2021 Off Season Discussion Thread

[execwrite1]

Schenn O'Reilly Perron
Saad Thomas Buchnevich
Sanford Kyrou Kostin
MacEarchern Barbashev Sundquvist

 

[joe galiba]

saad ror perron
schenn thomas kyrou
buch barbs vlad (see what i did here)
sanford sunny kostin

roll all 4 over and over

 

[Meatball]

Just to clarify, Kostin, Joshua, and Mac are waiver exempt, right?

 

[Beauterham]

Just to clarify, Kostin, Joshua, and Mac are waiver exempt, right?

Kostin and Joshua are, MacEachern isn't.

But would be very surprised if anyone claimed him.

 

[Mike Liut]

saad ror perron
schenn thomas kyrou
buch barbs vlad (see what i did here)
sanford sunny kostin

roll all 4 over and over

I’d rather see Tarasenko with a better playmaker.

 

[Blueston]

I’d rather see Tarasenko with a better playmaker.

Like Barzal? Or Jack Hughes?

 

[Mike Liut]

Like Barzal? Or Jack Hughes?

Thomas or ROR

 

[Blueston]

Thomas or ROR

Doubtful. Seems unlikely that he plays another game with Blues.

 

[Mike Liut]

Doubtful. Seems unlikely that he plays another game with Blues.

Probably true, but Army isn’t going to give him away for free either or retain too much.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I’d rather see Tarasenko with a better playmaker.

Tarasenko really doesn't play well with a Playmaker. He's a player who will end up creating his own chances skating in from the Blue line instead of having another player making a pretty pass to him and him one-timing it high blocker side.

 

[Mike Liut]

Tarasenko really doesn't play well with a Playmaker. He's a player who will end up creating his own chances skating in from the Blue line instead of having another player making a pretty pass to him and him one-timing it high blocker side.

Every goal scorer needs a playmaker to maximize his potential.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I’d rather see Tarasenko with a better playmaker.

This is the conundrum. If he's destined to be traded mid-season, from a coaching standpoint you'd really rather disrupt good lines as little as possible with that move. So, it doesn't make sense to put Tarasenko on the top line or even giving him the primo minutes. You want to allow the most valuable chemistry to be the priority. But if you're the front office, you want to facilitate the best trade you can make...you want to enhance Vlad's value. So you DO put him with quality linemates and primo minutes.

That's the reason I think there is a strong argument for accepting a lower return if necessary just to get this done prior to the season. I can't read Armstrong very well on this, as it really does seem like there are some developments toward an offseason trade. But I take him at his word when he says Vlad needs to prepare like he's coming to camp on the Blues. It would surprise me exactly zero if that's how it played out.

 

[Memento]

My roster, including lines and pairings:

David Perron - Ryan O'Reilly - Pavel Buchnevich

(No surprises here.)

Brandon Saad - Brayden Schenn - Vladimir Tarasenko

(Until Tarasenko is/isn't traded, I'm gonna slot him where he can get opportunities to score.)

Klim Kostin - Robert Thomas - Jordan Kyrou

(Kid line? Sure.)

Zach Sanford - Nolan Stevens - Ivan Barbashev. (obviously, Oskar Sundqvist would return in Stevens' place after he recovers).

(Obviously, the fourth line is going to be weaker than normal. I still have faith in Stevens to make an impact; whether it's positive or negative has yet to be seen.)

(Dakota Joshua, Kyle Clifford)

(I'm sorry, I hated the Clifford signing the moment it was made, but he's still one of our best options.)

Torey Krug - Colton Parayko

(Pairing an offensive defenseman with a defensive defenseman is going to be the way I go for the pairings. Parayko, if his back is recovered is solid. Krug, as much as I don't like the contract, I hope he proves himself to us.)

Marco Scandella - Justin Faulk

(Faulk was our best defenseman last year, but I'm not sure about Scandella. Here's hoping for the best.)

Jake Walman - Robert Bortuzzo

(Walman is someone I want to see more of. Bortuzzo, I don't know how good he'll be.)

(Niko Mikkola)

(Mikkola provides good depth. I hope he improves from last year.)

Jordan Binnington.

(You expect anyone else?)

(Ville Husso)

(Should be a decent backup.)

EDIT: I knew I was forgetting about someone! Mackenzie McEachern. I don't know where he fits.

 

[Blueston]

Saad-ROR-Perron
Kyrou-Schenn-Buchnevich
Sanford-Thomas-Sunny
Barbie-Bozo-Kostin

 

[LGB]

If we keep Tarasenko, maybe we just see what we have and try to set him up for success. Line 2 is great off the rush and I think the third line could work as well.

Buchnevic - ROR - Tarasenko
Saad - Schenn - Kyrou
Sanford - Thomas - Perron
Kostin - Barbashev - Sundqvist

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Every goal scorer needs a playmaker to maximize his potential.

Vladi doesn’t have the one timer to properly utilize a playmaker. He’s always been better with a guy who’ll go to the net to draw defenders and give Vladi space

 

[AjaxManifesto]

I'm hoping Tank is gone.

Too much drama for my liking.

