Blues Discussion Thread 2018-2019 - Part V

[BlueDream]

Vegas made it all the way to the finals, and Nashville has come very close. Since only 6 teams have won a cup since 2006 (Anaheim, Boston, Chicago, LA, PIT, and WSH), there’s not much to pick through. I would argue Pronger was no longer a franchise defensemen in Anaheim’s cup - Teemu was close to still being one, I suppose. 04 Lightning had a declining Lecavalier and St. Louis, but neither were franchise level. All of the teams that have won have had amazing depth along with a solid if not great top line.

Schwartz O’Reilly Tarasenko
Perron Schenn XXX

Is one player away from being good enough to match the top-6 of most cup teams - and better than NSH, VGK, NYR, SJS, etc when they made it to the finals. All 5 of those players have shown the ability to put up 70pts.

If we were able to grab Panarin or Stone, I think we would be top contenders, and favorites with a decent coach and goalie.

Grabbing a Duchene or even a Nyqvist-level character would go a long way in taking our offense from bottom of the league to at the very least better than average. Coaching should make the biggest difference though.

Wait what? Lecavalier was absolutely not declining in 2004. And Martin St. Louis wasn’t either. He had 94 points that season.

I don’t really agree with any of your examples. All the recent Cup winners had a better player (i.e. franchise guy) that was better than the current Blues best player. For teams like Vegas and Nashville, that’s probably why they haven’t won yet.

So I agree with everyone else pretty much. I also think Tarasenko’s playmaking and ability to “elevate his teammates” is overrated. He really doesn’t, aside from Lehtera. Stastny didn’t look very good with him. It actually hasn’t been easy to find guys he really clicks with.

 

[Brockon]

I think Tarasenko has shown he can be a tier above Kessel, Gaborik, etc. He has gone GOAL PER GAME in the playoffs. He’s a big time performer like Kane, he just never had the elite talent helping him out like Kane does. Our goaltending has either been good enough but our centers too weak, or our centers have been good enough but our goaltending too weak.

Can't say I agree with you here. Vladdy's stat lines look great, but he scores in clusters in the playoffs and often in games where it wasn't needed, or was too late. (Thinking back to the series against the Sharks and Nashville when we were eliminated in 6 each time).

Vlad has also been unfortunate that he's been "the guy" to shut down on the Blues for years, depth scoring may keep the game close, but when Tarasenko is shut down we often find ourselves in the L column.

Tarasenko hasn't been dominant the same way that Kessel, Gaborik or Kane have in any given post-season - which is to say he's never contended for a top 5 playoff scoring position. I'll agree that us not having other players of his caliber to make linematching difficult definitely sets him back, but I find it hard to believe you think Haglin and Bonino elevated Kessel to lead the post season scoring in 2016. The opposition being unable to line match allowed him to increase his totals, sure. But Kessel is a more versatile forward than Tarasenko ever will be, making it far easier to play with him. I just don't view Tarasenko as a franchise player the way you do.

 

[Spektre]

With the dumpster fire in Ottawa, there’s some good pieces there. I wonder what Armstrong’s interest level is on Stone, Duchene, or Dzingel.

 

[Brian39]

Tarasenko is elite, and good enough to carry the team on his back at time.

Plenty of other teams have shown it doesn’t take Crosby/Kane/Doughty to win it all or at least make the final. But it does take players that can put the team on their back, and Tarasenko has shown this even when the rest of the team was subpar.

And so have the players that you are saying are a tier below him. Tarasenko is a great player and so is Kessel, Gaborik, etc. I disagree that Tarasenko has carried the team on his back in a way that these other guys haven't. His best playoff was our WCF run and I don't think anyone would say he was head and shoulders the best player on our team. He had 15 points in 19 games, but a lot of them were low-calorie points. He had a a goal and 2 assists in our 6-1 win over the Stars when we outshot them 39-26. The goal was #4 and one of his assists was a PP assist to make it 5-1 when the game was clearly over. His assist in game 6 was a secondary assist where he pushed the puck to a Dallas player who made a bad chip, allowing Bortuzzo to take a shot and Steen to bury the rebound. He literally turned the puck over and got an assist because the Dallas player botched it. His goal in game 7 was an empty netter to make it 6-1. I remember that run vividly and almost all Blues fans felt that Tarasenko needed to be better during the Dallas series. He then went pointless in the Conference Final until the last 10 minutes of game 6 when he scored 2 goals. Those goals made it 4-1 with 9 minutes left and then 4-2 with 3 minutes left.

