Thoughts on Defense

[DatDude44]

I hate to say this but I think with the recent additions it is a fools errand to overlook Chicago. They are not going to be anyone's doormat.

They'll compete and win some games, but they're nothing special, especially if fleury doesn't show up

 

[TheDizee]

Blues have gotten better with Buch and Saad while losing Hoffman/Schwartz because they are better 200 foot players. They fit our mold much better than someone like Hoffman did who is a floater like Tarasenko.

I personally think the D is fine if people play to their standards but could use a depth add to replace Gunnar. I thought some of the people like Santini actually performed well in the playoffs given the circumstances and I would like to see Walman and Perunovich get a shot.

Team is better overall defensively if Walman or Perunovich take steps forward, Dunn was certainly no plus on defense in terms of defending.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

I think this D core is decent going into the season. Health will play a huge factor on our success. We can reassess by the TDL and pick up rentals as needed if we look like contenders. LHD: Giordano, Leddy, Lindholm, Rielly, and Ekholm are all on expiring deals (As are others, but those are the ones I forsee being most likely to be traded due to the teams their on). RHD: Subban and Stralman are really the only two that move the needle but Parayko and Faulk have been pretty durable over the course of their careers.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

They'll compete and win some games, but they're nothing special, especially if fleury doesn't show up

I disagree. Didn’t the Blackhawks play around .500 hockey this past season?

Better at forward. Better in goal. Better defense with the subtraction of Seabrook.

 

[Meatball]

Considering our forward group now (and that's WITH Tarasenko):

Scandella-Parayko
Krug-Faulk
Mikkola-Bortuzzo

You could do far worse. I still think they're solid, and perhaps with a lesser forward group, there'd be cause for concern. You've still got plenty of size, scoring punch, and shutdown ability and with an improved year from everyone, our defense is good enough to take us deep considering our forward group now.

 

[BlueDream]

I’m fine entering the season with the current 6 in the lineup above + Walman.

A multitude of things could happen that would really help out:

- Parayko being healthy (obviously)
- Krug gelling more and Scandella improving to where he was at when he first came here
- Walman and/or Mikkola establishing themself as an everyday player

Not saying all need to happen, but if 2 of those things happen then we are in pretty good shape.

I still think Walman and Mikkola have potential and I’d like to give them a chance to grab more ice time.

If the defense is still struggling mid-season, then that can be our trade deadline target.

 

[Blueston]

I’m fine entering the season with the current 6 in the lineup above + Walman.

A multitude of things could happen that would really help out:

- Parayko being healthy (obviously)
- Krug gelling more and Scandella improving to where he was at when he first came here
- Walman and/or Mikkola establishing themself as an everyday player

Not saying all need to happen, but if 2 of those things happen then we are in pretty good shape.

I still think Walman and Mikkola have potential and I’d like to give them a chance to grab more ice time.

If the defense is still struggling mid-season, then that can be our trade deadline target.

Parayko returning to form and staying healthy is key. Everything else pales next to that.

 

[simon IC]

Why does everyone seem to want the Krug-Faulk pairing back? They absolutely suck together.

 

[MissouriMook]

Why does everyone seem to want the Krug-Faulk pairing back? They absolutely suck together.

They weren’t great when they were the top pairing, but they had the best 5-on-5 numbers in the league starting the season as the 2nd pairing. As we knew, they are great 2/3 or 3/4 defensemen and will excel as long as you’re not expecting them to shut down the other teams top lines. To me, that is why it is important to find a LD that can play top pairing minutes with Parayko whether that player is currently on the roster or not.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I’m fine entering the season with the current 6 in the lineup above + Walman.

A multitude of things could happen that would really help out:

- Parayko being healthy (obviously)
- Krug gelling more and Scandella improving to where he was at when he first came here
- Walman and/or Mikkola establishing themself as an everyday player

Not saying all need to happen, but if 2 of those things happen then we are in pretty good shape.

I still think Walman and Mikkola have potential and I’d like to give them a chance to grab more ice time.

If the defense is still struggling mid-season, then that can be our trade deadline target.

Walman’s trajectory has been fun to watch. I think he’ll be just fine.

Mikkola, on the other hand, needs to chill. He’s like Lindbohm, in that when the temperature is anything above Finnish blood frozen, he behaves erratically.

It’s a chemistry thing.

 

[sfvega]

I disagree. Didn’t the Blackhawks play around .500 hockey this past season?

Better at forward. Better in goal. Better defense with the subtraction of Seabrook.

