Speculation: Scott Perunovich NHL arrival? (read OP)

[67Blues]

I don't enjoy having smaller players, but I feel like this may be blown out of proportion a bit. I will give you that TB and STL had a core of huge defenseman, but Boston and the previous 4 winners before STL had a smaller-ish core of defenseman. None of them topped higher than an average of 6'2 (with rounding), while TB had an average of 6'2.6 and STL had 6'3.3

While I do express the concern, we are more than fine on height, and would be fine by adding a guy like Perunovich later in the year. If you subtract Dunn with Perunovich, your core is still taller than Washington's cup winning team and the Pens first cup winning team. The second cup winning team from the Pens is just a slight bit taller. Again, I think this is all blown out of proportion and we should be more concerned with their play on the ice vs their height comparison/differences

Both Washington and Pens had much more firepower on their offenses compared to the Blues who have to rely more on shutting down another teams defenders, and you do that with big bodies for the most part in the playoffs. If you can pot 4-5 goals per game you defense can look much different than a team that pots 3-4.

It isn't the end of the world going smaller, but your game has to change to accommodate it. Can Berube change to that? Who knows.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Your argument isn't invalid, but we're talking about drafting someone 12 years ago, a draft that had Filatov go at #6. Sure there are some uncertainties, but small guys are more than capable of being extremely effective players. Plus, I think scouting is much more refined and better at projecting than it used to be, however much better is, I'm not sure. But I understand your concern about size.

I heard that bolded part 12 years ago. I'll hear it again 12 years from now. The same draft experts people hold up as really good also still tabbed Yakupov the #1 guy in the 2012 draft, despite all the warning signs and comments from the peanut gallery of fans. I can go through every year and point to players that those experts put up high, who later crapped out. Those experts will still make mistakes 12 years from now, too - just like fans will. Until (unless) you come up with something that fairly accurately takes pre-NHL performance and projects it - and I've studied some of those methods that claim to do it and they're not any more accurate than simply aggregating average pre-draft ranking - there are going to be misses.

 

[BlueKnight]

Bouwmeester - 6' 4"
Edmundson - 6' 4"
Pietrangelo - 6' 3"
Parayko - 6' 6"
Bortuzzo - 6' 4"
Dunn - 6' 0"

Damn, that was a fine defense corps! I am going to get depressed every time I look at it now.

Me too Simon, Me too, I don't care about the height of the players, but overall that was mighty fine cup winning D core. Now there's 2 players remaining and maybe 1 more remaining. Now I'm depressed.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Me too Simon, Me too, I don't care about the height of the players, but overall that was mighty fine cup winning D core. Now there's 2 players remaining and maybe 1 more remaining. Now I'm depressed.

You ignoring Bortuzzo?

 

[ezcreepin]

Both Washington and Pens had much more firepower on their offenses compared to the Blues who have to rely more on shutting down another teams defenders, and you do that with big bodies for the most part in the playoffs. If you can pot 4-5 goals per game you defense can look much different than a team that pots 3-4.

It isn't the end of the world going smaller, but your game has to change to accommodate it. Can Berube change to that? Who knows.

The point of my comment was to ease the concerns on height. It's not the end all be all, and if we want to dig even deeper, then we can look to the King's Stanley Cup teams. Their average height didn't touch 6'2, but rather was right around the previous cup winners (besdies TB and STL) at 6'1.5 to 6'1.8

People need to pump the breaks on having super huge defenseman. Yes, it's a good advantage if you actually use it, but I would rather have someone under 6' with good stickwork who can clear the zone vs a 6'6 guy who can lay people out but is ineffective at defending.

 

[Blueston]

Me too Simon, Me too, I don't care about the height of the players, but overall that was mighty fine cup winning D core. Now there's 2 players remaining and maybe 1 more remaining. Now I'm depressed.

JayBo was forced to retire, Eddie was terrible, and Petro chased $. Seems like we recovered quite nicely by adding in Scandella, Faulk, and Krug to replace them.

 

[EastonBlues22]

JayBo was forced to retire, Eddie was terrible, and Petro chased $. Seems like we recovered quite nicely by adding in Scandella, Faulk, and Krug to replace them.

I guess that depends on one's perspective. Does "recovered quite nicely" mean you think we're still well positioned to win a Cup? Or does that just mean you think we did about the best we could do?

I could very easily see a situation next year where it turns out the whole of our defense is significantly less than the sum of its parts, which I think most would agree is already a step back from the defensive parts we had in place when we won the Cup. It wouldn't shock me at all if our GA ended up being in the bottom half of the league. Not because the group of defensemen is just "that bad" in a vacuum, but because I think the current construction of the defense is exploitable, and if the forward support in the defensive zone (which has been hit and miss for quite awhile) and/or the goaltending (also not a given) isn't up to helping cover the deficiencies of the defense, then it could be a tough year keeping the puck out of the net.

