DeFranks' chat: Do the Blues really have depth on the wings after trading Bolduc?

[TBone]

DeFranks' chat: Do the Blues really have depth on the wings after trading Bolduc?

Matthew DeFranks
Post-Dispatch
Aug 13, 2025

Matthew DeFranks: Good afternoon! Training camp is about a month away. Let's get to your questions.

tylerg: Matty D, what it is what it do. Wishing you and the fam all the best and I want to thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. Today I have questions about the bottom 6 on this team. My first question is about Pius Suter, is a good comparison to Suter a less physical, Ivan Barbashev? It sure seems like it based on the games I remember seeing Suter play in as well as his stat line. Second question is about Toropchenko, do you see him resigning in STL? I see this going either way based on his age, role, cap space/projected cap, impact on team chemistry, stat line, etc. Curious to hear you take, thanks!

Matthew DeFranks: I view Pius Suter as much more defensively responsible than Ivan Barbashev. Barbashev's defensive metrics were never really even close to what Suter can bring. I do think they both like to play on the interior, and we've seen the scoring touch Barbashev has brought when paired with top-line guys like Stone and Eichel. I don't expect that kind of punch from Suter, but he'll still put up some numbers just based on where he plays in the paint.

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/profess ... 3864e.html

[Bubble4427]

DeFranks' chat: Do the Blues really have depth on the wings after trading Bolduc?

Matthew DeFranks
Post-Dispatch
Aug 13, 2025

Matthew DeFranks: Good afternoon! Training camp is about a month away. Let's get to your questions.

tylerg: Matty D, what it is what it do. Wishing you and the fam all the best and I want to thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. Today I have questions about the bottom 6 on this team. My first question is about Pius Suter, is a good comparison to Suter a less physical, Ivan Barbashev? It sure seems like it based on the games I remember seeing Suter play in as well as his stat line. Second question is about Toropchenko, do you see him resigning in STL? I see this going either way based on his age, role, cap space/projected cap, impact on team chemistry, stat line, etc. Curious to hear you take, thanks!

Matthew DeFranks: I view Pius Suter as much more defensively responsible than Ivan Barbashev. Barbashev's defensive metrics were never really even close to what Suter can bring. I do think they both like to play on the interior, and we've seen the scoring touch Barbashev has brought when paired with top-line guys like Stone and Eichel. I don't expect that kind of punch from Suter, but he'll still put up some numbers just based on where he plays in the paint.

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/profess ... 3864e.html

I think the Blues will be fine on the wing.
Bolduc was going to be playing 3rd line minutes on this team…so I would consider that to be deep on the wings.
This year will be a difficult, sometimes painful to watch year for Mailloux…..but I would still do that deal everyday of the week and twice on Sunday.

[theograce]

I think the Blues will be fine on the wing.
Bolduc was going to be playing 3rd line minutes on this team…so I would consider that to be deep on the wings.

Yeah they should be fine on the wing, but Boldy started to show an edge that would be super good to have. He irritated a lot of top players. He also scored 7 PP goals in limited time (Tarasenko scored 7 or more 3 or 4 times). Looking forward to seeing him in MTL

[SRV1990]

Good stuff from DeFranks. And as a Blues fan, I'm looking forward to seeing Mailloux play for the Blues.

[STL fan in MN]

Geez, even the chats are firewalled?

What was DeFranks opinion on trading Bolduc/winger depth anyway?

[a smell of green grass]

Army traded away a proven loved 200-ft NHL prospect (Bolduc) for the 4th-best unproven RHD from a losing franchise.

We traded away one of our best prospects for one of their worst. What's not to love about the trade?

When we play Montreal, we will able to compare and contrast Mailloux with the other RHD on Montreal--assuming Mailloux ever makes the lineup Can't wait.

[SRV1990]

Proven? [fork]ing hilarious.

[callitwhatyouwant]

I'm bummed we traded Bolduc, he had been who I was most interested in getting PP time even as far back as 2 years ago. I'm glad I was justified in my opinion on that this season. One thing that can be seen as a plus or a minus was that Bolduc started to play with a little bit of an edge as the season went on. In the playoffs it was a negative. He got hot headed and took a couple of bad penalties. He wasn't sending a message, players got under his skin and he lashed out. I think that kind of energy can be harnessed tho.

But the old saying on trades is that you have to give to get, unless of course it's a trade deadline situation where people are shedding cap and trying to stock up resources. Anyways, I'm probably going to side on the Blues front office on this one in knowing the potential of Mailloux. The Blues under Army's tenure hardly ever make bad trades. The only spots that I can recall that are a little iffy have been the trades in the goalie department. That has hardly worked out. But as far as skaters go, the Armstrong regime crushes it in regards to talent evaluation.

This will be an added layer of fun stuff to watch as the season progresses. It's a riskier trade on the Blues end, but it's 100 percent calculated.

[NE Blues Fan]

Army traded away a proven loved 200-ft NHL prospect (Bolduc) for the 4th-best unproven RHD from a losing franchise.

We traded away one of our best prospects for one of their worst. What's not to love about the trade?

When we play Montreal, we will able to compare and contrast Mailloux with the other RHD on Montreal--assuming Mailloux ever makes the lineup Can't wait.

