Roster Speculation, 2018 offseason Part 4/ Post-free agency edition

[truthbluth]

The top 2 lines are the same that I suggested, although I project Marty's second line as a heavily sheltered 3rd line, and if you replace the bottom 6 Marty has with:
Berglund-Erod-Okposo (as 2nd line)
Wilson-Sobotka-Girgensons
Baptiste

Pominville, Moulson, Bailey waived, Larsson traded.

You get faster overall, with more distributed scoring.

Man, if only they could shed that Okposo contract while he's still producing.

 

[Matt Ress]

I can't imagine Sheary and Skinner were acquired to not have either on Jack's wing.

Sorry tht's a lot of negatives.

 

[Jim Bob]

Pretty moronic lineup from Marty.

Which means Housley tries it at least once this season.

 

[Reddawg]

I can't imagine Sheary and Skinner were acquired to not have either on Jack's wing.

Sorry tht's a lot of negatives.

I feel the same way, even though I've always felt that E-Rod on Jack's line would be magical.

 

[sfoote]

The top 2 lines are the same that I suggested, although I project Marty's second line as a heavily sheltered 3rd line, and if you replace the bottom 6 Marty has with:
Berglund-Erod-Okposo (as 2nd line)
Wilson-Sobotka-Girgensons
Baptiste

Pominville, Moulson, Bailey waived, Larsson traded.

You get faster overall, with more distributed scoring.

Man, if only they could shed that Okposo contract while he's still producing.

How are you getting faster overall if you waive Bailey ?

 

[Aladyyn]

PSA: Berglund isn't good. Sobotka is bad. Stop acting otherwise. Neither should be in the top 6 and ideally neither is in the top 9.

 

[Jame]

Does Thompson realistically project as a center? What I've gotten from descriptions of him is he is better suited to play wing in the NHL.

I don't see any center in him.

 

[TehDoak]

PSA: Berglund isn't good. Sobotka is bad. Stop acting otherwise. Neither should be in the top 6 and ideally neither is in the top 9.

I'd agree that neither is on a good contract.

No reason Berglund isn't in our top 9. Sobotka probably is a 4th liner at this point.

Am I excited about paying Berglund 3.85M the next 4 years? No.

He's still a NHLer.

 

[haseoke39]

I feel like we could safely name 9 forwards who everyone agrees should be on the roster. For the remaining 4-5, camp will be a war.

 

[Sabre Dance]

PSA: Berglund isn't good. Sobotka is bad. Stop acting otherwise. Neither should be in the top 6 and ideally neither is in the top 9.

Come on. Berglund could score 15 goals for us next year. Stop underestimating him for whatever reason. He's an upgrade to the top 9. He can fill in the top 6 if injuries hit.

Sobotka is an upgrade to our bottom 6 forwards.

 

[Washed Up 29YearOld]

lol forgot Sheary, put him on the second and bump Rod to the 3rd. I put my heart and soul into those lines. Reinhart-Mittelstadt-Sheary or Sheary-Mittelstadt-Reinhart (Reinhart can play both, but I like him better on the left side, but a R handed Reinhart on the RW would do wonders for Mittelstud)

*Skinner-Eichel-Olofsson

Sheary-Mittelstadt-Reinhart

Rodriquez -Berglund-Okposo

Sobotka-Larsson-Baptiste/Girgensons*​

 

[Aladyyn]

If Larsson gets back to the level he was at before last season I'll take him over both Berglund and Sobotka tbh.

 

[BuzzKillington90]

If Larsson gets back to the level he was at before last season I'll take him over both Berglund and Sobotka tbh.

This is dependent on whether he stops complaining. Larsson over Sobotka - in a heartbeat.

Larsson over Berglund - Nope.

 

[Jame]

Come on. Berglund could score 15 goals for us next year. Stop underestimating him for whatever reason. He's an upgrade to the top 9. He can fill in the top 6 if injuries hit.

Sobotka is an upgrade to our bottom 6 forwards.

That is 2 more goals than Benoit Pouliot scored for us last year...