You might say that's true for any team, but I would disagree. Some defenses can definitely be the strength of a team...weathering the storm when they're left out on an island, and even consistently helping to mask the deficiencies of their forwards/goaltenders. I just don't think this is that sort of defense. Anyway, I'm not saying that sort of underperformance is inevitable or anything, but it seems like there's enough legitimate question marks that we shouldn't just be assuming we're good to go with what we have, either.

And that's just for this coming year, never mind how we're going to feel about that group as a potential defensive core 3-4 years from now.

 

[Blueston]

I guess that depends on one's perspective. Does "recovered quite nicely" mean you think we're still well positioned to win a Cup? Or does that just mean you think we did about the best we could do?

I could very easily see a situation next year where it turns out the whole of our defense is significantly less than the sum of its parts, which I think most would agree is already a step back from the defensive parts we had in place when we won the Cup. It wouldn't shock me at all if our GA ended up being in the bottom half of the league. Not because the group of defensemen is just "that bad" in a vacuum, but because I think the current construction of the defense is exploitable, and if the forward support in the defensive zone (which has been hit and miss for quite awhile) and/or the goaltending (also not a given) isn't up to helping cover the deficiencies of the defense, then it could be a tough year keeping the puck out of the net.

You might say that's true for any team, but I would disagree. Some defenses can definitely be the strength of a team...weathering the storm when they're left out on an island, and even consistently helping to mask the deficiencies of their forwards/goaltenders. I just don't think this is that sort of defense. Anyway, I'm not saying that sort of underperformance is inevitable or anything, but it seems like there's enough legitimate question marks that we shouldn't just be assuming we're good to go with what we have, either.

And that's just for this coming year, never mind how we're going to feel about that group as a potential defensive core 3-4 years from now.

First, we win when we play D as a team. It’s not just on the D. Second, this looks to be the best offensive group we have had on blueline. So are they as good defensively? Perhaps not. Can we win Cup? Absolutely. But obviously lots of things have to come together for us to win Cup, as they always do.

 

[EastonBlues22]

First, we win when we play D as a team. It’s not just on the D. Second, this looks to be the best offensive group we have had on blueline. So are they as good defensively? Perhaps not. Can we win Cup? Absolutely. But obviously lots of things have to come together for us to win Cup, as they always do.

There were quite a few stretches the Cup year where the team had to find ways to win when they weren't playing D as a team. It's not like they were some sort of 5-man defensive machine that year. They just weren't. The defense and goaltending had to do a lot of heavy lifting that year, even in the playoffs.

Pietrangelo/Parayko/Bouwmeester were out there playing about 75 quality minutes a game between them in the playoffs. The quality of their play, and the sheer number of minutes they were able to chew up, was a huge part of the team winning it all. Do you think this team is capable of riding Parayko/Faulk/Scandella the same way?

I'm curious why you think this is the best offensive group we have had on the blueline? Even assuming Dunn is retained and plays, the only difference between this group and what we ended last year with is swapping out Pietrangelo for Krug. That might be an upgrade for the 200 minutes Pietrangelo played on the PP, but it's sure not an upgrade for the 1300+ minutes he played at ES.

 

[Blueston]

There were quite a few stretches the Cup year where the team had to find ways to win when they weren't playing D as a team. It's not like they were some sort of 5-man defensive machine that year. They just weren't. The defense and goaltending had to do a lot of heavy lifting that year, even in the playoffs.

Pietrangelo/Parayko/Bouwmeester were out there playing about 75 quality minutes a game between them in the playoffs. The quality of their play, and the sheer number of minutes they were able to chew up, was a huge part of the team winning it all. Do you think this team is capable of riding Parayko/Faulk/Scandella the same way?

I'm curious why you think this is the best offensive group we have had on the blueline? Even assuming Dunn is retained and plays, the only difference between this group and what we ended last year with is swapping out Pietrangelo for Krug. That might be an upgrade for the 200 minutes Pietrangelo played on the PP, but it's sure not an upgrade for the 1300+ minutes he played at ES.

Guess we will see.

 

[finnishflash13]

I think it's interesting to see comments that people are already willing to write off a player like Dunn when Perunovich has not played a NHL game yet.

 

[simon IC]

I think it's interesting to see comments that people are already willing to write off a player like Dunn when Perunovich has not played a NHL game yet.

I know. I have been saying that for months.

 

[Blueston]

I think it's interesting to see comments that people are already willing to write off a player like Dunn when Perunovich has not played a NHL game yet.

