Confirmed with Link: Vrana @50%

[ChicagoBlues]

i know, a bit optimistic for the board, but i'm really standing behind it

Me too!

He needs love and protection. Those who continue to bash him are so caught up in negative energy cycles that they do not understand the Law of Attraction.

 

[Xerloris]

Me too!

He needs love and protection. Those who continue to bash him are so caught up in negative energy cycles that they do not understand the Law of Attraction.

I have no idea what you're talking about but he looks like Barbashev.

 

[STL fan in MN]

We knew about his travel delays but damn, he had a pretty awful time trying to join the team.
Turbulent travel delays Vrana's debut with Blues

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

i predict he'll do better than yakupov

What about Paajarvi?

 

[LogosBlue]

Can't explain it but I got a feeling Vrana is going to be great for us to a degree that no one expects.

 

[Mike Liut]

Can't explain it but I got a feeling Vrana is going to be great for us to a degree that no one expects.

He’s going to kill our tank

 

[BlueOil]

What about Paajarvi?

nail was better than magnut

 

[Celtic Note]

That interview with him on the Blues site was terrible. Who comes up with those questions?

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

That interview with him on the Blues site was terrible. Who comes up with those questions?

That'd be Rams beat writer Jim Thomas.

 

[Majorityof1]

That'd be Rams beat writer Jim Thomas.

He was probably just trying not to ask about the white elephant in the room.

Internal dialogue: OK Jim, time to ask a hard hitting question...how much coke were you...no, can't ask that...oh god, he's looking at me...he's expecting a question...ummm...

Aloud: "How to say your name?"

 

[Brian39]

I’ve seen him touted as a potential 30 goal scorer a few times. Now it’s 40.

I think we should tamper the expectations a bit. His career high is 25 goals.

I’m happy to give this guy a 2nd chance but I’d be surprised if he exploded for an absolute career high after missing the majority of 2 seasons to injury and personal issues.

I think this needs some context. Because he's played at a 30 goal pace 3 times now.

His 25 goal season came in 2019/20 where he was shorted 13 games due to COVID. 25 goals in 69 games is a 29.7 goal pace.

He had 19 goals in 50 games during the 56 game COVID season in 2020/21. That's a 31 goal pace.

He missed a ton of time with a shoulder injury in 2021/22. But when he came back, he scored 13 goals in 26 games. That's 41 goal pace.

We can debate whether he should have missed fewer games that season by opting for surgery in the summer rather than trying just rehab first, but he can't at all be faulted for COVID shortening two seasons of his prime. Adding all these games up (plus the 5 this year), he's scored 58 goals in his last 150 NHL games. That's a 31.7 goal pace.

Is he a lock for 30+? Absolutely not. Could there be rust? Absolutely. But it isn't just blind hope that he plays at a level he's never shown or that becoming a 30+ goal guy would be an explosion from his previous career-best. I'm not worried about rust from the time he missed in 2021/22. He scored 13 goals in 26 games at the end of that season, not at the start of the season pre-injury.

 

[Reality Czech]

That interview with him on the Blues site was terrible. Who comes up with those questions?

Couldn't have been more awkward. Vrana was like wtf is up with this guy?

 

[BlueDream]

Couldn't have been more awkward. Vrana was like wtf is up with this guy?

Vrana is like “and they think I’M the one on drugs? Bruh.”

 

[STL fan in MN]

Couldn't have been more awkward. Vrana was like wtf is up with this guy?

Jim Thomas asks just the worst questions. He’s horrible and ridiculously ill informed.

The only entertaining thing about his questions is the glare Chief will give him as he ponders what an absolute dumbass question that was before finally providing a half sarcastic response to the obvious question.

 

[Novacain]

Armstrong knows what's up. Unremarkable free agency this summer, but lots of potential in 2024 and 2025. It wouldn't surprise me if that has significantly influenced their overall retool strategy.

I always laugh at this because it happens every year: the upcoming free agent class is crap, but it’s looking real good after that! Yeah, that’s because teams have been re-signing there best players before free agency to not expose them. By the time next year rolls around, a good half if not more of those players won’t be on the market and we’ll be super excited for the next free agency!

I don’t even disagree with the point, there is no cure for what hurts this team this off-season, I just think betting on free agency to help fix things in general doesn’t work for a team that’s already quite bad.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I always laugh at this because it happens every year: the upcoming free agent class is crap, but it’s looking real good after that! Yeah, that’s because teams have been re-signing there best players before free agency to not expose them. By the time next year rolls around, a good half if not more of those players won’t be on the market and we’ll be super excited for the next free agency!

I don’t even disagree with the point, there is no cure for what hurts this team this off-season, I just think betting on free agency to help fix things in general doesn’t work for a team that’s already quite bad.

And we always look at the top to make an evaluation of the FA class, and those players will almost never come here. It's just tough to compete with the big names when you aren't a big market and not willing to overpay or use NMC. Now, I'd agree with an argument that says a class with more at the top will make the guys more realistic for us a bit more affordable.

I think our big FA get over the next 2-3 years will be someone like a Danault or maybe a top 4 dman after we move 1 or 2 of our guys off the team. Maybe Lindholm in summer of 2024, and even that might not be a great idea since he'll be pretty expensive. It's tough finding good value in free agency.

 

[PJJJP]

Don't know what yall are talking about. We are getting McDavid and Matthews in 2-3 years

 

[rumrokh]

I always laugh at this because it happens every year: the upcoming free agent class is crap, but it’s looking real good after that! Yeah, that’s because teams have been re-signing there best players before free agency to not expose them. By the time next year rolls around, a good half if not more of those players won’t be on the market and we’ll be super excited for the next free agency!

I don’t even disagree with the point, there is no cure for what hurts this team this off-season, I just think betting on free agency to help fix things in general doesn’t work for a team that’s already quite bad.