 

[Jame]

If Larsson gets back to the level he was at before last season I'll take him over both Berglund and Sobotka tbh.

If the rest of the roster wasn't such a mess.... a Sobotka-Larsson line would actually get me excited. What a pain they would be to play against.

 

[TheMistyStranger]

That is 2 more goals than Benoit Pouliot scored for us last year...

Berglund brings a lot more to the table defensively than Pouliot.

 

[truthbluth]

How are you getting faster overall if you waive Bailey ?

Faster overall than Marty's roster which also didn't include Bailey

 

[Sabre Dance]

That is 2 more goals than Benoit Pouliot scored for us last year...

Well he could easily score 20 +. He's been a guy getting heavy D zone starts, still has positive possession #s, and has continued to fill in the top 6 when injuries hit on good St Louis teams.

I hope we don't have to see him getting top 6 minutes unless injuries pile up, but he can still contribute.

 

[Roosters]

Got bored so i was thinking about the future and a possible expansion draft in 2020. It affects what Botts will and can do with the roster. As by now it would look like this. (Only using Players that i think will be on Sabres at this Point)

Forwards:

Protected: Eichel, Reinhart, Skinner, Nylander, Thompson, Rodrigues, X
Exempt: Mittelstadt, Olofsson, Asplund, Oglevie, (ELC signings)
RFA 2020: Girgensons, Smith, O´Regan, Malone, Bailey, Baptiste
UFA 2020: Sobotka, Sheary, Wilson
Exposed: Okposo, Berglund

Defenders:

Protected: Ristolainen, Guhle, X
Exempt: Dahlin, Pilut, Hickey, Borgen, (ELC signings)
RFA 2020: McCabe(?)
UFA 2020: Scandella, Bogosian, Nelson, Hunwick
Exposed: X

Goalies:

Protected/Exposed: Ullmark/Hutton - Depends how they perform, probably go with Ullmark
Exempt: Luukkonen

 

[Fezzy126]

We don't have much - Bogo and McCabe, maybe Scandella. Okposo could have been in that group but with his concussion history I hope he keeps away from any of that. Risto has his moments but that is not his thing.

Man I wish Bailey had a mean streak. I don't see much other than maybe Samuelsson in the pipeline, either.

Right?!?! I mean his dad was a linebacker, how is it that Bailey doesn't play like a military grade destroyer (a la Tom Wilson)?

 

[dasaybz]

He's effective on the wing though, and not effective in the middle. I don't want to waste another first half of the season trying to shoehorn him into a role he hasn't shown himself to be suited for.

Has he really had a shot in the middle? He's had nothing but garbage on his wings for the 10 or so games he was tried at center. Give him another shot with good wingers, and if he fails, then back to the wing. Him Mittelstadt and Eichel down the middle would be unreal for the next 10 or so years. But like you said, let's not shoehorn him ... if he can't do it he can't, but I'm not ready to put that to bed just yet.

 

[Jame]

Berglund brings a lot more to the table defensively than Pouliot.

"a lot more" is a stretch

regardless, the point i was replying to was highlighting his goal scoring...

 

[TheMistyStranger]

"a lot more" is a stretch

regardless, the point i was replying to was highlighting his goal scoring...

He's a solid 3rd line/decent 2nd line player. Pouliot was only valuable for hit shot from time to time.

I know it was highlighting goalscoring, but to use the Pouliot name as comparison is a bit of a straw man.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

There is no way Botteril is going to start Skinner on a line with Mittelstadt. The former will be playing major ES minutes and the latter will not.

 

[GellMann]

If Larsson gets back to the level he was at before last season I'll take him over both Berglund and Sobotka tbh.

I just got done watching 10 Blues games, and I'm not a huge Berglund guy or a fan of the trade, AND I really thought Larsson was going to be a bottom 6 staple for us before that arm injury, but the Berglund I saw in those ten games spread across the year was notably better than the best Larsson has ever been.

The people calling him slow, too, may be correct if you're comparing him to elite NHL players, but I saw no discernable difference between his skating and pretty much any single other Blues player that wasn't Schwartz...and he looked to skate faster than ROR does. Just sayin