Speculation: 2016-17 Blues prediction in regular season?
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bleedblue1223
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I'm saying 2nd for no good reason at all. I honestly see the division as a tossup with a lot of teams have some pretty significant question marks for where they will land in the division. There are still plenty of good teams, but I can see a few teams excelling and a few teams falling back.
I say 4th. I think Dallas and Nashville will finish ahead for sure, not overly impressed with Chicago's full roster but their top stars will pull them ahead I think.
I am worried that this situation with Hitch as lame duck and Yeo in waiting may be more toxic than it seems. Even if they get along great, the players may start looking past Hitch if things aren't going great. And I am pretty sure the team will struggle in the first couple months. I also don't trust Hitch not to fall back on his old bag of tricks if that happens. Curious to see if he makes it through the whole season.
I am worried that this situation with Hitch as lame duck and Yeo in waiting may be more toxic than it seems. Even if they get along great, the players may start looking past Hitch if things aren't going great. And I am pretty sure the team will struggle in the first couple months. I also don't trust Hitch not to fall back on his old bag of tricks if that happens. Curious to see if he makes it through the whole season.
I got the Blues finishing 5th. Don't like the off season at all, Blues showed that their team formula last year worked and no attempt was made this off season to retain that style. Jettisoning Steen and Shattenkirk was a must to free up money to give the franchise the opportunity to maintain their heavy style of play.
Irresponsible of Armstrong in what he's done and hasn't done this off season. The Blues best window to win is NOW. You got young teams in the conference that are going to emerge in the near future, such as Winnipeg, Arizona, Calgary and probably Edmonton as well. Let's take advantage of that before they emerge. Right now you got Chicago going thru the process again of redeveloping new depth, you got Dallas with their goaltending still an issue, you got Anaheim taking a step back this yr because of cap issues, same thing with the Kings. I mean the best opportunity for the Blues is NOW, and unfortunately our GM doesn't see this. In fact his vision is poor and there's a lot of things he doesn't see.
Nashville, Dallas and Chicago grab top 3 spots. I think Winnipeg takes the 4th spot as Kyle Connor looks ready for big time hockey now, so I think the Blues will be in a dog fight for Wild Card positioning. And I'm now worried about Colorado, maybe getting Roy out of there will get some of their high end talent playing better. If that happens, then Blues will really have trouble.
Irresponsible of Armstrong in what he's done and hasn't done this off season. The Blues best window to win is NOW. You got young teams in the conference that are going to emerge in the near future, such as Winnipeg, Arizona, Calgary and probably Edmonton as well. Let's take advantage of that before they emerge. Right now you got Chicago going thru the process again of redeveloping new depth, you got Dallas with their goaltending still an issue, you got Anaheim taking a step back this yr because of cap issues, same thing with the Kings. I mean the best opportunity for the Blues is NOW, and unfortunately our GM doesn't see this. In fact his vision is poor and there's a lot of things he doesn't see.
Nashville, Dallas and Chicago grab top 3 spots. I think Winnipeg takes the 4th spot as Kyle Connor looks ready for big time hockey now, so I think the Blues will be in a dog fight for Wild Card positioning. And I'm now worried about Colorado, maybe getting Roy out of there will get some of their high end talent playing better. If that happens, then Blues will really have trouble.
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2 Minute Minor
Hi Keeba!
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4th. It's a transition year from the big bruising team to a faster scoring team, it's gonna have it's rough patches.
Blues finish 1st and win the Presidents trophy.
Parayko gets 64 points & is a +34
Shattenkirk gets 58 points & is a + 21
Pietrangelo gets 45 points & is a + 32
Bouwmeester gets 37 points & is a + 28
Tarasenko pots 63 goals & gets 126 points
Yakupov pots 35 goals & gets 68 points
Stastny pots 23 goals & gets 89 points
Fabbri pots 32 goals & gets 84 points
Schwartz pots 28 goals & gets 73 points
Lehtera pots 25 goals & gets 87 points
Steen pots 32 goals & gets 75 points
Perron pots 22 goals, gets 65 points, & has 168 PIM
Allen's injury is season ending
Blues work a deal to get Bishop who wins the Vezina & allows TB to sign Kucherov
Blues play Shattenkirk as LD and Parayko as RD on the PP1 unit, both end with 35 PP points
Blues lose in 5 games in 1st round
Parayko gets 64 points & is a +34
Shattenkirk gets 58 points & is a + 21
Pietrangelo gets 45 points & is a + 32
Bouwmeester gets 37 points & is a + 28
Tarasenko pots 63 goals & gets 126 points
Yakupov pots 35 goals & gets 68 points
Stastny pots 23 goals & gets 89 points
Fabbri pots 32 goals & gets 84 points
Schwartz pots 28 goals & gets 73 points
Lehtera pots 25 goals & gets 87 points
Steen pots 32 goals & gets 75 points
Perron pots 22 goals, gets 65 points, & has 168 PIM
Allen's injury is season ending
Blues work a deal to get Bishop who wins the Vezina & allows TB to sign Kucherov
Blues play Shattenkirk as LD and Parayko as RD on the PP1 unit, both end with 35 PP points
Blues lose in 5 games in 1st round
Robb_K
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HolyJumpin
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I think the Blues will end up in second this year. Dallas or Nashville will hit a hard stretch. Both have poor goaltending (yes, Pekka is bad) and Dallas isn't the best on Defense nor does it seem like anyone can stay healthy so far. I think the Hawks have problems with their offensive output. And the Hawks fall apart if anyone important gets injured.
