2021 Off Season Discussion Thread

[Stupendous Yappi]

I had a different read. Fine from Berube is not a compliment. I don’t think Kostin has done what he needed to make club at this point. He may still before camp ends but needs to embrace his role.

It’s hard to read the nuance from a printed quote without being able to see him speaking, but when he’s used this type of language before it was when Blais was on the fringe of making the team and he was saying he was playing well enough to stay. Ironically, Blais did get sent down after that camp, but not for too long. The team was too deep. I don’t think he did anything special in the AHL to get called up, just that numbers worked out later.

‘I haven’t heard or read anything from Berube to indicate Kostin has been disappointing this camp. Doesn’t mean he’ll make the team, but I think “fine” is not a negative descriptor here.

 

[Blueston]

Playing around with Capfriendly and IF we want to keep Perunovich (and send down Walman), if we keep Brown and Kostin the optimal spare forward for cap purposes is Alexandrov. This would get us to cap hit of $81,498,849. At that point we would put Sunny on LTIR and then could call back up Clifford or Mac Mac or both or whomever in place of Alexandrov.

Alternatively, if we keep Neighbours and Brown, we would want to not carry extra forward and instead have Tucker as extra D. This gets us to $81,493,849 before we would put Sunny on LTIR. Again, we would then send Tucker down and call up spare forwards.

There may be other ways to get closer, but I made assumption that we wouldn't risk losing anyone on waivers that we could avoid, so only guys who are really at risk here are Clifford, Mac Mac, and Walman. I wouldn't expect any of the 3 to be claimed at end of camp as there are hundreds of players leaguewide on waivers at that point. We may use that glut to try and sneak Brown through. In that case can plug Joseph into the above as he has same cap hit as Brown.

If Sunny isn't put on LTIR and we want to keep Perunovich, we would need to carry someone like Joshua as spare forward bc wouldn't have enough room for Mac Mac or Clifford.

Obviously if we trade Tank before we break camp all of this is moot.

 

[Mike Liut]

What happens when Sunny is ready to come off the LTIR?

 

[Bluesfan54]

What happens when Sunny is ready to come off the LTIR?

somebody else will probably be going on LTIR

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Kostin has been running around hitting a lot. Do we need that? Does he bring anything else?

The team has gotten decent offensive production from the 4th line. Can Kostin score 8-10 goals on the 4th line?

 

[Mike Liut]

Kostin has been running around hitting a lot. Do we need that? Does he bring anything else?

The team has gotten decent offensive production from the 4th line. Can Kostin score 8-10 goals on the 4th line?

I think he adds more than that. I love the physical stuff. I loved the team that won the cup. We manhandled teams. That’s why I’d start Kostin, Joshua and Mikkola on my team.

 

[Blueston]

I think he adds more than that. I love the physical stuff. I loved the team that won the cup. We manhandled teams. That’s why I’d start Kostin, Joshua and Mikkola on my team.

May be moot point as he got hurt tonight.

 

[Ranksu]

May be moot point as he got hurt tonight.

Who?

 

[simon IC]

Who?

Kostin

 

[Ranksu]

Kostin

What happened to him?

 

[simon IC]

I haven't reviewed the game yet. He has an
undisclosed upper body injury and will be reevaluated this weekend. Right now he is day to day.
Blues' Klim Kostin: Suffers upper-body injury

 

[Moose and Squirrel]

I haven't reviewed the game yet. He has an
undisclosed upper body injury and will be reevaluated this weekend. Right now he is day to day.
Blues' Klim Kostin: Suffers upper-body injury

wasn't he the recipient of a questionable hit? I seem to recall reading that somewhere

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

wasn't he the recipient of a questionable hit? I seem to recall reading that somewhere

Immediately after making a sick play by splitting the D for a partial break, he got DRILLED behind the net

 

[blueper]

He (kostin) practiced the next day. He's fine and played last night.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

When is Sunny projected to be ready to return?

 

[BlueDream]

When is Sunny projected to be ready to return?

Nobody knows as there’s no timetable that’s been reported yet.

I’d say in a month or so he may be close. Maybe 2.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Nobody knows as there’s no timetable that’s been reported yet.

I’d say in a month or so he may be close. Maybe 2.

Early November was reported with late October being optimistic

 

[Moose and Squirrel]

Early November was reported with late October being optimistic

wasn't that his re-evaluation date?

 

[ChicagoBlues]

wasn't that his re-evaluation date?

Maybe

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

We need a generic Blues in-season thread, or change the title for this one maybe?

Regarding Tarasenko:
His linemates are working hard to try and create opportunities for him. He continues to be the weak link in terms of puck possession on that line. He makes confusing decisions, but maybe he just needs more time to gain some chemistry with Thomas. There's potential there.

But the truth is that the Blues would probably be better off simply subtracting him and gaining his salary. Its too early to say he won't improve, but so far he looks the same as last season.

If the team is winning games, its easy to be patient with the situation. But depending what is done with the roster when Sundqvist returns, you could actually make an argument for making Tarasenko the healthy scratch.

