Demidov and Hutson

[a smell of green grass]

I think it was more like 1.4 out of every 10 per your numbers you posted which is small but significant in a world like you say doesn't have that much difference. I mean .383 is BRUTAL hockey

Our 2 options....

1) .383 and no chance to make it to playoffs.
Off-season is full of excitement regarding draft picks.
Future has hope.
The light can be seen at the end of the tunnel.
The kids know what name to put on their jersey.

2) .520 and no chance to make it pass Round 1 of playoffs.
Off-season is spent watching the teams that lost a few more than you pick up the next Ovechkin and Gretzky.
The kids buy no jersey because they don't know what name to put on it.
ASOGG is B_______ every day on BluesTalk.

What I was saying earlier is this ship has sailed because they're .585 right now on a trajectory to the low .600s which is a standard deviation ahead of the .520 you are talking about. That's why I said IMO the question is moot earlier

That's what they say in Buffalo too, and their hopes are pinned on prospects that were selected TOP 5.

Here in STL, we are anticipating greatness from guys that were selected at the end of Round 1.

The really funny thing about this is that STL fans feel sorry for Buffalo fans.

Well yeah they're pitied by many ... they have never won a Cup and haven't made the playoffs in a generation and have horrendous management. But nobody in Buffalo says they're .585 (although they're one of the two teams, Montreal being the other, with additionally Calgary if they win tonight, to ever miss with 96 pts) on a trajectory to reach the low .600s because they aren't. But the Blues are literally .585 right now. They were .561 last year and since then they've gotten some key additions and levelups and a coaching change and two years closer to the 2023 draft class arriving.

Of the great prospects nearing the gate...
Which one replaces ROR?
Which one is as good as Tarasenko?
Barbashev?
Pietrangelo?
Young Schenn?
Bouwmeester?

Those poor B____ have some big shoes to fill.

Here is where you have a legitimate question but you have to also acknowledge only three of those players were drafted by the Blues and three of them were acquired leveraging picks where the Blues were drafting in the 20s. The three players you cited we drafted 4, 16, 33. The latter two are the kind of picks they still do have and have been making.

I think they can acquire a scoring center(s) to accompany Thomas in the hockey trade/free agent market so that they have a comparable 1-2-3 to ROR-Schenn-Bozak with a young Dvorsky being analogous to a young Thomas. And Schenn is still at least short term viable even if he has a lot of miles. The captaincy of an up and coming team is buoying him.

I think it's going to be most difficult to replace an elite #1 defenseman because they don't have one in the system and it's difficult to trade for one. The rebuttal people make is that a team like Florida could win with a bunch of merely very good defenders, and the rebuttal to that is Ekblad went #1 overall, and the rebuttal to that is yeah but he's not really the "true #1 defenseman" in the traditional mold that we are talking about and wishing we had. I mean is Ekblad significantly better than Parayko? We have Parayko. So they are saying maybe Parayko plus four really strong defenders is a viable route as opposed to leaning on a top 3 (with a pinnacle #1 defenseman in the trio) for most minutes. Maybe. And if it's Parayko + four really strong defenders are Broberg, Fowler and Lindstein part of this in the near term too and can they add another player from outside the org to complement the group? Lot of unknowns but it's all in play now, and that to me is the fun of sports.

Good read. I appreciate the depth of your reply.

I hope that you are right.

In reply, I would caution you against being too accepting of the rebuild. While it's possible that we are on an upward trajectory, it's also possible that we are headed nowhere. I think that it is a major flaw to not give the fans at least 1 player to watch that is an NHL star while we muddle through mediocrity.

[a smell of green grass]

I think it was more like 1.4 out of every 10 per your numbers you posted which is small but significant in a world like you say doesn't have that much difference. I mean .383 is BRUTAL hockey

Our 2 options....

1) .383 and no chance to make it to playoffs.
Off-season is full of excitement regarding draft picks.
Future has hope.
The light can be seen at the end of the tunnel.
The kids know what name to put on their jersey.

2) .520 and no chance to make it pass Round 1 of playoffs.
Off-season is spent watching the teams that lost a few more than you pick up the next Ovechkin and Gretzky.
The kids buy no jersey because they don't know what name to put on it.
ASOGG is B_______ every day on BluesTalk.

How are those the only two options?

Good question.

The only way that a 3rd option opens up is if the young players on your team are better than the young players elsewhere. Despite all the high hopes that surround St Louis about their prospects, a thorough analysis reveals that our prospects grade out as average. Average players yield average results. In the land of average, only 2 outcomes are possible.