 

[Brian39]

This is the conundrum. If he's destined to be traded mid-season, from a coaching standpoint you'd really rather disrupt good lines as little as possible with that move. So, it doesn't make sense to put Tarasenko on the top line or even giving him the primo minutes. You want to allow the most valuable chemistry to be the priority. But if you're the front office, you want to facilitate the best trade you can make...you want to enhance Vlad's value. So you DO put him with quality linemates and primo minutes.

That's the reason I think there is a strong argument for accepting a lower return if necessary just to get this done prior to the season. I can't read Armstrong very well on this, as it really does seem like there are some developments toward an offseason trade. But I take him at his word when he says Vlad needs to prepare like he's coming to camp on the Blues. It would surprise me exactly zero if that's how it played out.

I'm of the belief that he will be moved sooner than later if he is here at the start of camp. I think he is gone within the first 6 weeks of the season, not around the trade deadline. I don't really see the harm in pumping his value on the 1st line for 15-20 games and then having to juggle some lines upon his departure. The NHL has moved toward consistent pairs with a rotating cast of 3rd guys to build lines. It is pretty rare to see trios play 82 games as line mates. Let' say we start the year like this:

Perron-ROR-Tarasenko
Saad-Schenn-Buch
Sanford-Thomas-Kyrou

Not my favorite, but that is a good top 6 on paper and a strong 3rd line. Once Tarasenko is moved, you don't have to blow those lines up if they are largely working. You could just slide Kyrou into Tarasenko's spot, you could slide each of Buch/Kyrou up one slot, or you could slide Perron to the RW and then slide one guy into the 1LW spot. You're not talking about needing to blow up the lines to post-trade, you are just talking about moving 1 guy up from the 3rd line and then replacing that guy (hopefully with Kostin).

 

[Thallis]

Every goal scorer needs a playmaker to maximize his potential.

Tarasenko plays better with puck hounds than playmakers. Remember how Stastny worked out?

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Every goal scorer needs a playmaker to maximize his potential.

That's absolutely false. Every single time Tarasenko has played with a playmaker style player his production dies. That's why he was so good with Schenn and Schwartz. They were able to help create room due to Schwartz-Schenn chemistry so other teams had to watch out for them as well so Tarasenko could ram through the defense and get goals.

You put Tarasenko with Stastny and everything fell apart. A big reason Tarasenko's Goals and Assists were always about the same was because he wasn't the one-timing triggerman like most pure snipers are. Where a pure sniper, like Laine or Ovechkin, has a lot more goals compared to their assists.

 

[Ranksu]

That's absolutely false. Every single time Tarasenko has played with a playmaker style player his production dies. That's why he was so good with Schenn and Schwartz. They were able to help create room due to Schwartz-Schenn chemistry so other teams had to watch out for them as well so Tarasenko could ram through the defense and get goals.

You put Tarasenko with Stastny and everything fell apart. A big reason Tarasenko's Goals and Assists were always about the same was because he wasn't the one-timing triggerman like most pure snipers are. Where a pure sniper, like Laine or Ovechkin, has a lot more goals compared to their assists.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Lehtera worked for like 1/3 of a season and then everything went downhill when everyone realized a newborn could skate faster than him.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Lehtera worked for like 1/3 of a season and then everything went downhill when everyone realized a newborn could skate faster than him.

I remember that glorious week where each guy on that line scored a hat trick. A simpler time.

 

[ezcreepin]

I remember that glorious week where each guy on that line scored a hat trick. A simpler time.

The INFAMOUS STL line

 

[Ranksu]

My roster, including lines and pairings:

David Perron - Ryan O'Reilly - Pavel Buchnevich

(No surprises here.)

Brandon Saad - Brayden Schenn - Vladimir Tarasenko

(Until Tarasenko is/isn't traded, I'm gonna slot him where he can get opportunities to score.)

Klim Kostin - Robert Thomas - Jordan Kyrou

(Kid line? Sure.)

Zach Sanford - Nolan Stevens - Ivan Barbashev. (obviously, Oskar Sundqvist would return in Stevens' place after he recovers).

(Obviously, the fourth line is going to be weaker than normal. I still have faith in Stevens to make an impact; whether it's positive or negative has yet to be seen.)

(Dakota Joshua, Kyle Clifford)

(I'm sorry, I hated the Clifford signing the moment it was made, but he's still one of our best options.)

Torey Krug - Colton Parayko

(Pairing an offensive defenseman with a defensive defenseman is going to be the way I go for the pairings. Parayko, if his back is recovered is solid. Krug, as much as I don't like the contract, I hope he proves himself to us.)

Marco Scandella - Justin Faulk

(Faulk was our best defenseman last year, but I'm not sure about Scandella. Here's hoping for the best.)

Jake Walman - Robert Bortuzzo

(Walman is someone I want to see more of. Bortuzzo, I don't know how good he'll be.)

(Niko Mikkola)

(Mikkola provides good depth. I hope he improves from last year.)

Jordan Binnington.

(You expect anyone else?)

(Ville Husso)

(Should be a decent backup.)

EDIT: I knew I was forgetting about someone! Mackenzie McEachern. I don't know where he fits.

If Stevens plays we are in big trouble.

MacMac and Joshua are ahead. Shame we let go Poganski. Really liked him and he didn't get real chance to prove himself. Not shocked if he plays in Jets 4th line at start of season.