Do You View This Team as a Legitimate Cup Contender?

[MissouriMook]

I've actually seen Husso play in person, a couple of times - at some AHL games.
None of the games went well, but in at least one of those games, he got lit up like a Christmas tree, pulled early, and didn't seem to confident.

What is the background on why he projects so well in the NHL?
I don't follow him all the time - there's probably a lot that I'm missing, but in my limited sample size eyeball test, things don't seem to project to well.

He lost almost an entire season of development due to a nagging injury that he played through for a couple of months before they finally shut him down. Outside of that he has been lights out, in particular after the boost of confidence that he got from signing his one-way contract extension. Perhaps you saw him during the year he was hurt. I believe that was the 2018-19 season in San Antonio?

 

[SaintLouHaintBlue]

He lost almost an entire season of development due to a nagging injury that he played through for a couple of months before they finally shut him down. Outside of that he has been lights out, in particular after the boost of confidence that he got from signing his one-way contract extension. Perhaps you saw him during the year he was hurt. I believe that was the 2018-19 season in San Antonio?

Yeah that definitely would have been it - 2018/2019

 

[GoldenSeal]

What does our backup goaltender have to do with winning a cup? Even if I were to buy into this theory that it’s a factor then Allen being gone can only be a positive. The guy has proven many times he’s not up for the big moment, or if you prefer, just not very good. He had a nice regular season and a nice couple games in the playoffs before reverting back to being Swiss cheese just when you thought he might save us. It was clearly the easiest cost cutting decision of the offseason by DA. Can’t say I blame him.

To be fair our backup -rookie- goaltender backstopped us to a Cup (first rookie in history btw).

For the Blues (and their luck) a Strong backup has more of them than not has saved our bacon on many occasions.

I think Husso’s the real deal and just needs playing time but imo a strong, solid backup is -very- important and something that Jake Allen, at his worst, is.

 

[GoldenSeal]

Since we’re in this position, I’m going to ask this question: do we have anyone on this squad who can shut down Pie?

 

[EastVillageBlues]

Since we’re in this position, I’m going to ask this question: do we have anyone on this squad who can shut down Pie?

What do you mean, like shutting down Pietrangelo when we play Vegas, preventing him from making plays from the point ?

I guess you would need an elite defensive LW. Steen would have been able to do it a couple of years ago. Now, maybe Sundqvist or Barby, our regular LWs aren't going to regularly shut down an top end offensive RHD.

 

[BlueKnight]

Since we’re in this position, I’m going to ask this question: do we have anyone on this squad who can shut down Pie?

That is a good question. Even with Petro on the team the Blues haven't done well against Vegas.

With Petro going to Vegas makes them better IMO and don't forget they also have Theodore.

They'll have a good 1 - 2 punch with Petro & Theodore. Just like the Blues 1 - 2 punch with Petro & Parayko.. pretty much having one or the other on the ice!

Everyone's projecting them being paired together, and I'm sure they will be sometimes. Just like when Petro & Colt were paired together sometimes. I feel like they'd be better off having Theodore on the 2nd pairing like Parayko was here.

You know spreading the wealth.

Petro & Theodore that will be a nasty duo to deal with..shift after shift.

The Blues don't have anyone to shut both of them down.

 

[Celtic Note]

Things I’m excited see:
- Thomas continued NHL growth
- Parayko as a #1
- Krug and how he fits
- Kyrou as a regular

Things I question:
- PK
- Decreased size/shutdown options on D
- 5v5 finishing
- Husso

I think we’re a good team and have some exciting pieces, but when compared to a few of the other top teams around the league, I would put us just below the tier of the legitimate cup contenders going into the season. We’re still a good spot though.

Seems a pretty fair list to me.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

What do you mean, like shutting down Pietrangelo when we play Vegas, preventing him from making plays from the point ?

I guess you would need an elite defensive LW. Steen would have been able to do it a couple of years ago. Now, maybe Sundqvist or Barby, our regular LWs aren't going to regularly shut down an top end offensive RHD.

I mean he's going to shoot wide most of the time anyways.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Is the bolded really a point? Didn’t he need that cap space either way? If it wasn’t for a replacement, it was for Pietro’s salary.

Yes, which is what I was trying to allude to. Sorry if that didn't come out clearly enough.

Does Husso’s waiver status come into it? I’m thinking of the desire to allow his development and trying to avoid a Bishop situation where a veteran backup is blocking a possibly better young goalie who would be available for a lesser dollar amount.

I seriously doubt it. Remember, going into that '11-12 season Bishop had played 3 years in the AHL and not been impressive. He was subject to waivers before going down, and sailed through without a problem - which tells you what the rest of the league thought of him at the time. I don't see Husso suddenly being something special that someone else grabs him if he goes on waivers to go to Springfield.

Plus, remember that the real problem with Bishop when he finally got it together was that Halak was in the 2nd year of his contract and Elliott was really putting it together. We were challenging for 1st overall and we weren't moving either Halak or Elliott to put in a guy who finally showed he could play at the AHL level so he could get the necessary games at the NHL level, on the hope that he'd do the same in the NHL.

I don’t remember any posters here really criticizing the Allen trade. It was pretty unanimous that it was a good move, and a surprise to many that he held the value he did (though I expected him to hold value). But similarly, I think many (not most) here also feel Allen was a great backup this past season. He just got too expensive in that role for the team salary structure. I really won’t be surprised if he ends up subbing in for an injured Price and carrying the load well for Montreal at some point.