Evocable Manager
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The style played last year worked only for last year. The league is transitioning in it's identity. In previous years, the Blues got smacked. The reason the team was better was not due to them playing heavy, but rather the play of young guns who added a lot of depth like Fabbri and Parayko. Parayko can fit in Hitch's heavy system, but Fabbri is all about skill and tenacity. Not really a massive bruiser. This, along with Elliott playing out of his mind, was the difference. Our heavy game, which failed previously for many years, wasn't the exact reason we had a good run. Steen and Shattenkirk are both great players, we shouldn't give them away. We all wanted to see a Shattenkirk trade, but it didn't happen. Maybe it will in the future.
You mention LA and Anaheim taking a step back because of cap issues but don't give the same credit to the Blues? In case you forgot, in the next 2 offseasons we have to resign Parayko, Fabbri, Stastny, Berglund, all guys who've made good contributions to the team and are arguably our core players, with extensions for Allen, Steen kicking in as well. If we sign Backes and Brouwer to those contracts we can't afford to bring back much of the guys mentioned and certainly wouldn't be able to afford quality depth. I won't even get started on how, based on play style and the aging it has on players, how in 2-3 years both Backes and Brouwer will be washed up and done. Both will be bottom 6 quality and potentially worse.
You mentioned young teams emerging, but don't bother to think the Blues, turning to a younger core (Tarasenko/Parayko/Schwartz/Petro/Fabbri/Allen are all 26 or younger) made their offseason decisions to keep the future in tact. We'll be able to compete fine with those emerging teams (assuming Armstrong can continue to bring in the youth and benefit the organization) because he choose to take a step back.
I'm in no way, shape or form attempting to praise Armstrong. I probably would've liked to see some differences and the biggest one is a Shattenkirk trade and further exploration of that possibility. I would've tried to lock Parayko up and probably wouldn't have extended Allen just in case he falters.
As for predictions, the Blues will most certainly be a playoff team. They'll likely see some bumps along the way but a top 3 spot in the Central is a very likely scenario. Nashville and Chicago/Dallas likely fill the other two spots. Dallas' goalies probably hurt, especially cause their defense is younger, worse and due for some growing pains. Chicago has a lot of depth questions. However Crawford is still very good and so is their core. They'll likely have some injuries (unlike last season) which will hurt and make them drop to the wildcard spot or 3rd. Nashville is the best team, assuming Subban and Johansen aren't as cancerous as they were and Rinne can at least hold his own.
As for Winnipeg and Colorado, I don't see it. Winnipeg will have growing pains and still has to figure out it's goalies. Colorado may have a better coach but is still trash.
CaliforniaBlues310
Registered User
I have us 2nd. I don't see much of a drop off at all and the young players should get even better. Hutton seems to be a great signing so far and I have a feeling Yakupov re-finds his game playing with Fabbri and Stastny.
Dallas(they will trade for Bishop or Fleury)
St. Louis
Nashville
Chicago
Winnipeg
Minnesota
Colorado
Dallas(they will trade for Bishop or Fleury)
St. Louis
Nashville
Chicago
Winnipeg
Minnesota
Colorado
Evocable Manager
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Shea Weber is a great defender, PK Subban in my opinion is better. He is a riskier player than Weber but is a lot more mobile, can join the rush and is very elusive with the puck. He is also a much more energizing player than Weber.
Not entirely sure what you mean when you say Johansen is enigmatic, he is big center who can create offense and produce points. He is fairly lazy on defense and will take a night off once in a while but is still a threat to score at any given moment.
Dbrownss
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Its PK's risk that i see being a problem and i guess that could be mitigated if he's not with Josi. I just dont see him being an upgrade right, just prolongs their RHD effectiveness.
What i mean about Johansen is what you described. Hes a world talent but is viewed as lazy and unmotivated at times. Granted that could easily change. In talking to CBJ fans, I really got the sense of buyer beware with him.
I just dont see them as the clear cut favorites given their now shakey goaltending
Evocable Manager
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Rinne could very well hold them back. He isn't the same as 5 years ago.
However, outside of Rinne they have the best NHL roster among the division. As for PK, with what happened in Montreal (and knowing his personality) he is probably the angriest and most motivated player this upcoming season. He really looks like he'll be a monster.
Dallas finished 3rd in the league with a defense that is 10 times worse and worse goaltending. It isn't like Nashville has nothing upfront. I'm not a huge Johansen fan, but he is a threat, so is Forsberg, Neal, and young guys like Arvidsson and Fiala. Nashville's bottom 6 is also a lot faster.
One thing I've not looked at is that, Johansen and Subban potentially being cancerous to the locker room and that effecting team play. Though that's a hypothetical we can't predict as none of us are in that dressing room or know anybody on the team.
Both Bishop & Fleury have NMC's. While I think Dallas would like to have either I don't know why either would want to leave their respective teams.
Dbrownss
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I guess Id call them more boom/bust. Im just not a huge fan of PK's game while easily admitting hes one of the best athletes in the game with a great toobox.
As for the cancer comment. I share it but its impossible to predict
both know they are most likely the odd man out, and Dallas is one of the best teams in the league. Id say they would waive for Dallas.
No question Dallas is a good team. Pitt just won the cup and TB has to be an early favorite to do so this year. As a neutral fan I'd rather belong to TB or Pitt than Dallas.
2 Minute Minor
Hi Keeba!
Nashville looks like the favorite for the division to me. I fear Subban more than I feared Weber. I think a lot of fans didn't see as much of him playing in the East, but its going to be a firsthand look now.
Dbrownss
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Dallas with MAF or Bishop is just as deadly though. Their goaltending was easily their downfall. Both Pittsburgh and TB will be transitioning to Murray and ummm that Russian guy(LoL). These guys want to be the #1 and are being pushed off that mantle
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