[TheJackBurton]

I think it was more like 1.4 out of every 10 per your numbers you posted which is small but significant in a world like you say doesn't have that much difference. I mean .383 is BRUTAL hockey

Our 2 options....

1) .383 and no chance to make it to playoffs.
Off-season is full of excitement regarding draft picks.
Future has hope.
The light can be seen at the end of the tunnel.
The kids know what name to put on their jersey.

2) .520 and no chance to make it pass Round 1 of playoffs.
Off-season is spent watching the teams that lost a few more than you pick up the next Ovechkin and Gretzky.
The kids buy no jersey because they don't know what name to put on it.
ASOGG is B_______ every day on BluesTalk.

How are those the only two options?

Good question.

The only way that a 3rd option opens up is if the young players on your team are better than the young players elsewhere. Despite all the high hopes that surround St Louis about their prospects, a thorough analysis reveals that our prospects grade out as average. Average players yield average results. In the land of average, only 2 outcomes are possible.

No that's just idiotic.

In 2018-2019 a team had 3 players with over 20 goals and a total of 13 10+ goal scorers and that is what you would consider average.

In 2018-2019 another team had 3 30+ goal scorers, and 10 with over 10+ goals and that is what you would consider above average.

Which one won the cup?

[a smell of green grass]

I think it was more like 1.4 out of every 10 per your numbers you posted which is small but significant in a world like you say doesn't have that much difference. I mean .383 is BRUTAL hockey

Our 2 options....

1) .383 and no chance to make it to playoffs.
Off-season is full of excitement regarding draft picks.
Future has hope.
The light can be seen at the end of the tunnel.
The kids know what name to put on their jersey.

2) .520 and no chance to make it pass Round 1 of playoffs.
Off-season is spent watching the teams that lost a few more than you pick up the next Ovechkin and Gretzky.
The kids buy no jersey because they don't know what name to put on it.
ASOGG is B_______ every day on BluesTalk.

How are those the only two options?

Good question.

The only way that a 3rd option opens up is if the young players on your team are better than the young players elsewhere. Despite all the high hopes that surround St Louis about their prospects, a thorough analysis reveals that our prospects grade out as average. Average players yield average results. In the land of average, only 2 outcomes are possible.

No that's just idiotic.

In 2018-2019 a team had 3 players with over 20 goals and a total of 13 10+ goal scorers and that is what you would consider average.

In 2018-2019 another team had 3 30+ goal scorers, and 10 with over 10+ goals and that is what you would consider above average.

Which one won the cup?

Ok. Thanks for the info. Interesting.

Is it fair to say this? I'd like to know your mindset.

You:
You see that progress is being made, and you trust Army to keep it up. A Stanley Cup was won in 2019, and a repeat does not need to happen again soon for you to be 100% happy. You are also fine with the Blues not having a marquis player that represents the face of the franchise.

Me:
I see that progress is being made, and I don't trust Army to keep it up. Jiricek infuriates me. While 2019 was great, I want to at least feel like we have a chance again. Until that feeling returns, I will be 100% dissatisfied. I also want a marquis player like almost every other franchise, and like we had in 2019. I'm very upset that there is no hope for that for the Blues for possibly years. Army is very happy to win pointless games at the end of the season forever.

[callitwhatyouwant]

I think it was more like 1.4 out of every 10 per your numbers you posted which is small but significant in a world like you say doesn't have that much difference. I mean .383 is BRUTAL hockey

Our 2 options....

1) .383 and no chance to make it to playoffs.
Off-season is full of excitement regarding draft picks.
Future has hope.
The light can be seen at the end of the tunnel.
The kids know what name to put on their jersey.

2) .520 and no chance to make it pass Round 1 of playoffs.
Off-season is spent watching the teams that lost a few more than you pick up the next Ovechkin and Gretzky.
The kids buy no jersey because they don't know what name to put on it.
ASOGG is B_______ every day on BluesTalk.

How are those the only two options?

Good question.

The only way that a 3rd option opens up is if the young players on your team are better than the young players elsewhere. Despite all the high hopes that surround St Louis about their prospects, a thorough analysis reveals that our prospects grade out as average. Average players yield average results. In the land of average, only 2 outcomes are possible.

No that's just idiotic.

In 2018-2019 a team had 3 players with over 20 goals and a total of 13 10+ goal scorers and that is what you would consider average.

In 2018-2019 another team had 3 30+ goal scorers, and 10 with over 10+ goals and that is what you would consider above average.

