Justin Carboneau Segment on Blues Digest

[hockey jedi]

Man, I hate the dog days of summer. I am ready for hockey!!!

Nice piece about Carbo's chances of making the Blues out of camp. He's shown he can play at the NHL level, but I don't see him making the team out of camp unless he goes on a torrid pace like a few multi goal games and leads the team in goals. I figure they will send him down until he scores his first twenty, hopefully in the January/February window.

[Boomac]

I am super excited for Carbs, he seems as if he has a good head on his shoulders.

Personally, I need to temper my expectations for some of the kids this year. Broberg, Holloway, and Mailloux all needed a couple years in the AHL and didn't start showing they could blossom into the players they could be until roughly their draft +3 or +4 years.

Snuggerud was in his draft +4 season as a rookie. Next year will be Carbs' +2 year. An injury free, solid showing with a call up is all I'm realistically hoping for.

[Younghopp1991]

I am super excited for Carbs, he seems as if he has a good head on his shoulders.

Personally, I need to temper my expectations for some of the kids this year. Broberg, Holloway, and Mailloux all needed a couple years in the AHL and didn't start showing they could blossom into the players they could be until roughly their draft +3 or +4 years.

Snuggerud was in his draft +4 season as a rookie. Next year will be Carbs' +2 year. An injury free, solid showing with a call up is all I'm realistically hoping for.

Its hard to temper the expectations, but i do think we are in for a exciting year.

[LuvthaBlues]

I can’t wait to see how he does in the A. If he’s done the work in the offseason, he should hopefully take a big leap forward this year

[TruBlueFan_1970]

Man, I hate the dog days of summer. I am ready for hockey!!!

100%. I quit reading after the first couple sentences. I’m ready for some hockey and the end of articles and speculation. Let’s Go!!!!

[bud white]

I think we need to pump the brakes just a little bit on this one...

The NHL is a man's league. He played 3 games duirng the AHL playoffs - a step below the N - and had 2 minutes in penalties. That's it. It was a great learning experience for him, but he needs to demonstrate that he belongs in the A before he's promoted to the NHL roster. Let's see how he does with a full year under his belt.

He may have owned the Q, but he knew the league already and is physically stronger and more mature than most of his opponents. He's done nothing yet to indicate he will burst through the door to be an impact player in the NHL.

[a smell of green grass]

Blues Digest is over-the-top pom poms. They are clearly angling for subscribers by offering 24x7 sugar cookies.

I listen and follow them, but you have to know the store that you are in.

[BluesDom]

I think we need to pump the brakes just a little bit on this one...

The NHL is a man's league. He played 3 games duirng the AHL playoffs - a step below the N - and had 2 minutes in penalties. That's it. It was a great learning experience for him, but he needs to demonstrate that he belongs in the A before he's promoted to the NHL roster. Let's see how he does with a full year under his belt.

He may have owned the Q, but he knew the league already and is physically stronger and more mature than most of his opponents. He's done nothing yet to indicate he will burst through the door to be an impact player in the NHL.

Hopefully, he plays with some of the top players in the AHL. Hopefully he is one of there statistical leaders, and he can play for the blues in the playoffs. He can always change the narrative. All he has to do is tear it up then he will be in the NHL. Same with Pekarcik, Kaskimski and Stenberg. Kick butt and make GM move out some players.

[Old_Goat]

Maybe he'll make the jump to the NHL right from the Q, just as David Perron did at the same age.
I know, I know no two players are alike, times are different...but it has happened before. I don't know enough about the player. But I do know that Perron was not even drafted the year before, so not any NHL teams believed as much in him as they apparently did with Carbonneau.
If he makes it, then he will have earned it.

[zoiks]

Carbonneau’s biggest issues are that he makes bad decisions at times when he has the puck, and he doesn’t play much defense. You guys are going to love him!

[LGB73]

I think we need to pump the brakes just a little bit on this one...

The NHL is a man's league. He played 3 games duirng the AHL playoffs - a step below the N - and had 2 minutes in penalties. That's it. It was a great learning experience for him, but he needs to demonstrate that he belongs in the A before he's promoted to the NHL roster. Let's see how he does with a full year under his belt.

He may have owned the Q, but he knew the league already and is physically stronger and more mature than most of his opponents. He's done nothing yet to indicate he will burst through the door to be an impact player in the NHL.

+1000. He's shown exactly nothing that leads me to believe he's ready for the NHL. I expect at least one full season in the AHL and potentially more.

