Rumor: Sobotka to return to St.Louis per his agent

[amnesiac]

http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/07/08/sobotkas-agent-says-hes-returning-to-the-blues/

Click to read more...

 

[KirkOut]

We've heard like 10 times that he's coming back or he's staying in the KHL. When we see him on the ice in either a Blues jersey or an Omsk jersey we will know for sure

 

[strictlyrandy]

I hope he comes back. It's the one guaranteed fight Duchene gets.

 

[Freudian]

He owes them a year.

 

[Treb]

With Backes gone, he has more chance to be able to secure a top9 center spot.

Still has to beat Lehtera, Statsny, Steen and Berglund but it's one less

 

[amnesiac]

With Backes gone, he has more chance to be able to secure a top9 center spot.

Still has to beat Lehtera, Statsny, Steen and Berglund but it's one less

he'll centre the 3rd, hes one of the best faceoff men in the world.

 

[Oberyn]

Everyone knows he owes the Blues one year at 2.7M. Which clown wrote this article?

 

[Evocable Manager]

I do hope he comes back. Could be a nice help on our 3rd Unit/Shutdown Line. Can also produce 30+ points.

As for him playing center, Steen and Berglund can play on the wing, and he can't possibly be worse than Lehtera. Maybe I'm biased because I hate Lehtera but outside of Paajarvi I'd argue Lehtera is the most useless player. Sobotka should not have a problem getting a top 9 spot.

 

[Skiffer55]

I do hope he comes back. Could be a nice help on our 3rd Unit/Shutdown Line. Can also produce 30+ points.

As for him playing center, Steen and Berglund can play on the wing, and he can't possibly be worse than Lehtera. Maybe I'm biased because I hate Lehtera but outside of Paajarvi I'd argue Lehtera is the most useless player. Sobotka should not have a problem getting a top 9 spot.

Do most blues fans hate Lehtera? I always thought he was decent but I never really spent a game paying attention to him.

 

[ManyIdeas]

I don't like the bad rep that Lehtera gets

he's significantly better defensively than expected and can pass well. If he actually gets an offseason to work on his conditioning, it might go a long way.

 

[Evocable Manager]

Do most blues fans hate Lehtera? I always thought he was decent but I never really spent a game paying attention to him.

He isn't the worst player, but I can't stand him. Not sure if most fans hate Lehtera, I don't think they do.

 

[rumrokh]

I don't like the bad rep that Lehtera gets

he's significantly better defensively than expected and can pass well. If he actually gets an offseason to work on his conditioning, it might go a long way.

And for being fairly slow, he's a great forechecker. I think people just get turned off by 1. his contract, and 2. his Jekyll and Hyde quality. When he's playing with Schwartz and Tarasenko, he's a low-end first liner, when he's playing with anybody else, he's a good third liner. The problem is that when Tarasenko gets off his game, Lehtera can't seem to stabilize him, so they get split up and then fans start to think of Lehtera as more of a depth player.

 

[Ranksu]

Do most blues fans hate Lehtera? I always thought he was decent but I never really spent a game paying attention to him.

St Louis fans just hate finnish players, damn those fins are annoying people.

 

[Majorityof1]

he'll centre the 3rd, hes one of the best faceoff men in the world.

I actually predict he will be RW on the 3rd. At least to start the season. They will try experiments with Steen and Fabbri on Tarasenko's line. Stasny will center the 2nd line. That leaves Lehtera on the 3rd. Sobotka is a better face-off guy, so he will take the important face-offs for that line, but otherwise line up at RW. If Jaskin or Rattie have a good camp and can claim that spot, Sobotka might even drop to 4th line. If the Steen and Stastny experiments fail, Lehtera will move up with Tarasenko and it will open up that 3rd line center role for Sobotka.

 

[Brendonhayden]

My lineup predictions for game one if sobotka is here
Schwartz lethera tank
Fabbri Stasney Perron
Steen sobotka berglund
Jaskin Brodsiak upshall
Most blues fan like lethera but he has terrible conditioning if it was good or at least decent he could be a good top six player.

 

[tony d]

He's a good player, be interesting to see him back with the Blues.