Which one won the cup?

Ok. Thanks for the info. Interesting.

Is it fair to say this? I'd like to know your mindset.

You:
You see that progress is being made, and you trust Army to keep it up. A Stanley Cup was won in 2019, and a repeat does not need to happen again soon for you to be 100% happy. You are also fine with the Blues not having a marquis player that represents the face of the franchise.

Me:
I see that progress is being made, and I don't trust Army to keep it up. Jiricek infuriates me. While 2019 was great, I want to at least feel like we have a chance again. Until that feeling returns, I will be 100% dissatisfied. I also want a marquis player like almost every other franchise, and like we had in 2019. I'm very upset that there is no hope for that for the Blues for possibly years. Army is very happy to win pointless games at the end of the season forever.

hey look it's a smell of goblin goo making up weird narratives again. Who was the star player in 2019? Jordan Binnington? ROR? Parayko? Those were our best playoff performers. Still have 2 of those guys. And 1 could argue Parayko is better now than he was then.

Why do you want Jason Marquis to play hockey? Weird goblin goo.

[seattleblue]

I think it was more like 1.4 out of every 10 per your numbers you posted which is small but significant in a world like you say doesn't have that much difference. I mean .383 is BRUTAL hockey

Our 2 options....

1) .383 and no chance to make it to playoffs.
Off-season is full of excitement regarding draft picks.
Future has hope.
The light can be seen at the end of the tunnel.
The kids know what name to put on their jersey.

2) .520 and no chance to make it pass Round 1 of playoffs.
Off-season is spent watching the teams that lost a few more than you pick up the next Ovechkin and Gretzky.
The kids buy no jersey because they don't know what name to put on it.
ASOGG is B_______ every day on BluesTalk.

What I was saying earlier is this ship has sailed because they're .585 right now on a trajectory to the low .600s which is a standard deviation ahead of the .520 you are talking about. That's why I said IMO the question is moot earlier

That's what they say in Buffalo too, and their hopes are pinned on prospects that were selected TOP 5.

Here in STL, we are anticipating greatness from guys that were selected at the end of Round 1.

The really funny thing about this is that STL fans feel sorry for Buffalo fans.

Well yeah they're pitied by many ... they have never won a Cup and haven't made the playoffs in a generation and have horrendous management. But nobody in Buffalo says they're .585 (although they're one of the two teams, Montreal being the other, with additionally Calgary if they win tonight, to ever miss with 96 pts) on a trajectory to reach the low .600s because they aren't. But the Blues are literally .585 right now. They were .561 last year and since then they've gotten some key additions and levelups and a coaching change and two years closer to the 2023 draft class arriving.

Of the great prospects nearing the gate...
Which one replaces ROR?
Which one is as good as Tarasenko?
Barbashev?
Pietrangelo?
Young Schenn?
Bouwmeester?

Those poor B____ have some big shoes to fill.

Here is where you have a legitimate question but you have to also acknowledge only three of those players were drafted by the Blues and three of them were acquired leveraging picks where the Blues were drafting in the 20s. The three players you cited we drafted 4, 16, 33. The latter two are the kind of picks they still do have and have been making.

I think they can acquire a scoring center(s) to accompany Thomas in the hockey trade/free agent market so that they have a comparable 1-2-3 to ROR-Schenn-Bozak with a young Dvorsky being analogous to a young Thomas. And Schenn is still at least short term viable even if he has a lot of miles. The captaincy of an up and coming team is buoying him.

I think it's going to be most difficult to replace an elite #1 defenseman because they don't have one in the system and it's difficult to trade for one. The rebuttal people make is that a team like Florida could win with a bunch of merely very good defenders, and the rebuttal to that is Ekblad went #1 overall, and the rebuttal to that is yeah but he's not really the "true #1 defenseman" in the traditional mold that we are talking about and wishing we had. I mean is Ekblad significantly better than Parayko? We have Parayko. So they are saying maybe Parayko plus four really strong defenders is a viable route as opposed to leaning on a top 3 (with a pinnacle #1 defenseman in the trio) for most minutes. Maybe. And if it's Parayko + four really strong defenders are Broberg, Fowler and Lindstein part of this in the near term too and can they add another player from outside the org to complement the group? Lot of unknowns but it's all in play now, and that to me is the fun of sports.

Good read. I appreciate the depth of your reply.

I hope that you are right.