Yeah, I'm not criticizing the trade either. I'm just saying if he's making ~$2.35M instead of $4.35M then Binnington is making less than $4.4 million and we've got a little more breathing room under the cap and Allen isn't viewed as an expensive backup eating up cap space we could put toward someone who's more useful ... which goes back to the entire discussion around giving Allen 4/17.4 when he still had a year remaining on his contract.

The points you made above reflect a lot more on Husso than on Allen. Armstrong is betting on him. That’s why the one-way contract was given. Armstrong wasn’t suddenly in a pickle over that. These are two related moves that were always connected (Husso’s contract and trading Allen).

The issue though is people asking if we're better off with Husso as the backup instead of Allen. It's difficult to argue that we are.

 

[TheDizee]

Yes aslong as Binny returns to his pre lockout self.

 

[Meatball]

Yes.

 

[GoldenSeal]

The only way I’ll remotely say yes is if Chief can build a playbook around the D that emphasizes its strengths and makes it effective. Otherwise we’re back to having scoring problems with the added worry if D can’t limit or totally get overrun on SOG. Even the best netminders would have a serious issues with that setup.

 

[Ranksu]

 

[Renard]

I can't see us contending. There isn't much to feel positive about.

The only thing holding my interest at this point is the chance that an unknown like Walman might emerge as a useful NHL player

 

[Meatball]

It just doesn't make sense. This roster isn't that much worse than the one that won the cup, and yet this team just isn't that good.

Even if we get fully healthy, I don't see us seriously contending for the cup. The teams in front of us (Wild, Avs, Knights and to a lesser extent the Kings) aren't juggernauts like the Kings and Hawks of the early 2010s, or the old Red Wings dynasty for example, but we just don't have what it takes to overcome them.

I'd like to be wrong (and if I am, I'll be the first one to come back to this post and eat crow), but I just don't see it this season.

Sorry guys.

 

[Mike Liut]

It’s just not our year. We’ll come back healthy and fresh next year

 

[Mike Liut]

Our remaining schedule is absolutely brutal. I’m not even sure how many wins are left. 3 vs Anaheim, 1 vs Arizona and 17 vs the Av’s, LV and Minny combined. Good luck with that. Looks more like a top 5 pick instead of sneaking into the playoffs.

Sounds like something I said during the cup year too.

 

[GoldenSeal]

Our remaining schedule is absolutely brutal. I’m not even sure how many wins are left. 3 vs Anaheim, 1 vs Arizona and 17 vs the Av’s, LV and Minny combined. Good luck with that. Looks more like a top 5 pick instead of sneaking into the playoffs.

Sounds like something I said during the cup year too.

I want to see what happens at the TDL. I really feel Army has a few tricks up his sleeve. The big question marks for me are Krug and Tarasenko. I'd be fine with shipping them off + for the help we need.

 

[stl76]

I want to see what happens at the TDL. I really feel Army has a few tricks up his sleeve. The big question marks for me are Krug and Tarasenko. I'd be fine with shipping them off + for the help we need.

I kind of doubt we will see much action at the TDL, and think it would be a mistake to start shipping off guys like Krug/Tarasenko...I think DA will give the team a chance to pull it together down the stretch and either they all rally together and make a run in the playoffs or they fall short and we re-assess in the off season.

FWIW I still think this team has the talent to be a contender and there is still a decent chance they can turn it around down the stretch here. The margin for error is getting smaller and time is starting to work against us tho.

 

[GoldenSeal]

I kind of doubt we will see much action at the TDL, and think it would be a mistake to start shipping off guys like Krug/Tarasenko...I think DA will give the team a chance to pull it together down the stretch and either they all rally together and make a run in the playoffs or they fall short and we re-assess in the off season.

FWIW I still think this team has the talent to be a contender and there is still a decent chance they can turn it around down the stretch here. The margin for error is getting smaller and time is starting to work against us tho.

I'm with you, hope is definitely not totally lost but we desperately need a finisher. I don't see Tarasenko being that guy, in fact, I'm concerned about him getting injured again. And we need someone more Defence solid than Krug to rock with Faulk.

 

[execwrite1]

Not even close. Need trade deadline deals that bring future assets. Time to tear it down.

 

[stl76]

I'm with you, hope is definitely not totally lost but we desperately need a finisher. I don't see Tarasenko being that guy, in fact, I'm concerned about him getting injured again. And we need someone more Defence solid than Krug to rock with Faulk.

I think it's too soon to say Tarasenko is no longer a finisher, I want to be patient with him. He's been improving game-by-game IMO and I like his intensity level so far even if the on ice results haven't been there yet. I wouldn't mind seeing Vova on the third line with Thomas for a bit to see if he can regain some mojo with Thomas feeding him passes against weaker competition/easier defensive matchups.

I actually really like Krug and Faulk together as a pairing, just think we are asking them to do too much. They would be a borderline elite 2nd pairing...but right now we are asking them to play top pairing defensive minutes and they look like a mediocre top pairing in that role (not train-wreck-horrible, but middle to lower end top pairing). I really like what Krug has brought to the table so far this year, his decisions with the puck and passing have been largely very good to great IMO. His brain and compete level allow him to be a very effective overall defensmen, but he will always be limited defensively due to his size.

 

[GoldenSeal]

Not even close. Need trade deadline deals that bring future assets. Time to tear it down.

No reason in the universe to tear this team apart. Retool and strengthen.

 

[TK 421]

My original post in this thread is aging well but it was made prior to signing Hoffman and no one could have predicted these overwhelming injuries.

Rough ride so far and I'm increasingly more interested in the draft than I am in the finish to this season other than the obvious effect on draft position.

 

[GoldenSeal]

Can we swap injuries and have Colt come back better and Hoffman be the injured one instead?