2019 - 2020 St. Louis Blues - Defending the Cup - Part 2: The Depth from Within

[Stupendous Yappi]

Kyrou and Kostin missing from the opening night roster. Fabbri, Blais, and MacMac all make the cut.

Blues reg-sea.son roster: Forwards (14): Barbashev, Blais, Bozak, Fabbri, MacEachern, Perron, O’Reilly, Sanford, Schenn, Schwartz, Steen, Sundqvist, Tarasenko, Thomas Defense (7): Bortuzzo, Bouwmeester, Dunn, Faulk, Gunnarsson, Parayko, Pietrangelo Goalies (2): Allen, Binnington

No surprises.

But I'm not sure who the starters are. It would be nice if Fabbri or Sanford took that job and ran away with it. I don't think either guy did. I won't be shocked if Blais is starting instead.

I'm intrigued by the Faulk trade, but its weird to me that they're breaking camp and we have no idea what the defensive pairings are. It sounds like a recipe for a slow start to me.

 

[Ranksu]

Idk you guys, but Kostin was better at pre-season games than Fabbri.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Here's my attempt at predicting the starting line-up:

Schwartz-Schenn-Tarasenko (I think they'll keep Vlad with the Schenn line, but he could be with O'Reilly too)
Sanford-O'Reilly-Perron
Blais-Bozak-Thomas
Barbashev-Sundqvist-Steen (the only line I'm pretty confident about)

My thinking on Sanford and Blais is this: Neither Sanford nor Fabbri really distinguished themselves in camp vs each other, or Blais (or any other potential left wing forward). Because of that, I think Berube will start the year with the guys who were in the line-up at the end of last year. But I think there is a short leash for Fabbri to come in and replace one of those guys. I think the coaching staff will use the regular season games performance as the main judgement point.

But it won't surprise me if Fabbri is in over either of Sanford or Blais either. But I didn't see or hear anything in camp to suggest he's moved up the depth chart. I think Sanford and Fabbri should both be grateful Kyrou was not 100% in camp. Another possibility is that Thomas is ready for center and they slide Bozak to the left wing. I'm not sure he'd be great there, and it may be a precursor to him being traded if we get to that point, but he may be a better option than the other candidates for left wing.

Lines I would mind seeing:

Schwartz-Schenn-Tarasenko
Fabbri-O'Reilly-Thomas
Kyrou-Bozak-Perron
Barbashev-Sundqvist-Steen

Congratulations to MachEachern on making the opening night roster. But I wouldn't buy property.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Idk you guys, but Kostin was better at pre-season games than Fabbri.

Maybe so. I just don't feel like we get to see enough to be able to distinguish between them. There's just no doubt Kostin needs big minutes wherever he is, to continue his development. Frankly, Fabbri would benefit from them too, but he would be claimed off waivers so he's stuck having to fight his way back into the regular line-up.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Idk you guys, but Kostin was better at pre-season games than Fabbri.

Maybe so. I just don't feel like we get to see enough to be able to distinguish between them. There's just no doubt Kostin needs big minutes wherever he is, to continue his development. Frankly, Fabbri would benefit from them too, but he would be claimed off waivers so he's stuck having to fight his way back into the regular line-up.

 

[Blueston]

Who would you rather have as a regular healthy scratch? If there is a top 9 injury, its not MacEachern who will get that opportunity. It'll go to Kostin or Kyrou (or Fabbri or Blais).

Kyrou's knee kept him from having any chance to make the team. Its just as well. And Kostin needs to play. A lot. The worst thing the world for him would be to stick as the healthy scratch in St Louis. Although I did think they might give him a taste before sending him down.

Thought they might go with 13 forwards to bank some cap space. They still might I suppose.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Thought they might go with 13 forwards to bank some cap space. They still might I suppose.

Not if the press release we were discussing is accurate. It would make more sense to get a guy through waivers now, if they were planning to reduce to 13 forwards, while other teams are squeezed for roster spots too.

 

[Blueston]

Not if the press release we were discussing is accurate. It would make more sense to get a guy through waivers now, if they were planning to reduce to 13 forwards, while other teams are squeezed for roster spots too.