In reply, I would caution you against being too accepting of the rebuild. While it's possible that we are on an upward trajectory, it's also possible that we are headed nowhere. I think that it is a major flaw to not give the fans at least 1 player to watch that is an NHL star while we muddle through mediocrity.

No worries it's easy to see that when you put hostility in you get hostility out.
That's kinda boring to me. I am not above it just bored by it and try to avoid it. I only control me. Venom just poisons a real interest. What's the point other than to really spend a lot of attention on who gets to say what. What waste of time IMO.

On your point about being too accepting of the rebuild. Now you have landed on the exact thing. I watch the prospects because I want to know how I am feeling about the rebuild and what pieces I think are arriving internally and what skills/players are thus missing and need to be acquired externally. In the process of watching many of our own prospects I see the new crop of prospects plus other teams' prospects. I'm a Blues fan, I want to know what's ahead and I'm willing to give the attention. I think I am a realist because I have a longspan view of hockey. Nobody's perfect at predicting prospects that doesn't mean it's not a worthy pursuit or you can't start to gain real confidence in attributes. I remember watching Tarasenko's games live at 430am in Russia and watching Vince Dunn be interviewed in the OHL saying he watched every game Doughty plays to be like him. But I am also realist to know that while I still would have protected Dunn over Krug (Armstrong was not yet at the "offer sheet my mother" stage of ruthlessness that we needed from him there) I don't really miss Dunn since he is a flawed defender in a way I have a tough time with being a flawed defender. Namely defensively. I'm attached most to Stancl right now out of all the prospects because I watched all his games since December forward and fist bumped him in my Blues jersey after he scored an empty net goal to win a game. But that doesn't mean I am not critically observing his skating in the AHL right now.

also want to acknowledge two errors. One that kimzey pointed out with NJ and Burns actually had three assists not two last night.

[a smell of green grass]

I think it was more like 1.4 out of every 10 per your numbers you posted which is small but significant in a world like you say doesn't have that much difference. I mean .383 is BRUTAL hockey

Our 2 options....

1) .383 and no chance to make it to playoffs.
Off-season is full of excitement regarding draft picks.
Future has hope.
The light can be seen at the end of the tunnel.
The kids know what name to put on their jersey.

2) .520 and no chance to make it pass Round 1 of playoffs.
Off-season is spent watching the teams that lost a few more than you pick up the next Ovechkin and Gretzky.
The kids buy no jersey because they don't know what name to put on it.
ASOGG is B_______ every day on BluesTalk.

How are those the only two options?

Good question.

The only way that a 3rd option opens up is if the young players on your team are better than the young players elsewhere. Despite all the high hopes that surround St Louis about their prospects, a thorough analysis reveals that our prospects grade out as average. Average players yield average results. In the land of average, only 2 outcomes are possible.

No that's just idiotic.

In 2018-2019 a team had 3 players with over 20 goals and a total of 13 10+ goal scorers and that is what you would consider average.

In 2018-2019 another team had 3 30+ goal scorers, and 10 with over 10+ goals and that is what you would consider above average.

Which one won the cup?

Ok. Thanks for the info. Interesting.

Is it fair to say this? I'd like to know your mindset.

You:
You see that progress is being made, and you trust Army to keep it up. A Stanley Cup was won in 2019, and a repeat does not need to happen again soon for you to be 100% happy. You are also fine with the Blues not having a marquis player that represents the face of the franchise.

Me:
I see that progress is being made, and I don't trust Army to keep it up. Jiricek infuriates me. While 2019 was great, I want to at least feel like we have a chance again. Until that feeling returns, I will be 100% dissatisfied. I also want a marquis player like almost every other franchise, and like we had in 2019. I'm very upset that there is no hope for that for the Blues for possibly years. Army is very happy to win pointless games at the end of the season forever.

hey look it's a smell of goblin goo making up weird narratives again. Who was the star player in 2019? Jordan Binnington? ROR? Parayko? Those were our best playoff performers. Still have 2 of those guys. And 1 could argue Parayko is better now than he was then.

Why do you want Jason Marquis to play hockey? Weird goblin goo.

If I recall the Jerseys on kids backs in 2019 correctly...

1. Tarasenko

2. ROR
3. Pietrangelo
4. Binnington
5. Steen

I'll go make a run to Goodwill to see what was popular in 2019 in the Kids section to confirm.

I know that you make fun of me for this, but I think it is important for the health of the franchise in St Louis. Being "faceless" is boring.