You seem to dislike transactions Army makes because it was Army that made them. Did he pee in your Wheaties at one point or something?

[a smell of green grass]

Army traded away a proven loved 200-ft NHL prospect (Bolduc) for the 4th-best unproven RHD from a losing franchise.

We traded away one of our best prospects for one of their worst. What's not to love about the trade?

When we play Montreal, we will able to compare and contrast Mailloux with the other RHD on Montreal--assuming Mailloux ever makes the lineup Can't wait.

You seem to dislike transactions Army makes because it was Army that made them. Did he pee in your Wheaties at one point or something?

I have nothing against Army the person. He's a bit of a snake-oil salesman, but that is pretty common. I am infuriated by the way that the Blues manage their team. The Blues run their team to make profits, not win Cups. I want for my city, what people in every other city get to enjoy. What is so wrong with what they do? Imagine the Cardinals with no Musial, no Gibson, no Pujols, no TIMELESS STAR ever! That is the product that the Blues are serving forever, and I'm disgusted by that.

[stlblue06]

But the old saying on trades is that you have to give to get, unless of course it's a trade deadline situation where people are shedding cap and trying to stock up resources. Anyways, I'm probably going to side on the Blues front office on this one in knowing the potential of Mailloux. The Blues under Army's tenure hardly ever make bad trades. The only spots that I can recall that are a little iffy have been the trades in the goalie department. That has hardly worked out. But as far as skaters go, the Armstrong regime crushes it in regards to talent evaluation.

This will be an added layer of fun stuff to watch as the season progresses. It's a riskier trade on the Blues end, but it's 100 percent calculated.

Yes Army has had an overall solid trade history with some steals and some misses. Yet I don’t really recall the Blues making a trade like this one. Where we swapped very young/recent 1 round prospects.

While Bolduc is far from proven, 100 games is a lot to go off of. The fact that Bolduc averaged a little over 20 goals per 82 games all while getting very weak linemates on the 3rd line the large majority of the time worries me. Yes 7PP goals and what 4 out of 5 goals on the top line his first season.

It would have been nice have a semi proven ready to go scorer that MTL was looking for that had potential but not quite as promising as Bolduc. What I’m saying is it still feels like we overpaid when you look at how stacked MTL is on the blue line and the “baggage” of drafting Mailloux when he asked not to be then making a pathetic public apology to their fans about it.

[Army's Mom]

Army traded away a proven loved 200-ft NHL prospect (Bolduc) for the 4th-best unproven RHD from a losing franchise.

We traded away one of our best prospects for one of their worst. What's not to love about the trade?

When we play Montreal, we will able to compare and contrast Mailloux with the other RHD on Montreal--assuming Mailloux ever makes the lineup Can't wait.

You seem to dislike transactions Army makes because it was Army that made them. Did he pee in your Wheaties at one point or something?

I have nothing against Army the person. He's a bit of a snake-oil salesman, but that is pretty common. I am infuriated by the way that the Blues manage their team. The Blues run their team to make profits, not win Cups. I want for my city, what people in every other city get to enjoy. What is so wrong with what they do? Imagine the Cardinals with no Musial, no Gibson, no Pujols, no TIMELESS STAR ever! That is the product that the Blues are serving forever, and I'm disgusted by that.

You identified 3 iconic players from the past 70 years...

In that time, the Blues have had:

The #2 all time single season goal scoring record amidst a 3 year binge of over 210 goals.

The prime years of the greatest power forward if his generation, with back to back 50 goal, 100 pt, 200 pim seasons.

The only defender to win MVP since Bobby Orr.

And thats not even counting Gretzky's cup of coffee, Al MacInnis, or Alex Pietrangelo.

[sdaltons]

Proven? [fork]ing hilarious.

Didn't you hear? Bolduc is going to become the first player ever to have his number hung in the rafters whilst still actively playing.

[dhsux]

Wait a minute....did numb--nuts respond to one of T's morning threads he been obsessed with for weeks now?

You can't fix stupid.

If ya'll wanna know who numb--nuts is he'll be following me around for days now.

hahaha

[theograce]

You can't fix stupid.

Is this me stalking you again? You won’t even bet on yourself and accept the challenge

Laughing at you

[NE Blues Fan]

Army traded away a proven loved 200-ft NHL prospect (Bolduc) for the 4th-best unproven RHD from a losing franchise.

We traded away one of our best prospects for one of their worst. What's not to love about the trade?

When we play Montreal, we will able to compare and contrast Mailloux with the other RHD on Montreal--assuming Mailloux ever makes the lineup Can't wait.

You seem to dislike transactions Army makes because it was Army that made them. Did he pee in your Wheaties at one point or something?

I have nothing against Army the person. He's a bit of a snake-oil salesman, but that is pretty common. I am infuriated by the way that the Blues manage their team. The Blues run their team to make profits, not win Cups. I want for my city, what people in every other city get to enjoy. What is so wrong with what they do? Imagine the Cardinals with no Musial, no Gibson, no Pujols, no TIMELESS STAR ever! That is the product that the Blues are serving forever, and I'm disgusted by that.

That's funny since Army is the only GM to bring a Stanley Cup to STL. The Blues have had stars, but didn't win championships with them. They won when they had a "team." Army knows how to build a champion and he has been laying the foundation again.