 

[Xerloris]

My lineup predictions for game one if sobotka is here
Schwartz lethera tank
Fabbri Stasney Perron
Steen sobotka berglund
Jaskin Brodsiak upshall
Most blues fan like lethera but he has terrible conditioning if it was good or at least decent he could be a good top six player.

I like how people keep referring to Tarasenko as nicknames that he specifically requested not to be called.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

I like how people keep referring to Tarasenko as nicknames that he specifically requested not to be called.

I don't know if you applaud this or if this upsets you

 

[BlueDream]

I actually predict he will be RW on the 3rd. At least to start the season. They will try experiments with Steen and Fabbri on Tarasenko's line. Stasny will center the 2nd line. That leaves Lehtera on the 3rd. Sobotka is a better face-off guy, so he will take the important face-offs for that line, but otherwise line up at RW. If Jaskin or Rattie have a good camp and can claim that spot, Sobotka might even drop to 4th line. If the Steen and Stastny experiments fail, Lehtera will move up with Tarasenko and it will open up that 3rd line center role for Sobotka.

The only problem with that is that 3rd line would probably suck, and Sobotka would be better on the left side anyways.

I'd rather see a Steen-Sobotka-Berglund line.

I like how people keep referring to Tarasenko as nicknames that he specifically requested not to be called.

Well when Alex Steen calls him that, the fans have the right to as well. Maybe Vladdy should tell his teammate to shut up if he truly has a problem with it, lol.

 

[rt]

Why would anyone care if people called them "tank" versus any other nickname? What's the deal?

 

[Rebels57]

My lineup predictions for game one if sobotka is here
Schwartz lethera tank
Fabbri Stasney Perron
Steen sobotka berglund
Jaskin Brodsiak upshall
Most blues fan like lethera but he has terrible conditioning if it was good or at least decent he could be a good top six player.

That lineup is a #1 Center away from being a major contender.

They should really look to deal Shattenkirk for RNH to see if they can get more out of him.

 

[Dumpster Flyers]

We've heard like 10 times that he's coming back or he's staying in the KHL. When we see him on the ice in either a Blues jersey or an Omsk jersey we will know for sure

At this point, I wonder if his agent is hard-selling his NHL return as leverage for a better KHL deal.

 

[bluetuned]

Do most blues fans hate Lehtera? I always thought he was decent but I never really spent a game paying attention to him.

He's been underwhelming thus far, particularly after flying out of the gate when he first got here.

The issue is that he signed a substantial extension (to start this fall) after his first season. It was obviously based on the presumption that he'd improve. Instead he got worse.

In year one he put up 14g-44p. In year two dropped to 9g-34p. If he can produce like he did in his first year his new deal will be... OK. If he can improve and be a 50-60p player then it'll be a really solid contract. If he just repeats what he did last year then it'll be a disaster.

The fact that his production pace in his first two years is almost identical to what Sobotka did in his last two years with the Blues is really disconcerting. Lehtera is fine defensively, but he's not close to Sobotka in that regard, and he was supposed to be a guy who could step into our Top 6 in a way that Sobotka never really could. So far that hasn't been the case.

You can see the offensive potential when watching him, but it hasn't translated outside of a good couple months when he first got here. He had offseason surgery last summer, which likely hurt his conditioning, so hopefully he can rebound this year.

 

[WalterSobchak]

At this point, I wonder if his agent is hard-selling his NHL return as leverage for a better KHL deal.

he still has a KHL deal, he can buy out his final year to return to the NHL.

 

[Frenzy31]

The fact that his production pace in his first two years is almost identical to what Sobotka did in his last two years with the Blues is really disconcerting. Lehtera is fine defensively, but he's not close to Sobotka in that regard, and he was supposed to be a guy who could step into our Top 6 in a way that Sobotka never really could. So far that hasn't been the case.

You can see the offensive potential when watching him, but it hasn't translated outside of a good couple months when he first got here. He had offseason surgery last summer, which likely hurt his conditioning, so hopefully he can rebound this year.

Sobi's best offensive output was still worse then lehtera's worst. I get the contract concerns, but let's not recreate history here.