
That .850 team save % lands STL at the bottom of the league.

This is how I see it too. So if you're tasked with reacting to this situation, you have to believe in reversion to the mean in this situation enough that you are going to give it a full 20 games or so before you do anything meaningful in changing the roster. Especially in a situation where you do have one real imminent defenseman (Lindstein) and more forward talent not far away. It really felt like the Ellis situation did something to Hofer mentally, like he has nobody pushing him for a job and he has to perform and he can't any more?

Eight games into the season, a couple more in the next 36 hrs, they are going to give these guys time, but at the end of the day the whole way they're handling this and the Lucic urgency says they know they're lacking something critical to hockey in their top players. They know the group is not solid.

[Ziggy3]

Eight games into the season, a couple more in the next 36 hrs, they are going to give these guys time, but at the end of the day the whole way they're handling this and the Lucic urgency says they know they're lacking something critical to hockey in their top players. They know the group is not solid.

This is probably going to sound stupid.

I love Robert Thomas, I think he's generally underrated and he plays my favorite sort of cerebral-style of hockey. BUT...it has always irked me the way he reacts when he misses a good scoring chance. It's always head back, eye-roll, can't believe it...like he lipped out a putt or something. To me this reads like almost a defeatist attitude, and you don't see it much with anybody else in the NHL. It's like the difference between, "How did that happen?" and, "Alright, that's not happening again."

And he's their best player and a leader. I have to wonder how different it would be if he was more steely and hungry instead of reacting like everything was just a bad break. Again, maybe a stupid observation, but just feels to me like a microcosm of their core identity.

[smilinjoefission]

The time to trade Kyrou was before this NTC kicked in.

Kyrou would accept a trade esp to LA or a similar market and there will be takers. Kempe for Kyrou is tempting hes already 29 and will score goals plays a more complete game, power forward lite. Still Kyrou has more upside in my view and is younger

If this is the trade and both sides agree then I make this trade, but the problem becomes what does Kempe ask for? Contracts are stupid now and Army can't be trusted not to [shirt] the bed and grossly overpay so maybe we don't make this trade now and wait until Army is out the door.

[Mr.Snuggleupagus]

Stan, thanks for the response. Why would LA trade their leading scorer for Kyrou? Are they afraid they can't resign him? Is he a problem in the room? Does he not fit in their system? If not, I would like to trade Kyrou for Connon McDavid.

It was floated on hockeybuzz (aka it’s [nonsense]) so now it’s getting talked about. The only scenario that makes sense is that LA doesn’t think they can sign him and want a ready-to-go replacement on a longterm deal.

But if he wants to hit free agency it doesn’t make sense why the Blues would chance it anyway.

To free themselves from the cancerous Kyrou and his crippling contract.

[Harry S Deals]

The time to trade Kyrou was before this NTC kicked in.

Kyrou would accept a trade esp to LA or a similar market and there will be takers. Kempe for Kyrou is tempting hes already 29 and will score goals plays a more complete game, power forward lite. Still Kyrou has more upside in my view and is younger

If this is the trade and both sides agree then I make this trade, but the problem becomes what does Kempe ask for? Contracts are stupid now and Army can't be trusted not to [shirt] the bed and grossly overpay so maybe we don't make this trade now and wait until Army is out the door.

Its not that Army cant be trusted at all, Kempe would be paid fair market value which for a guy that scored 41 goals will be a lot of cash. Plus Kempe is already 29.
Like it or not the Blues do not possess any bad contracts. The organization knew where contracts would be heading and they were able to lock in Thomas, Buch and Kyrou to very favorable deals. Even Schenn and Faulk are not bad deals at all. Sure Krug did not pan out but what was the condition of the ankle when the Blues signed him, did he already have an existing condition was it overlooked was it amplified after he was here? He certainly wasnt the player we played against in the Finals

[theograce]

Like it or not the Blues do not possess any bad contracts.

You’re worse than any troll here

[skilles]

Sure a trade to acquire a 3rd pairing veteran but the whole idea of trading low on big names is just silly.

[callitwhatyouwant]

The time to trade Kyrou was before this NTC kicked in.

Kyrou would accept a trade esp to LA or a similar market and there will be takers. Kempe for Kyrou is tempting hes already 29 and will score goals plays a more complete game, power forward lite. Still Kyrou has more upside in my view and is younger

If this is the trade and both sides agree then I make this trade, but the problem becomes what does Kempe ask for? Contracts are stupid now and Army can't be trusted not to [shirt] the bed and grossly overpay so maybe we don't make this trade now and wait until Army is out the door.

Its not that Army cant be trusted at all, Kempe would be paid fair market value which for a guy that scored 41 goals will be a lot of cash. Plus Kempe is already 29.
Like it or not the Blues do not possess any bad contracts. The organization knew where contracts would be heading and they were able to lock in Thomas, Buch and Kyrou to very favorable deals. Even Schenn and Faulk are not bad deals at all. Sure Krug did not pan out but what was the condition of the ankle when the Blues signed him, did he already have an existing condition was it overlooked was it amplified after he was here? He certainly wasnt the player we played against in the Finals

pretty accurate. The Blues have a collection of market price contracts and a couple deals. The problem at the moment is whether or not you have the right guys at the top. It's going to be hammered to death by those that actually watch, but I'll post it again. Until the offensive guys start getting the puck on net, and deciding that they are going to drive the offense, we will continue to have these muddling starts. This is 3 years in a row. The common thread are the players/ not the coaches.