[a smell of green grass]

Demidov jersey is setting records....
https://www.si.com/onsi/breakaway/news- ... les-record

When are they going to make the jersey to celebrate the Blues beating out faceless mediocre Calgary to get into the playoffs in 2025. I'll see if my kid wants to wear it, and let you know what she says.

[Harry S Deals]

Of the great prospects nearing the gate...
Which one replaces ROR? THOMAS
Which one is as good as Tarasenko? KYROU
Barbashev? HOLLOWAY
Pietrangelo? PARAYKO
Young Schenn? UNSURE WHAT THIS MEANS, A CENTER? A GRINDIING CENTER? NEXT CENTER UP IS DALIBOR
Bouwmeester? FOWLER

This is pretty dumb too, this whole Smell My (donkey) person is beyond dumb.

How would we be able to predict what prospects will fill out these roles years in advance but we do already have these roles filled TODAY

[callitwhatyouwant]

I think it was more like 1.4 out of every 10 per your numbers you posted which is small but significant in a world like you say doesn't have that much difference. I mean .383 is BRUTAL hockey

Our 2 options....

1) .383 and no chance to make it to playoffs.
Off-season is full of excitement regarding draft picks.
Future has hope.
The light can be seen at the end of the tunnel.
The kids know what name to put on their jersey.

2) .520 and no chance to make it pass Round 1 of playoffs.
Off-season is spent watching the teams that lost a few more than you pick up the next Ovechkin and Gretzky.
The kids buy no jersey because they don't know what name to put on it.
ASOGG is B_______ every day on BluesTalk.

How are those the only two options?

Good question.

The only way that a 3rd option opens up is if the young players on your team are better than the young players elsewhere. Despite all the high hopes that surround St Louis about their prospects, a thorough analysis reveals that our prospects grade out as average. Average players yield average results. In the land of average, only 2 outcomes are possible.

No that's just idiotic.

In 2018-2019 a team had 3 players with over 20 goals and a total of 13 10+ goal scorers and that is what you would consider average.

In 2018-2019 another team had 3 30+ goal scorers, and 10 with over 10+ goals and that is what you would consider above average.

Which one won the cup?

Ok. Thanks for the info. Interesting.

Is it fair to say this? I'd like to know your mindset.

You:
You see that progress is being made, and you trust Army to keep it up. A Stanley Cup was won in 2019, and a repeat does not need to happen again soon for you to be 100% happy. You are also fine with the Blues not having a marquis player that represents the face of the franchise.

Me:
I see that progress is being made, and I don't trust Army to keep it up. Jiricek infuriates me. While 2019 was great, I want to at least feel like we have a chance again. Until that feeling returns, I will be 100% dissatisfied. I also want a marquis player like almost every other franchise, and like we had in 2019. I'm very upset that there is no hope for that for the Blues for possibly years. Army is very happy to win pointless games at the end of the season forever.

hey look it's a smell of goblin goo making up weird narratives again. Who was the star player in 2019? Jordan Binnington? ROR? Parayko? Those were our best playoff performers. Still have 2 of those guys. And 1 could argue Parayko is better now than he was then.

Why do you want Jason Marquis to play hockey? Weird goblin goo.

If I recall the Jerseys on kids backs in 2019 correctly...

1. Tarasenko

2. ROR
3. Pietrangelo
4. Binnington
5. Steen

I'll go make a run to Goodwill to see what was popular in 2019 in the Kids section to confirm.

I know that you make fun of me for this, but I think it is important for the health of the franchise in St Louis. Being "faceless" is boring.

i'll bite ya smelly goblin.

1. Tarasenko - drafted 16th by the blues
2. ROR - 33rd by the Avs
3. Petro - 4th by the Blues
4. Binnington - 88th by the blues
5. Steener - 24th by Toronto

average draft of these 5 players = 33rd.

So you are saying that 33rd is a respectable draft pick.

Alright lets compare attendance numbers for STL to see how the stanley cup year compared to this year

This year the Blues 726,700 fans come thru for an attendance of 96.3 percent. Put us in 19th place in the league. Decently respectable for a city like ours.

Stanley cup year. Blues had 711,823 for a 90.7 percent attendance. We were 25th in attendance that season for capacity.

Seems to me like the fans are plenty hyped for the current crop of Blues players.

[TheJackBurton]

Demidov jersey is setting records....
https://www.si.com/onsi/breakaway/news- ... les-record

When are they going to make the jersey to celebrate the Blues beating out faceless mediocre Calgary to get into the playoffs in 2025. I'll see if my kid wants to wear it, and let you know what she says.