[BluesDom]

Seems like--if he dominates AHL in his brief stint last year then he would be here.
Because of his faltering a bit in AHL--he will have to earn a call-up. With all the bodies in STL--he has no place. Not enough pre-season to convince folks otherwise. Hence--he will be in AHL.

[STL fan in MN]

Man, I hate the dog days of summer. I am ready for hockey!!!

Nice piece about Carbo's chances of making the Blues out of camp. He's shown he can play at the NHL level, but I don't see him making the team out of camp unless he goes on a torrid pace like a few multi goal games and leads the team in goals. I figure they will send him down until he scores his first twenty, hopefully in the January/February window.

Call him up after he scores his first 20? Only one prospect scored 20 goals for Springfield last season and that was Kaskimaki who had exactly 20. Wagner and Dube also had 20+ but those are vets. The AHL is still a tough league for a 20 yr old. Absolutely no guarantee he would hit 20 goals even if he played the whole season there.

[STL fan in MN]

I think we need to pump the brakes just a little bit on this one...

The NHL is a man's league. He played 3 games duirng the AHL playoffs - a step below the N - and had 2 minutes in penalties. That's it. It was a great learning experience for him, but he needs to demonstrate that he belongs in the A before he's promoted to the NHL roster. Let's see how he does with a full year under his belt.

He may have owned the Q, but he knew the league already and is physically stronger and more mature than most of his opponents. He's done nothing yet to indicate he will burst through the door to be an impact player in the NHL.

Agree with this. Except I wouldn’t even say he owned the Q. He finished 9th in league scoring as a 19 yr old, 10th if you want to go by pts/game. His production actually went down from the year prior. His main weaknesses in his draft year were his vision, playmaking and defensive play. All of those weaknesses remain glaring. I saw pretty much zero growth in those areas this past season. He has a very nice shot and absolutely has a nose for the net but he tends to just wait for his teammates to do the dirty work, wait for them to get him the puck and then his shot and scoring ability would lead to a lot of goals. You can do that and find success in Jrs but that won’t fly or work remotely as well in the pros. I really hope he truly believes the things he says as he says he’s been working on all of these things and he shows up to camp with a big adjustment to his game. But he’s been saying the right things for 2 years now but with virtually no difference on the ice. So tbh, I don’t really believe he’s working on these things. Or if he is, he’s not really making progress. He’s very talented but he also has some pretty notable red flags IMO. He’s much less of a sure bet and farther away from being an impact NHLer than I think a lot here realize.

[bud white]

I think we need to pump the brakes just a little bit on this one...

The NHL is a man's league. He played 3 games duirng the AHL playoffs - a step below the N - and had 2 minutes in penalties. That's it. It was a great learning experience for him, but he needs to demonstrate that he belongs in the A before he's promoted to the NHL roster. Let's see how he does with a full year under his belt.

He may have owned the Q, but he knew the league already and is physically stronger and more mature than most of his opponents. He's done nothing yet to indicate he will burst through the door to be an impact player in the NHL.

Agree with this. Except I wouldn’t even say he owned the Q. He finished 9th in league scoring as a 19 yr old, 10th if you want to go by pts/game. His production actually went down from the year prior. His main weaknesses in his draft year were his vision, playmaking and defensive play. All of those weaknesses remain glaring. I saw pretty much zero growth in those areas this past season. He has a very nice shot and absolutely has a nose for the net but he tends to just wait for his teammates to do the dirty work, wait for them to get him the puck and then his shot and scoring ability would lead to a lot of goals. You can do that and find success in Jrs but that won’t fly or work remotely as well in the pros. I really hope he truly believes the things he says as he says he’s been working on all of these things and he shows up to camp with a big adjustment to his game. But he’s been saying the right things for 2 years now but with virtually no difference on the ice. So tbh, I don’t really believe he’s working on these things. Or if he is, he’s not really making progress. He’s very talented but he also has some pretty notable red flags IMO. He’s much less of a sure bet and farther away from being an impact NHLer than I think a lot here realize.

I was very disappointed that he didn't take the NCAA route when given the opportunity. That spoke volumes to me. College has a higher "practice to games" ratio for one so this may be one of those kids who would rather "just play the games" vs putting in the work off the ice. But chiefly, I wanted to see how he'd react to a situation outside of his comfort zone. Playing against older and more physically mature players. I agree about the red flags, but you and both know that if he doesn't advance in his career, it will be the Blues fault for not developing him properly and not surrounding him with players that are a good fit for his style. (An argument that is abject [nonsense] in my mind.)

[Harry York 37]

This is one more "Put up, or shut up" moment for a rising Phenom like JC.
I think his pride is strong enough that he will work hard to make it happen.

It will be fun to watch him give it a go.