I really like Tarasenko, but he has not shown an ability to put the team on his back and carry it for sustained periods. The Fabbri-Stastny-Brouwer line was more vital to our playoff success than Tarasenko's line. Elliott was more vital as well. He just simply has not done what Kessel and Gaborik have done in the playoffs (even though I agree that those guys were in better position). There is no evidence to support this idea that Tarasenko has done something that tier of player hasn't. Maybe he will at some point, but he isn't a tier ahead of those guys until he actually does it.

 

[LetsGoBooze]

What happened to Fabbri? He was looking good pre-shoulder, why in your guys assessment hasnt he been impactful since returning this go around?

 

[BlueDream]

What happened to Fabbri? He was looking good pre-shoulder, why in your guys assessment hasnt he been impactful since returning this go around?

One thing I’ve noticed all season is he just doesn’t seem to have the puck on his stick much at all. If he gets the puck he tends to bobble it or lose it way more than he did pre-injuries. So I don’t know if it’s just rust or what, but that’s the biggest difffetence I’ve seen. I think his skating and competitiveness is generally fine but you obviously can’t score many points if the puck is on and off your stick in 2 seconds.

 

[ItsOnlytheRiver]

I don’t have an answer for Fabbri. Just hoping they are taking it slow with him and he will be better next year.

 

[Saint Loser]

This is going to be one of most exciting months in the St. Louis Blues' history.

26 days left in February and 13 games to play.

And fighting for a playoff spot!! Wow!

 

[DangledUpinBlues]

Groundhog did not see his shadow; this means we're due for an early spring. Does that mean early exit? I don't know how to read the signs man. What does this omen mean?

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

What happened to Fabbri? He was looking good pre-shoulder, why in your guys assessment hasnt he been impactful since returning this go around?

It’s been reported Fabbri is finally looking really good again in practice. I would not be surprised if he’s in the lineup against Florida.

Him and Thomas can be X factors for us down the stretch. I’d like for us to trade Maroon, so Fabbri has the chance to seal that 3LW spot next to Bozak and Steen.

If we don’t make any top 9 moves, I’d like to see us role this lineup down the stretch

Schenn-O’Reilly-Perron
Schwartz-Thomas-Tarasenko
Fabbri-Bozak-Steen
Sanford-Barbashev-Sundqvist

 

[Blueston]

It’s been reported Fabbri is finally looking really good again in practice. I would not be surprised if he’s in the lineup against Florida.

Him and Thomas can be X factors for us down the stretch. I’d like for us to trade Maroon, so Fabbri has the chance to seal that 3LW spot next to Bozak and Steen.

If we don’t make any top 9 moves, I’d like to see us role this lineup down the stretch

Schenn-O’Reilly-Perron
Schwartz-Thomas-Tarasenko
Fabbri-Bozak-Steen
Sanford-Barbashev-Sundqvist

I'd flip Perron and Tarasenko. Lessen chance that Tank breaks 3rd bone in JS this year.

 

[BlueDream]

It’s been reported Fabbri is finally looking really good again in practice. I would not be surprised if he’s in the lineup against Florida.

Him and Thomas can be X factors for us down the stretch. I’d like for us to trade Maroon, so Fabbri has the chance to seal that 3LW spot next to Bozak and Steen.

If we don’t make any top 9 moves, I’d like to see us role this lineup down the stretch

Schenn-O’Reilly-Perron
Schwartz-Thomas-Tarasenko
Fabbri-Bozak-Steen
Sanford-Barbashev-Sundqvist

Agreed with these lines.

Fabbri just needs some games. I get he hasn’t looked that good but he’s still ONLY played 23 games. That’s not very much at all considering he missed a year and a half. I would just keep him in there and see if he can knock off the rust. At the very least, it’ll hopefully set him up to have a better season next year. And I still don’t think he’d be worse than Maroon.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

What happened to Fabbri? He was looking good pre-shoulder, why in your guys assessment hasnt he been impactful since returning this go around?

I really don’t know. He needs to play a lot and regain some confidence. It would be great if he could get some AHL time. I’m not confident he can get it together this season any more. The missed time is showing, and it’s more of a mental issue at this point than physical, in my opinion.

 

[Renard]

What will our lineup look like at the end of the season? I can't see Fabbri making a contribution this season; I've just glad his knee has held up and it gives me hope for next year.

Is Perron concussed?

Are we going to continue to play Pat Maroon?

Is Bozek the best we can do as the second line center?

