Just finished watching the Blues and Flames. Tough game for the Blues. I came away struck by two different players in Dunn and Parayko. I thought that Dunn looked like the Blues best defender and Parayko looked terrible. I've only watched 3 or 4 Blues games this year though. Is this a trend or is it only the games I've watched? Which player has more value to Blues fans?
I'm probably one of the biggest Dunn fans around here and Parayko is still noticeably better right now. All of the puck flubs you saw in that game from Parayko are mistakes Dunn has been making all year. Almost everyone on the Blues looked terrible in that game. THAT is the trend. Inconsistency. O'Reilly is the only player who has been consistently good.
It wouldn't surprise me if Dunn became a higher impact player eventually (or just by the time he's Parayko's age), but right now, Parayko makes fewer mistakes, covers more ice, and can handle multiple guys in the corners and make a clean exit in impressive fashion. Dunn's breakouts and offense are both better, but not by a tremendous amount right now.
I think Parayko has more trade value - but, strangely, that might make Dunn less movable simply because there's little chance the Blues get a return for him that would make it worth their while. I can reasonably imagine Parayko returning a package that includes a good young defenseman and another significant piece, but Dunn would probably have to be
part of a package that returns an upgrade defenseman for moving him to make sense.