Does it happen every year, though? I don't think it does. This year's crop wasn't projecting to be good until suddenly a bunch of great players re-upped in the last year or so. No, this was looking to be pretty weak a ways out and the next couple of years were looking to be good a ways out, too, based on numerous long contracts. I think there's more variation year to year than you appear to imagine.

Also, yes, of course most of those guys will be re-signed by their respective teams. Hence the use of the word "potential."

I, personally, am not betting on free agency. In general, but also specifically this year. And Armstrong is openly agreeing with that. But I don't think it's laughable to suggest the free agency landscape is a cause instead of just the need to build from within.

 

[Brian39]

Does it happen every year, though? I don't think it does. This year's crop wasn't projecting to be good until suddenly a bunch of great players re-upped in the last year or so. No, this was looking to be pretty weak a ways out

This is what the top of the 2023 UFA class was looking like at this time last year (along with their 2021/22 performance since we are talking about reputations/opinions from a year ago).

MacKinnon (88 points in 65 games and a Cup win)
Huberdeau (115 points in 80 games)
Pastrnak (77 points in 72 games)
JT MIller (99 points in 80 games)
Patrick Kane (92 points)
Tarasenko (82 points in 75 games)
ROR (58 points and 4th in Selke voting)
Larkin (69 points in 71 games)
Barzal (59 points in 73 games)
Horvat (52 points and 31 goals in 70 games)
Weegar (44 points and top pair minutes)

Then you had another tier of lesser or older players like Pavelski, Dumba, Klingberg, Bertuzzi, Cirelli, Killorn, etc. There was also the prospect of Matthew Tkachuk playing out his 1 year qualifier to hit UFA this summer.

That's a great looking class. Any one of Pasta, MacKinnon, or Tkachuk hitting the open market would have been the best top UFA in years. Tarasenko and ROR were both looking like prime UFA candidates a year ago and everyone in that top group is easily considered 1st line quality. This could have been the best UFA class in a while, but almost everyone extended. As always.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Almost always.

Sometimes, one gets away…

 

[rumrokh]

This is what the top of the 2023 UFA class was looking like at this time last year (along with their 2021/22 performance since we are talking about reputations/opinions from a year ago).

MacKinnon (88 points in 65 games and a Cup win)
Huberdeau (115 points in 80 games)
Pastrnak (77 points in 72 games)
JT MIller (99 points in 80 games)
Patrick Kane (92 points)
Tarasenko (82 points in 75 games)
ROR (58 points and 4th in Selke voting)
Larkin (69 points in 71 games)
Barzal (59 points in 73 games)
Horvat (52 points and 31 goals in 70 games)
Weegar (44 points and top pair minutes)

Then you had another tier of lesser or older players like Pavelski, Dumba, Klingberg, Bertuzzi, Cirelli, Killorn, etc. There was also the prospect of Matthew Tkachuk playing out his 1 year qualifier to hit UFA this summer.

That's a great looking class. Any one of Pasta, MacKinnon, or Tkachuk hitting the open market would have been the best top UFA in years. Tarasenko and ROR were both looking like prime UFA candidates a year ago and everyone in that top group is easily considered 1st line quality. This could have been the best UFA class in a while, but almost everyone extended. As always.

That's a good class, but it's lacking defense, which is what we know the Blues need most. I should have spelled this out. I think you're way more likely to fill a hole on defense with a class that could include Pesce, Skjei, Hanifin, Toews, and Forsling. That's clearly better than Weegar, Dumba, and friggin' Klingberg. More defensemen means higher possibility that a couple hit the market. That's it.

None of what I said is about signing a guy like Matthews, MacKinnon, Kane, or Pastrnak. If that's what people think I'm talking about when I say a good free agent class, especially as it regards addressing the Blues' problems, then I guess we'll start from scratch next time.

 

[GoldenSeal]

nail was better than magnut

I miss Nail. His attitude was amazing. You could tell he loved hockey and people.

 

[DoubleK81]

This is what the top of the 2023 UFA class was looking like at this time last year (along with their 2021/22 performance since we are talking about reputations/opinions from a year ago).

MacKinnon (88 points in 65 games and a Cup win)
Huberdeau (115 points in 80 games)
Pastrnak (77 points in 72 games)
JT MIller (99 points in 80 games)
Patrick Kane (92 points)
Tarasenko (82 points in 75 games)
ROR (58 points and 4th in Selke voting)
Larkin (69 points in 71 games)
Barzal (59 points in 73 games)
Horvat (52 points and 31 goals in 70 games)
Weegar (44 points and top pair minutes)

Then you had another tier of lesser or older players like Pavelski, Dumba, Klingberg, Bertuzzi, Cirelli, Killorn, etc. There was also the prospect of Matthew Tkachuk playing out his 1 year qualifier to hit UFA this summer.

That's a great looking class. Any one of Pasta, MacKinnon, or Tkachuk hitting the open market would have been the best top UFA in years. Tarasenko and ROR were both looking like prime UFA candidates a year ago and everyone in that top group is easily considered 1st line quality. This could have been the best UFA class in a while, but almost everyone extended. As always.

Only 3 of all those players listed were locks to go to FA (Kane, Tarasenko, Klingberg) and there was a 0.1% chance any of Pasta, MacK, or Tkachuk making it to the open market.

 

[Xerloris]

Only 3 of all those players listed were locks to go to FA (Kane, Tarasenko, Klingberg) and there was a 0.1% chance any of Pasta, MacK, or Tkachuk making it to the open market.

Considering Tkachuk refused to sign an extention with Calgary there was a much higher chance he would reach free agency than 0.1%.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

Enjoy Vrana guys we literally gave him away to you and I still don't know why..