 

[MissouriMook]

We need a generic Blues in-season thread, or change the title for this one maybe?

Regarding Tarasenko:
His linemates are working hard to try and create opportunities for him. He continues to be the weak link in terms of puck possession on that line. He makes confusing decisions, but maybe he just needs more time to gain some chemistry with Thomas. There's potential there.

But the truth is that the Blues would probably be better off simply subtracting him and gaining his salary. Its too early to say he won't improve, but so far he looks the same as last season.

If the team is winning games, its easy to be patient with the situation. But depending what is done with the roster when Sundqvist returns, you could actually make an argument for making Tarasenko the healthy scratch.

Depending on the prognosis for Kucherov, I could see the Lightning having some interest in him if the cost isn't too high. They'll be hard pressed to replace Kucherov's money if he's expected back before the end of the regular season, though. The Olympic situation next February will make a decision like that more interesting if Kucherov is set on trying to make it back in time to play for Team Russia.

 

[Brian39]

We need a generic Blues in-season thread, or change the title for this one maybe?

Regarding Tarasenko:
His linemates are working hard to try and create opportunities for him. He continues to be the weak link in terms of puck possession on that line. He makes confusing decisions, but maybe he just needs more time to gain some chemistry with Thomas. There's potential there.

But the truth is that the Blues would probably be better off simply subtracting him and gaining his salary. Its too early to say he won't improve, but so far he looks the same as last season.

If the team is winning games, its easy to be patient with the situation. But depending what is done with the roster when Sundqvist returns, you could actually make an argument for making Tarasenko the healthy scratch.

I totally agree that we need a generic in-season thread.

Here are my thoughts on Tarasenko from the GDT: I thought Tarasenko had a pretty good game. The shot doesn't look fully comfortable yet, but the release looks better than last game. If he can dial in the accuracy it will be a very dangerous shot again and he's always had spells of inaccuracy throughout his career. I'm more optimistic about the shot than I was toward the end of last year. I don't think he's ever going to an elite decision-maker with the puck when the shot isn't working, but he made better decisions with the puck than in game 1. While his assist was a secondary assist, he made a smart play with the puck which led to a quick shot that could have easily been buried. It wasn't, but the scramble after that shot led to a pass and goal. It was definitely an earned assist. I thought he was making good decisions on the PP and even though he didn't get any great looks on the PP he was participating in a unit that looks dangerous. If we get last night's version of Tarasenko every night without the shot accuracy coming back, I think we are looking at a guy who has 10-15 goals and 15-20 assists by the halfway point of the season. So long as one of those numbers is on the high end of that estimate, that should be good enough to facilitate a trade worth taking. He's getting very sheltered usage, but he is turning that usage into very strong possession/underlying metrics and showing that he's not a liability out there. Ideally, he finds the shot and turns into the old offensive stud. But even if he doesn't, he is a moveable piece (or a good contributor to this team) if last night's Tarasenko is what we get on a regular basis.

 

[Brian39]

Depending on the prognosis for Kucherov, I could see the Lightning having some interest in him if the cost isn't too high. They'll be hard pressed to replace Kucherov's money if he's expected back before the end of the regular season, though. The Olympic situation next February will make a decision like that more interesting if Kucherov is set on trying to make it back in time to play for Team Russia.

I can't see Kucherov being out long enough to be LTIRed for the entire season. He was barely out long enough to miss the entire 56 game shortened season and many people believe that he should have returned a few weeks before he did. He got surgery in late December and played his first game about 4.5 months later, which was the very top end of that recovery window. He would need a full 6 month recovery time for them to effectively use his LTIR relief to bring in a guy like Tarasenko.

 

[Brockon]

Depending on the prognosis for Kucherov, I could see the Lightning having some interest in him if the cost isn't too high. They'll be hard pressed to replace Kucherov's money if he's expected back before the end of the regular season, though. The Olympic situation next February will make a decision like that more interesting if Kucherov is set on trying to make it back in time to play for Team Russia.

Can't see Tampa doing a trade for Tarasenko. Even IF Kucherov is out all of this season, there's no way they can fit Tarasenko's 7.5m cap hit in next season to be cap compliant for the start of the season without major subtractions.

 

[Stealth JD]

Good time to be catching Vegas, with Blues' killers Stone and Pacioretty on the shelf for tomorrow's matchup. Would love to see them get buried in the standings early and have to fight their way into the playoffs.

SoCal looks to have two better clubs than last year...and between Calgary and Vancouver, one of them should be able to keep ahead of the Kraken (who look like crap to me). Edmonton is about as sure as it gets to make the playoffs in the Pac (aside from Vegas). The Sharks are a huge wildcard. I'd expect them to get buried, but a Kane-less existence may be just what the doctor ordered in the Bay. If it's truly addition by subtraction and the locker-room becomes fun and cohesive, they too could make life difficult for a very thin and very vulnerable Knights team.