Why are you so concerned with jersey sales?

In the early 2000's do you know which Blues player had the most jersey sales?

That's right one #24 overall pick TJ Oshie.

When drafted there was a sound cry of "what the [fork] are we doing?"

This is exactly what you are doing.

Also, as bluenote has pointed out several times in this thread, the guy you are pining for went 62nd overall, which kind of throws your top 5 pick infatuation right in the sewer.

[stlblues1979]

Demidov jersey is setting records....
https://www.si.com/onsi/breakaway/news- ... les-record

When are they going to make the jersey to celebrate the Blues beating out faceless mediocre Calgary to get into the playoffs in 2025. I'll see if my kid wants to wear it, and let you know what she says.

Why are you so concerned with jersey sales?

In the early 2000's do you know which Blues player had the most jersey sales?

That's right one #24 overall pick TJ Oshie.

When drafted there was a sound cry of "what the [fork] are we doing?"

This is exactly what you are doing.

Also, as bluenote has pointed out several times in this thread, the guy you are pining for went 62nd overall, which kind of throws your top 5 pick infatuation right in the sewer.

This^

Dude is more interested in jersey sales than forming a team that can win a cup. Nothing but hypocritical illogical reasoning!

Watching Brett Hull was fun. Nothing compared to winning the Cup though!

[bluetunehead]

Another note for those pining for jersey sales… Thomas just put up back-to-back 80+ point seasons. The last Blue to do that was Brett Hull. Not Tarasenko, not Demitra, not Tkachuk. You have to go back to Hull. Thomas is a special player. Just because he doesn’t have an EA sports cover doesn’t mean he isn’t elite.

[TheJackBurton]

Another note for those pining for jersey sales… Thomas just put up back-to-back 80+ point seasons. The last Blue to do that was Brett Hull. Not Tarasenko, not Demitra, not Tkachuk. You have to go back to Hull. Thomas is a special player. Just because he doesn’t have an EA sports cover doesn’t mean he isn’t elite.

If he doesn't miss those 12 games due to the injury he likely gets to 90+

[a smell of green grass]

I think it was more like 1.4 out of every 10 per your numbers you posted which is small but significant in a world like you say doesn't have that much difference. I mean .383 is BRUTAL hockey

Our 2 options....

1) .383 and no chance to make it to playoffs.
Off-season is full of excitement regarding draft picks.
Future has hope.
The light can be seen at the end of the tunnel.
The kids know what name to put on their jersey.

2) .520 and no chance to make it pass Round 1 of playoffs.
Off-season is spent watching the teams that lost a few more than you pick up the next Ovechkin and Gretzky.
The kids buy no jersey because they don't know what name to put on it.
ASOGG is B_______ every day on BluesTalk.

What I was saying earlier is this ship has sailed because they're .585 right now on a trajectory to the low .600s which is a standard deviation ahead of the .520 you are talking about. That's why I said IMO the question is moot earlier

That's what they say in Buffalo too, and their hopes are pinned on prospects that were selected TOP 5.

Here in STL, we are anticipating greatness from guys that were selected at the end of Round 1.

The really funny thing about this is that STL fans feel sorry for Buffalo fans.

Well yeah they're pitied by many ... they have never won a Cup and haven't made the playoffs in a generation and have horrendous management. But nobody in Buffalo says they're .585 (although they're one of the two teams, Montreal being the other, with additionally Calgary if they win tonight, to ever miss with 96 pts) on a trajectory to reach the low .600s because they aren't. But the Blues are literally .585 right now. They were .561 last year and since then they've gotten some key additions and levelups and a coaching change and two years closer to the 2023 draft class arriving.

Of the great prospects nearing the gate...
Which one replaces ROR?
Which one is as good as Tarasenko?
Barbashev?
Pietrangelo?
Young Schenn?
Bouwmeester?

Those poor B____ have some big shoes to fill.

Here is where you have a legitimate question but you have to also acknowledge only three of those players were drafted by the Blues and three of them were acquired leveraging picks where the Blues were drafting in the 20s. The three players you cited we drafted 4, 16, 33. The latter two are the kind of picks they still do have and have been making.

I think they can acquire a scoring center(s) to accompany Thomas in the hockey trade/free agent market so that they have a comparable 1-2-3 to ROR-Schenn-Bozak with a young Dvorsky being analogous to a young Thomas. And Schenn is still at least short term viable even if he has a lot of miles. The captaincy of an up and coming team is buoying him.

