2021 Off Season Discussion Thread

[EastonBlues22]

Part I

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[Beauterham]

We signed Nathan Walker few days ago.

Yeah, I meant we didn't sign any players that were outside of our organisation last year. Walker can be seen as an emergency option for the Blues roster, same goes with Kaspick and Stevens, whose contracts also got renewed a short while ago.

 

[WeWentBlues]

Continuing Part 1 Discussion, @BlueDream suggested Tatar as a LW option.

Why does this guy become a healthy scratch when the playoffs start? He was very good for Montreal for a bit following the Patches trade. Don't follow them close enough to know what happened this past season.

I'd also kick the tires on Drouin. Montreal has 1M in space right now with Lehkonnen and Kotkaniemi needing to be signed. Moving all or a portion of Droiuns salary might be helpful before they are able to put Weber on LTIR.

Armstrong was interested in Droiun previously prior to the Sergachev trade and has a good relationship with Bergevin. Maybe see if Montreal could retain 1-2M to bring the price in line with what we were offering Hoffman (more than 4M but less than 4.5M). Wouldn't imagine the cost to be all that significant. Might even be able to get Montreal to attach a pick to get out from the contract.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Who do we think a good comp for Bozak that signed yesterday be? Bonino? He got 2 years and a $2.05M cap hit. I'd likely be ok with this, but would prefer a 1 year version, especially since Bozak is a few years older.

 

[execwrite1]

If the Blues trade Tarasenko for draft picks and don't spend the money, they are going into Full "Tank" Mode.

Okay by me. The stars aligned once and the Blues got their Cup. Time to move on and rebuild.

 

[Ranksu]

If the Blues trade Tarasenko for draft picks and don't spend the money, they are going into Full "Tank" Mode.

Okay by me. The stars aligned once and the Blues got their Cup. Time to move on and rebuild.

We aren't rebuilding mode.

Not even close to retool.

We are middle of nowhere. Slim prospect pool. We are kind of playoff team or wild card team. Other div teams improved at off-season. Chicago huge steps, Jets some additions and Dallas ish addition.

Only Arizona is tank mode.

#1 Avs
#2 Wild
#3 Jets
#4-#7 Blues,Preds,Dallas and Chicago
#8 Arizona

 

[Meatball]

Getting Drouin just feels like an "Army" move too. If we signed him and maybe Bozak, I'd be satisfied with the offseason.

The defense, as is, doesn't inspire much hope, but I guess we'd be hoping for A LOT of internal improvement in that department. Still, if we make the necessary moves up front, you could do a lot worse than our defense. We were spoiled by the defense on the cup team.

 

[Ranksu]

Getting Drouin just feels like an "Army" move too. If we signed him and maybe Bozak, I'd be satisfied with the offseason.

The defense, as is, doesn't inspire much hope, but I guess we'd be hoping for A LOT of internal improvement in that department. Still, if we make the necessary moves up front, you could do a lot worse than our defense. We were spoiled by the defense on the cup team.

Sounds like Bozak doesn't come back what I have read.

 

[Stealth JD]

moved from the Tarasenko thread so as not to derail that conversation:

Both Buch and Kostin are RW, as is Kyrou. Perron has played both sides over his career, but he's had the most success on the right side with ROR. Tarasenko is also almost primarily a RW......long story short, we're super deep on RW and our LW looks barren. Schwartz was really our only legit top 6 option there. He's gone now. Schenn could slide over, but is Thomas really ready to take over the 2nd line center role? He's shown flashes, but he's been pretty inconsistent over his career. He needs to take a BIG step forward if we hope to contend with him in the 2C spot. His defense is also still pretty shaky. Sundqvist is a guy who can play C or RW, but I think he's more effective on wing - it allows him to get in on the forecheck more and he's also sneaky bad on faceoffs.