I expect there will be loads of players on waivers tomorrow. You put him on then when dozens of others on maybe more likely he gets through? Maybe not, just gaming it out.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

I honestly wouldn’t be shocked if we grab someone on waivers in the next couple days, with us in turn waiving MacEachern after.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I expect there will be loads of players on waivers tomorrow. You put him on then when dozens of others on maybe more likely he gets through? Maybe not, just gaming it out.

I don’t understand what you’re saying.

1) the announced cuts have 14 forwards, the typical amount, including MacEachern.
2) if they are actually running with 13 as you suggest, someone is going to be exposed to waivers (MachEachern for arguments sake)
3) The best time to sneak a player through waivers, of the entire year, is right now. If a team claims him they’ll need to cut an additional player. Every team is currently grappling with who their final cuts will be, and not wanting to expose their own guys to the waiver wire.
4) if you WAIT and send him down in a month, it’s more likely than someone will have gotten injured or played like crap, making a team more likely to have roster space to put in a claim. You also fail to accrue the cap space you supposedly were trying to bank.

So, I’m confused what you’re actually suggesting. I don’t think MacEachern is particularly likely to get claimed anyway, but if you’ve already decided to send him down, now is the time to do it.

 

[Blueston]

I don’t understand what you’re saying.

1) the announced cuts have 14 forwards, the typical amount, including MacEachern.
2) if they are actually running with 13 as you suggest, someone is going to be exposed to waivers (MachEachern for arguments sake)
3) The best time to sneak a player through waivers, of the entire year, is right now. If a team claims him they’ll need to cut an additional player. Every team is currently grappling with who their final cuts will be, and not wanting to expose their own guys to the waiver wire.
4) if you WAIT and send him down in a month, it’s more likely than someone will have gotten injured or played like crap, making a team more likely to have roster space to put in a claim. You also fail to accrue the cap space you supposedly were trying to bank.

So, I’m confused what you’re actually suggesting. I don’t think MacEachern is particularly likely to get claimed anyway, but if you’ve already decided to send him down, now is the time to do it.

Maybe I was unclear. Saying I wouldn’t be surprised if he is on tomorrow waiver wire.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Maybe I was unclear. Saying I wouldn’t be surprised if he is on tomorrow waiver wire.

What is the point in keeping MacEachern on the NHL roster one day longer than the rest of the AHL guys? Just to screw with his emotions?

Unless they lay in a claim on someone and need to create room, what would possibly be the point of this?

 

[Blueston]

What is the point in keeping MacEachern on the NHL roster one day longer than the rest of the AHL guys? Just to screw with his emotions?

Unless they lay in a claim on someone and need to create room, what would possibly be the point of this?

He couldn’t be sent down this evening since he hasn’t cleared waivers. And maybe they didn’t want to waive him today since he was going to play in Columbus so they hold off a day. Not saying he will definitely be waived just that tomorrow would be good day to sneak him through if they wanted to run 13 forwards to bank cap.

 

[Renard]

I honestly wouldn’t be shocked if we grab someone on waivers in the next couple days, with us in turn waiving MacEachern after.

What position do you think we would be trying to strengthen?

 

[David Dennison]

What position do you think we would be trying to strengthen?

We would be near/at the bottom of the waiver order too, so even if a decent player was put on waivers, we would be at the end of the line.

 

[Renard]

I love how direct Craig Berube is when speaking to the media. He isn't contentious with them, and he doesn't sugar-coat his comments about the players.

I thought Ken Hitchcock was an excellent coach, but I wondered if the players truly respected him. Hitch never played the game, and was hugely overweight.

No so with Berube.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

The athletic just dropped their power rankings. They have us tenth. Vegas 5, Calgary 6, Nashville 7, San Jose 8, and Colorado 9. What a joke. How do you have the defending Stanley Cup champs (who got better I might add), behind two four clearly inferior teams, and one who didn’t even make it out of the first round?

After reading it all the way through it looks like it was a consensus thing but still. Burnside says he has us number one.

 

[Klank Loves You]

The athletic just dropped their power rankings. They have us tenth. Vegas 5, Calgary 6, Nashville 7, San Jose 8, and Colorado 9. What a joke. How do you have the defending Stanley Cup champs (who got better I might add), behind two four clearly inferior teams, and one who didn’t even make it out of the first round?