I don't think I have ever made a negative comment about Steen before, but he is looking like his age and injuries have caught up with him.

 

[Default]

Doesn’t help that when Fabs does play, he gets taken out the next game. He was actually looking good prior to the shoulder injury, but as others have posted, he has apparently looked good in practice again which is great. And I’m not sure if we’d be able to send him down to SA, isn’t his contract only a one way? Surely someone would pick him up on waivers.

 

[MacDonald4MVP]

Why not have tank anchor third line and do his thing just like kessel in Pittsburgh?

 

[JoshFromMO]

Tarasenko has 13 points in the last 12. Pretty nifty

 

[Reality Czech]

Why not have tank anchor third line and do his thing just like kessel in Pittsburgh?

Because that would be a waste of his talent and would probably make #91 unhappy. If we had a Crosby and Malkin anchoring the other two lines I might be more inclined to agree. We should be expecting more from our top players, not sheltering them.

 

[Multigrain]

Any truth to the rumor the Blues are going to trade with the Bruins and maybe include Frederic in the trade?

 

[Multigrain]

What will our lineup look like at the end of the season? I can't see Fabbri making a contribution this season; I've just glad his knee has held up and it gives me hope for next year.

Is Perron concussed?

Are we going to continue to play Pat Maroon?

Is Bozek the best we can do as the second line center?

I don't think I have ever made a negative comment about Steen before, but he is looking like his age and injuries have caught up with him.

They have to make some moves if they are making a run. Maybe sending Maroon back to Edmonton or trading with Ottawa would be intersting at this point.

 

[Halak Ness Monster]

How would you break up the goalie starts the rest of the week?

4 games: @FLA, @TB, NSH, @NSH

I'd say Binnington 100% gets Nashville at home and Allen gets Nashville on the road.

I'd also suggest Binnington vs. Florida and Allen vs. TB if they have to split those games as well. Make sure of the easier win in Florida and hope for the best in TB.

I'd preferably start Binnington vs. FLA and TB but I'd be shocked if he gets the first 4 starts after the AS break.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I think Copley's contract is a good comparable for Binnington. If they just copied that, I would be pleased. The guy gets 3.3M guaranteed and a chance to become an NHL starter. The Blues commit to him for 3 years, but its a contract they could bury if necessary.

 

[Halak Ness Monster]

I think Copley's contract is a good comparable for Binnington. If they just copied that, I would be pleased. The guy gets 3.3M guaranteed and a chance to become an NHL starter. The Blues commit to him for 3 years, but its a contract they could bury if necessary.

His price may go up, though, after he leads the Blues to the Stanley Cup Championship this year.

 

[MissouriMook]

How would you break up the goalie starts the rest of the week?

4 games: @FLA, @TB, NSH, @NSH

I'd say Binnington 100% gets Nashville at home and Allen gets Nashville on the road.

I'd also suggest Binnington vs. Florida and Allen vs. TB if they have to split those games as well. Make sure of the easier win in Florida and hope for the best in TB.

I'd preferably start Binnington vs. FLA and TB but I'd be shocked if he gets the first 4 starts after the AS break.

I like the idea of Allen starting in TB if for no other reason that this might cause them to opt to start Domingue instead of Vasilevskiy. We're actually sandwiched between Vegas and the Penguins on their homestand, so that might be the case anyway.

 

[Brian39]

How would you break up the goalie starts the rest of the week?

4 games: @FLA, @TB, NSH, @NSH

I'd say Binnington 100% gets Nashville at home and Allen gets Nashville on the road.

I'd also suggest Binnington vs. Florida and Allen vs. TB if they have to split those games as well. Make sure of the easier win in Florida and hope for the best in TB.

I'd preferably start Binnington vs. FLA and TB but I'd be shocked if he gets the first 4 starts after the AS break.

Binny @ FLA
Allen @ TBL
Binny vs NSH
Allen @ NSH

Binny vs NJD
Binny @ ARI
split the back to back on the road with COL and MIN.

Including Saturday's game, that's 6 starts out of 9 in a 16 day window for Binny. That's as heavy of a workload as I'm comfortable with for a young goalie. I'm comfortable treating the TBL game as an 'expected loss, but hoping for some luck' and would rather see Allen in net than over-working Binny in a game I think we are going to get shelled. I also don't want Allen playing his 1st game since 1/17/19 against Nashville on National TV. In case he needs a 'shake off the rust' outing, I'd rather that happen against Tampa. Nashville doesn't scare me nearly as much as Tampa does and I think we have a batter chance of taking that game.