My biggest concern with Thomas is his ability to handle 2nd line minutes and survive the beating that he's going to take from the opposing teams tasked with shutting down the Blues top-6. He was sheltered as a 3C or 3RW, and still got dinged up at a Schwartz-like rate. And going from 42 points in 66 games to 12 points in 33 games is a pretty concerning decline. Granted the whole team was injured and line-mates were inconsistent; but he's going to be looked upon to provide consistency in a scoring role and Berube isn't going to have the luxury of burying him and giving a veteran his minutes when he's struggling. The third and fourth lines are going to have a dearth of scoring ability barring some tremendous leap in development from *somebody*, and I'm not confident that Thomas is suddenly going to leap forward with less overall talent to play with. I hope he proves capable of carrying that load; but I surely wouldn't want to bet my job on him doing it (Berube/Army).

 

[bleedblue1223]

I get the sense we aren't strong after Saad. I'm much more confident in Kyrou hitting that next level. Thomas clearly has the ability, just needs to stay healthy.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

So we're going into next season with

Perron-RoR-Buch
Schenn-Thomas-Kyrou

If Kyrou can build off last season and Thomas can prove last season was a injury issue. In cool with this.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Really just means, we need to sign some quality 3rd line depth.

 

[BlueDream]

So we're going into next season with

Perron-RoR-Buch
Schenn-Thomas-Kyrou

If Kyrou can build off last season and Thomas can prove last season was a injury issue. In cool with this.

Me too. That’s a legit top 6 if Thomas can stay healthy.

We might as well just fill out our 3rd line in free agency with some players that can fit our identify and make us quicker.

 

[Frenzy31]

I get the sense we aren't strong after Saad. I'm much more confident in Kyrou hitting that next level. Thomas clearly has the ability, just needs to stay healthy.

I think we may still be in on Saad. At this point, he is the only top 6 player that has not been signed, beyond DK. We are also one of the only teams not to have signed a UFA at this point.

But, I could be wrong.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I think we may still be in on Saad. At this point, he is the only top 6 player that has not been signed, beyond DK. We are also one of the only teams not to have signed a UFA at this point.

But, I could be wrong.

I imagine we are in, but not willing to be the highest bidder.

 

[Celtic Note]

Really just means, we need to sign some quality 3rd line depth.

If the approach is to let the kids play, then I agree with beefing up the 3rd line.

 

[Celtic Note]

Me too. That’s a legit top 6 if Thomas can stay healthy.

We might as well just fill out our 3rd line in free agency with some players that can fit our identify and make us quicker.

If Thomas can stay healthy… And improve his all around game.

 

[Oberyn]

Thomas is the biggest question mark and will be heavily relied on based on our current forward composition. The skill is evident, but he just doesn't seem to want to take the game over like Kyrou does. I'm hoping he can make some big steps next season.

Some bottom six depth would be much welcomed, Nick Ritchie is a guy I would take a hard look at to beef up our team.

 

[illinidave]

Wonder if we could get Chara on the cheap to add some toughness on LD....

 

[bleedblue1223]

Thomas is the biggest question mark and will be heavily relied on based on our current forward composition. The skill is evident, but he just doesn't seem to want to take the game over like Kyrou does. I'm hoping he can make some big steps next season.

Some bottom six depth would be much welcomed, Nick Ritchie is a guy I would take a hard look at to beef up our team.

I'm kind of split on players like Ritchie. I think it would be nice to get some youngish guys in and if they work, we might have some longer-term pieces, but someone like Ritchie brings plenty of question marks in a similar way as Sanford does. You just don't know which version of the player you are going to get.

 

[sfvega]

Wonder if we could get Chara on the cheap to add some toughness on LD....

Our deconstruction on defense would be complete.

 

[Chojin]

AHL signings!

 

[TheGoldenGod]

AHL signings!

How is this man 25 years old

 

[jimmythemick]

AHL players I assume?

 

[sfvega]

How is this man 25 years old

View attachment 457647

Clearly a Leap Day birthday situation.