People aren’t writing off Dunn. They are proposing deal him since they think he has high value but also he seems to not have confidence of Berube to play in top 4 role.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

People aren’t writing off Dunn. They are proposing deal him since they think he has high value but also he seems to not have confidence if Berube to play in top 4 role.

This, plus we already have Krug, Faulk, and Parayko as guys we must give PP time to. Unless we go 3F-2D on both pairs, someone gets screwed out of those minutes when we’re fully healthy on D.

Also, from a team defense standpoint, I think most people feel more comfortable rolling out a lineup like the one down below, compared to having another defensively sheltered guy on the third pairing.

Krug-Parayko
Scandella-Faulk
2 of Mikkola/Gunnarsson/Bortuzzo

 

[finnishflash13]

People aren’t writing off Dunn. They are proposing deal him since they think he has high value but also he seems to not have confidence of Berube to play in top 4 role.

Correct. I meant writing him off as in willing to trade him so quickly. He played well for Berube in Chicago and is still getting used to being an NHL player. With offensive minded defensemen built like Dunn, Krug, Faulk, Hughes, etc. becoming more and more popular in the NHL, I would think they would want to know what Perunovich could bring, that perhaps Dunn can't, before trading Dunn. Lots of other teams -- or at least their fans -- seem really high on Dunn.

 

[The Note]

I like Dunn. I generally think he is a bit underrated around here while being overrated by other team's fans due to his advanced stats. I think you trade him for either: a similarly aged winger who can play in the NHL right now with top 6 potential or a pure future's deal involving a first. Anything else I think you just hand on to him and hope he can take the next step.

 

[WeWentBlues]

I think it's interesting to see comments that people are already willing to write off a player like Dunn when Perunovich has not played a NHL game yet.

Correct. I meant writing him off as in willing to trade him so quickly. He played well for Berube in Chicago and is still getting used to being an NHL player. With offensive minded defensemen built like Dunn, Krug, Faulk, Hughes, etc. becoming more and more popular in the NHL, I would think they would want to know what Perunovich could bring, that perhaps Dunn can't, before trading Dunn. Lots of other teams -- or at least their fans -- seem really high on Dunn.

It has more to do with the current roster construction and prospects in the system that are NHL ready or close to do it, the team's cap structure going forward (guy coming off his ELC vs one still on their ELC), plus the looming expansion draft. Its the combination of all these factors that lead me to conclude a trade of Dunn is in our best interest.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

It’s more Armstrong’s style to hold onto the depth in defense and see how things shape up in camp. It wouldn’t be a surprise if one or two defenders ended up on IR by the time the first pucks drop, and then roster congestion isn’t an issue for a few weeks more. Maybe the eventually move Dunn, but I get the impression he isn’t looking to move him right now.

 

[EastVillageBlues]

I'm curious why you think this is the best offensive group we have had on the blueline? Even assuming Dunn is retained and plays, the only difference between this group and what we ended last year with is swapping out Pietrangelo for Krug. That might be an upgrade for the 200 minutes Pietrangelo played on the PP, but it's sure not an upgrade for the 1300+ minutes he played at ES.

The main upgrade is from Gunnarson to Perunovich, not in the top 4. The offensive output of the top 2 pairings should be about the same, probably skewed more toward PP. Maybe Faulk improves on the last year (possible, but I'm not holding out hope), then we can do marginally better.

But having Dunn and Perunovich in 5-7 is a significant upgrade, offensively, to what we had before.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

The main upgrade is from Gunnarson to Perunovich, not in the top 4. The offensive output of the top 2 pairings should be about the same, probably skewed more toward PP. Maybe Faulk improves on the last year (possible, but I'm not holding out hope), then we can do marginally better.

But having Dunn and Perunovich in 5-7 is a significant upgrade, offensively, to what we had before.

Putting Perunovich in the top-6 to start is being pretty optimistic IMO. It's more likely Mikkola starts up and Perunovich starts down and gets time to get his feet wet with the pro game.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Not happening in '20-21.

 

[TK 421]

Not happening in '20-21.

Ouch, bummer for Perunovich. If there was a year to miss however... this would be it. See you next season Scott, get well.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Revisit in 21-22

 

[Ranksu]

I changed my vote for 3-years. He is long way become NHL'er. Before season he looked he belongs to juniors,very raw prospect. If he cant improve his skating, muscle up, he has hard time to crack in NHL. Next season AHL and this year out.

He will need to take big steps.

Good thing is you cant teach hockey IQ, but you can learn skating. Perunovich has visioning his game what its define as high potential. That all will be override how mediocre his skating is.

I need to be more specify. His lateral skating, agility is good, but first strides and top speed isnt anything special. He will get buried by that.

 

[Robb_K]

This injury basically sets him back a year. He still will need a half-year of AHL games. So. let's hope there is a FULL 2021-22 season.