Thomas currently 1 shot per game averages 2 per game the last couple seasons. Kyrou 2 shots per game averages over 3 per game last couple seasons. Holloway 2 shots per game averaged about 2.5 last year as a Blue, and his shot percentage this season is 6.3 compared to 14.6 last year and his career average of 12.2

The guys are pressing too hard.

[skilles]

Teams are going to be licking their chops a soon as the Blues start calling, if you want to make trades you take numbers and you wait until these guys get it together and trade high but then nobody will want to do that.

[Harry S Deals]

The time to trade Kyrou was before this NTC kicked in.

Kyrou would accept a trade esp to LA or a similar market and there will be takers. Kempe for Kyrou is tempting hes already 29 and will score goals plays a more complete game, power forward lite. Still Kyrou has more upside in my view and is younger

If this is the trade and both sides agree then I make this trade, but the problem becomes what does Kempe ask for? Contracts are stupid now and Army can't be trusted not to [shirt] the bed and grossly overpay so maybe we don't make this trade now and wait until Army is out the door.

Its not that Army cant be trusted at all, Kempe would be paid fair market value which for a guy that scored 41 goals will be a lot of cash. Plus Kempe is already 29.
Like it or not the Blues do not possess any bad contracts. The organization knew where contracts would be heading and they were able to lock in Thomas, Buch and Kyrou to very favorable deals. Even Schenn and Faulk are not bad deals at all. Sure Krug did not pan out but what was the condition of the ankle when the Blues signed him, did he already have an existing condition was it overlooked was it amplified after he was here? He certainly wasnt the player we played against in the Finals

pretty accurate. The Blues have a collection of market price contracts and a couple deals. The problem at the moment is whether or not you have the right guys at the top. It's going to be hammered to death by those that actually watch, but I'll post it again. Until the offensive guys start getting the puck on net, and deciding that they are going to drive the offense, we will continue to have these muddling starts. This is 3 years in a row. The common thread are the players/ not the coaches.

Thomas currently 1 shot per game averages 2 per game the last couple seasons. Kyrou 2 shots per game averages over 3 per game last couple seasons. Holloway 2 shots per game averaged about 2.5 last year as a Blue, and his shot percentage this season is 6.3 compared to 14.6 last year and his career average of 12.2

The guys are pressing too hard.

Very well put

[Mr.Snuggleupagus]

Like it or not the Blues do not possess any bad contracts. The organization knew where contracts would be heading and they were able to lock in Thomas, Buch and Kyrou to very favorable deals.

I'd prefer two 12 million dollar gamers than those 3 inconsistent floaters.

[dhsux]

Seems to me, when an NHL team has 3 or more new players to start a season, there may be the need for a timing adjustment, or a time for the new players to mesh with the rest of the team & each other. Look at the Blues in 2019 (ROR, Perron, Bozak, Maroon, Binny), look at Nashville last year (Stamkos, Marchessault, Skjei), and the Blues again this year (Mailloux, Bjugstad, Suter).

Maybe this is obvious, but it appears a team with a few new faces might take longer to get up to speed, especially when they're projected to improve vastly. The Blues are dealing with this again, this year, and they should be able to work through this period, but will it take a full season like Nashville, or will they be able to right the ship and still be able to make the post season?

They will definitely right the kraaap we have seen of late.

I still say they are a play off team.

[Mr.Snuggleupagus]

They will definitely right the kraaap we have seen of late.

I still say they are a play off team.

Well, they really can't get any worse than blowing a 4 goal lead can they?

And, they should be a playoff (no space needed) team ....but they looked very fragile the other night.

[zamadoo]

Are the Kings trying to win or dump cap?

Danault, Kempe, Doughty all soon to expire with small lists of teams on NTCs.

Doughty, Kempe, and Ed for Kyrou, Faulk, Texier, couple prospects like Buchinger/Robertsson/Gaudet, and draft picks.

Worry about signing Kempe later

Neighbours-Thomas-Kempe
Holloway-Schenn-Snuggs
Joseph-Suter-Buch
Toro-Sunny-Walker

Fowler-Doughty
Broberg-Parayko
Ed-Mailloux

[Mr.Snuggleupagus]

Are the Kings trying to win or dump cap?

Danault, Kempe, Doughty all soon to expire with small lists of teams on NTCs.

Doughty, Kempe, and Ed for Kyrou, Faulk, Texier, couple prospects like Buchinger/Robertsson/Gaudet, and draft picks.

Worry about signing Kempe later

Neighbours-Thomas-Kempe
Holloway-Schenn-Snuggs
Joseph-Suter-Buch
Toro-Sunny-Walker

Fowler-Doughty
Broberg-Parayko
Ed-Mailloux

Good idea, but they don't want our scrubs when they can trade each one individually for a top/decent prospect & a 1st.

Texier is a tweener
Faulk is a T-Rex armed wiener
And Kyrou is an overpaid Pajama Boy pansy