I think it's going to be most difficult to replace an elite #1 defenseman because they don't have one in the system and it's difficult to trade for one. The rebuttal people make is that a team like Florida could win with a bunch of merely very good defenders, and the rebuttal to that is Ekblad went #1 overall, and the rebuttal to that is yeah but he's not really the "true #1 defenseman" in the traditional mold that we are talking about and wishing we had. I mean is Ekblad significantly better than Parayko? We have Parayko. So they are saying maybe Parayko plus four really strong defenders is a viable route as opposed to leaning on a top 3 (with a pinnacle #1 defenseman in the trio) for most minutes. Maybe. And if it's Parayko + four really strong defenders are Broberg, Fowler and Lindstein part of this in the near term too and can they add another player from outside the org to complement the group? Lot of unknowns but it's all in play now, and that to me is the fun of sports.

Good read. I appreciate the depth of your reply.

I hope that you are right.

In reply, I would caution you against being too accepting of the rebuild. While it's possible that we are on an upward trajectory, it's also possible that we are headed nowhere. I think that it is a major flaw to not give the fans at least 1 player to watch that is an NHL star while we muddle through mediocrity.

No worries it's easy to see that when you put hostility in you get hostility out.
That's kinda boring to me. I am not above it just bored by it and try to avoid it. I only control me. Venom just poisons a real interest. What's the point other than to really spend a lot of attention on who gets to say what. What waste of time IMO.

On your point about being too accepting of the rebuild. Now you have landed on the exact thing. I watch the prospects because I want to know how I am feeling about the rebuild and what pieces I think are arriving internally and what skills/players are thus missing and need to be acquired externally. In the process of watching many of our own prospects I see the new crop of prospects plus other teams' prospects. I'm a Blues fan, I want to know what's ahead and I'm willing to give the attention. I think I am a realist because I have a longspan view of hockey. Nobody's perfect at predicting prospects that doesn't mean it's not a worthy pursuit or you can't start to gain real confidence in attributes. I remember watching Tarasenko's games live at 430am in Russia and watching Vince Dunn be interviewed in the OHL saying he watched every game Doughty plays to be like him. But I am also realist to know that while I still would have protected Dunn over Krug (Armstrong was not yet at the "offer sheet my mother" stage of ruthlessness that we needed from him there) I don't really miss Dunn since he is a flawed defender in a way I have a tough time with being a flawed defender. Namely defensively. I'm attached most to Stancl right now out of all the prospects because I watched all his games since December forward and fist bumped him in my Blues jersey after he scored an empty net goal to win a game. But that doesn't mean I am not critically observing his skating in the AHL right now.

also want to acknowledge two errors. One that kimzey pointed out with NJ and Burns actually had three assists not two last night.

Thank you for this feedback.

I'd be curious to hear what you think of our prospects individually. I'm a little concerned to see our prospects seem slow to market. I see many prospects in other organizations already on the NHL ice. I realize that our prospects were on European ice, but they are still there.

[seattleblue]

I think it was more like 1.4 out of every 10 per your numbers you posted which is small but significant in a world like you say doesn't have that much difference. I mean .383 is BRUTAL hockey

Our 2 options....

1) .383 and no chance to make it to playoffs.
Off-season is full of excitement regarding draft picks.
Future has hope.
The light can be seen at the end of the tunnel.
The kids know what name to put on their jersey.

2) .520 and no chance to make it pass Round 1 of playoffs.
Off-season is spent watching the teams that lost a few more than you pick up the next Ovechkin and Gretzky.
The kids buy no jersey because they don't know what name to put on it.
ASOGG is B_______ every day on BluesTalk.

What I was saying earlier is this ship has sailed because they're .585 right now on a trajectory to the low .600s which is a standard deviation ahead of the .520 you are talking about. That's why I said IMO the question is moot earlier

That's what they say in Buffalo too, and their hopes are pinned on prospects that were selected TOP 5.

Here in STL, we are anticipating greatness from guys that were selected at the end of Round 1.

The really funny thing about this is that STL fans feel sorry for Buffalo fans.

Well yeah they're pitied by many ... they have never won a Cup and haven't made the playoffs in a generation and have horrendous management. But nobody in Buffalo says they're .585 (although they're one of the two teams, Montreal being the other, with additionally Calgary if they win tonight, to ever miss with 96 pts) on a trajectory to reach the low .600s because they aren't. But the Blues are literally .585 right now. They were .561 last year and since then they've gotten some key additions and levelups and a coaching change and two years closer to the 2023 draft class arriving.