After reading it all the way through it looks like it was a consensus thing but still. Burnside says he has us number one.

Guess who is going to look stupid when we repeat?

 

[Dbrownss]

The athletic just dropped their power rankings. They have us tenth. Vegas 5, Calgary 6, Nashville 7, San Jose 8, and Colorado 9. What a joke. How do you have the defending Stanley Cup champs (who got better I might add), behind two four clearly inferior teams, and one who didn’t even make it out of the first round?

After reading it all the way through it looks like it was a consensus thing but still. Burnside says he has us number one.

I'm not too upset with Vegas.

Calgary is a f***ing joke. Last years narrative was the "team no ones talking about". Well yea....they were a paper tiger, and people knew it. They got smoked by Colorado. They added Lucic, who is terrible and replaced Smith with Talbot...who is terrible. A few players had career years, so expect a regression. I dont see them as a serious cup threat.

Colorado, they are the darlings of the NHL. Simple as that. They could be awesome or completely miss the playoffs with that noobie back end.

Nashville........a turd that won't flush.

San Jose is another team that just gets unwarranted love. Everything banks on EK65, at least that's what the analysts say. Well if that's the case, then they shouldn't be a Cup favorite. With LA and Anaheim still struggling, the Pacific is an easy division

 

[Stealth JD]

The athletic just dropped their power rankings. They have us tenth. Vegas 5, Calgary 6, Nashville 7, San Jose 8, and Colorado 9. What a joke. How do you have the defending Stanley Cup champs (who got better I might add), behind two four clearly inferior teams, and one who didn’t even make it out of the first round?

After reading it all the way through it looks like it was a consensus thing but still. Burnside says he has us number one.

Maybe they'll be a top-5 favorite heading into next season after repeating?

 

[Vladys Gumption]

 

[David Dennison]

Nashville is the team that scares me most, still has a deep D, improved offense, two good goalies. Dallas are dangerous but are relying on Ben Bishop to stay healthy. Colorado is gonna be a fun team to watch, but the most entertaining teams are rarely the toughest to beat.

 

[TK 421]

The athletic just dropped their power rankings. They have us tenth. Vegas 5, Calgary 6, Nashville 7, San Jose 8, and Colorado 9. What a joke. How do you have the defending Stanley Cup champs (who got better I might add), behind two four clearly inferior teams, and one who didn’t even make it out of the first round?

After reading it all the way through it looks like it was a consensus thing but still. Burnside says he has us number one.

The standings predictions are the same way. You can't believe how many people have the Blues in 5th or 6th in the Central. And yet Colorado(who has proven nothing other than they're good at saving cap space) or Nashville(who has proven something but we're clearly better than them) get routinely put above the Blues. It's always about the flashy new players or 'upcoming team' that gets overrated in these scenarios.

 

[Blueston]

The standings predictions are the same way. You can't believe how many people have the Blues in 5th or 6th in the Central. And yet Colorado(who has proven nothing other than they're good at saving cap space) or Nashville(who has proven something but we're clearly better than them) get routinely put above the Blues. It's always about the flashy new players or 'upcoming team' that gets overrated in these scenarios.

I can see maybe Nashville. They won division last year and added the center they've been craving. I think we still beat them in 7 game series, but they should have nice season. Seeing Calgary, San Jose, and Colorado picked ahead of us at this point is embarrassing for whomever picked it.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I love how direct Craig Berube is when speaking to the media. He isn't contentious with them, and he doesn't sugar-coat his comments about the players.

I thought Ken Hitchcock was an excellent coach, but I wondered if the players truly respected him. Hitch never played the game, and was hugely overweight.

No so with Berube.

I agree. He’s terse, but he never gets sarcastic with them or acts put off by questions.

I’ll never forget how I felt watching him give the Game 6 post-game interview when we all felt so disappointed. Last question of a tense presser, Something like “How do you think your team will respond to this disappointing loss?” He looked up and smiled. Then he said, “If you’d told us in January that we would have a chance to play in Game 7 of the SCF, we’d have jumped at the chance.”