Of the great prospects nearing the gate...
Which one replaces ROR?
Which one is as good as Tarasenko?
Barbashev?
Pietrangelo?
Young Schenn?
Bouwmeester?

Those poor B____ have some big shoes to fill.

Here is where you have a legitimate question but you have to also acknowledge only three of those players were drafted by the Blues and three of them were acquired leveraging picks where the Blues were drafting in the 20s. The three players you cited we drafted 4, 16, 33. The latter two are the kind of picks they still do have and have been making.

I think they can acquire a scoring center(s) to accompany Thomas in the hockey trade/free agent market so that they have a comparable 1-2-3 to ROR-Schenn-Bozak with a young Dvorsky being analogous to a young Thomas. And Schenn is still at least short term viable even if he has a lot of miles. The captaincy of an up and coming team is buoying him.

I think it's going to be most difficult to replace an elite #1 defenseman because they don't have one in the system and it's difficult to trade for one. The rebuttal people make is that a team like Florida could win with a bunch of merely very good defenders, and the rebuttal to that is Ekblad went #1 overall, and the rebuttal to that is yeah but he's not really the "true #1 defenseman" in the traditional mold that we are talking about and wishing we had. I mean is Ekblad significantly better than Parayko? We have Parayko. So they are saying maybe Parayko plus four really strong defenders is a viable route as opposed to leaning on a top 3 (with a pinnacle #1 defenseman in the trio) for most minutes. Maybe. And if it's Parayko + four really strong defenders are Broberg, Fowler and Lindstein part of this in the near term too and can they add another player from outside the org to complement the group? Lot of unknowns but it's all in play now, and that to me is the fun of sports.

Good read. I appreciate the depth of your reply.

I hope that you are right.

In reply, I would caution you against being too accepting of the rebuild. While it's possible that we are on an upward trajectory, it's also possible that we are headed nowhere. I think that it is a major flaw to not give the fans at least 1 player to watch that is an NHL star while we muddle through mediocrity.

No worries it's easy to see that when you put hostility in you get hostility out.
That's kinda boring to me. I am not above it just bored by it and try to avoid it. I only control me. Venom just poisons a real interest. What's the point other than to really spend a lot of attention on who gets to say what. What waste of time IMO.

On your point about being too accepting of the rebuild. Now you have landed on the exact thing. I watch the prospects because I want to know how I am feeling about the rebuild and what pieces I think are arriving internally and what skills/players are thus missing and need to be acquired externally. In the process of watching many of our own prospects I see the new crop of prospects plus other teams' prospects. I'm a Blues fan, I want to know what's ahead and I'm willing to give the attention. I think I am a realist because I have a longspan view of hockey. Nobody's perfect at predicting prospects that doesn't mean it's not a worthy pursuit or you can't start to gain real confidence in attributes. I remember watching Tarasenko's games live at 430am in Russia and watching Vince Dunn be interviewed in the OHL saying he watched every game Doughty plays to be like him. But I am also realist to know that while I still would have protected Dunn over Krug (Armstrong was not yet at the "offer sheet my mother" stage of ruthlessness that we needed from him there) I don't really miss Dunn since he is a flawed defender in a way I have a tough time with being a flawed defender. Namely defensively. I'm attached most to Stancl right now out of all the prospects because I watched all his games since December forward and fist bumped him in my Blues jersey after he scored an empty net goal to win a game. But that doesn't mean I am not critically observing his skating in the AHL right now.

also want to acknowledge two errors. One that kimzey pointed out with NJ and Burns actually had three assists not two last night.

Thank you for this feedback.

I'd be curious to hear what you think of our prospects individually. I'm a little concerned to see our prospects seem slow to market. I see many prospects in other organizations already on the NHL ice. I realize that our prospects were on European ice, but they are still there.

Well you gotta remember a timeline of a prospect going to the NHL more quickly doesn't necessarily mean that was the ideal development path. It's a real thing that a prospect get thrust into a mode where they might succeed for a bit then it stalls out in a way that's not great. So I tend to less compare prospects that way because bad teams often need something to show their fans and there is pressure sometimes, particularly with marquee prospects.

A perfect example of this is Dvorsky. You could be saying, he doesn't seem like he's arriving with impact as fast as a few other guys. But I would tell you this. Dvorsky is a slow burn but he is going to be an excellent NHL scoring center. I'm watching Lindstein's G1 sudden death OT right now but I'd rather turn it to Grant McKagg who can explain on Dvorsky better than I can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtWe2taJ5Iw