I agree. If they have a fully healthy Toews and Dach, those guys alone are difference makers. Much less Fleury and Jones.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

Man you all seem to have WAAAAAY more confidence in Torey Krug and Marco Scandella than I do

 

[BadgersandBlues]

I think Krug/Faulk as a second pairing will work. It's when we put them up against top competition that they were bad.

That's the real key about losing AP - he could anchor a defensive pairing all on his own. Gunnarson, Edmundson, hell even going as far back as Carlo f***ing Coliacavo (sp). Didn't matter who was on his left side, AP could play against top competition and still drive play north.

Parayko has yet to show that ability. Scandella doesn't inspire confidence in me, but he's the best we've got until we can make a TDL deal for someone better, unless Walman or Mikkola take a massive step forward (As I've stated other places, my money is on Walman hitting that next step over Mikkola, if either of them do). I'm hopeful Walman turns into a top 4 guy that's a good enough compliment to Parayko, but if after 50-60 games it's not working, we go trade for Giordano or Leddy or someone else.

Either way, our D, currently as constructed and HEALTHY, is good enough to keep us in a playoff position for the first 50ish games of the year. Re-asses at the TDL and plug holes as needed IF and ONLY IF we think we can actually win the Cup. If not let's not redo last year where we watch a Schwartz/Hoffman walk away for nothing.

 

[Majorityof1]

We have two D who are tied for the 24th highest paid defensemen in the league. They are great on the second pair, but neither of them can be on the first pair despite being paid as a low end #1 D. Why don't you guys like them?

 

[Renard]

I think Krug/Faulk as a second pairing will work. It's when we put them up against top competition that they were bad.

That's the real key about losing AP - he could anchor a defensive pairing all on his own. Gunnarson, Edmundson, hell even going as far back as Carlo f***ing Coliacavo (sp). Didn't matter who was on his left side, AP could play against top competition and still drive play north.

Parayko has yet to show that ability. Scandella doesn't inspire confidence in me, but he's the best we've got until we can make a TDL deal for someone better, unless Walman or Mikkola take a massive step forward (As I've stated other places, my money is on Walman hitting that next step over Mikkola, if either of them do). I'm hopeful Walman turns into a top 4 guy that's a good enough compliment to Parayko, but if after 50-60 games it's not working, we go trade for Giordano or Leddy or someone else.

Either way, our D, currently as constructed and HEALTHY, is good enough to keep us in a playoff position for the first 50ish games of the year. Re-asses at the TDL and plug holes as needed IF and ONLY IF we think we can actually win the Cup. If not let's not redo last year where we watch a Schwartz/Hoffman walk away for nothing.

Players walking away for nothing is the reality of unrestricted free agency.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

Players walking away for nothing is the reality of unrestricted free agency.

....yes?

We had an option to trade both at the previous TDL but didn't b/c we went on a three game winning streak and Armstrong figured it was good enough for us to take a run......there were plenty of people saying back then that the three game winning streak leading up to the deadline was about the worst thing that could happen b/c it gave management faith to go the direction of competing when the previous 10-15 games had clearly shown we weren't a very good team and we should have been selling. I'm simply pointing out that we should learn from that mistake, if we sleepwalk through the first 50-55 games of the season then go on a mini-run right before the TDL let's not grab hold of the fool's gold

 

[Renard]

....yes?

We had an option to trade both at the previous TDL but didn't b/c we went on a three game winning streak and Armstrong figured it was good enough for us to take a run......there were plenty of people saying back then that the three game winning streak leading up to the deadline was about the worst thing that could happen b/c it gave management faith to go the direction of competing when the previous 10-15 games had clearly shown we weren't a very good team and we should have been selling. I'm simply pointing out that we should learn from that mistake, if we sleepwalk through the first 50-55 games of the season then go on a mini-run right before the TDL let's not grab hold of the fool's gold

i'm sure there was interest in Hoffman as a rental, but what were the offers for Schwartz? Who would give much for a guy who was ready to walk for nothing?

 

[Ranksu]

We have two D who are tied for the 24th highest paid defensemen in the league. They are great on the second pair, but neither of them can be on the first pair despite being paid as a low end #1 D. Why don't you guys like them?

Please don't give facts about them.

I wanna live in lie.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

i'm sure there was interest in Hoffman as a rental, but what were the offers for Schwartz? Who would give much for a guy who was ready to walk for nothing?

Rentals generally walk away for nothing to the teams trading for them.....that's why they're called rentals. That doesn't stop teams from ponying up what they envision to be late first round picks for them all the time.

We could have gone into the draft this year with two more potential 1st round picks, or more likely a 1st (Schwartz) and a 2nd (Hoffman).

 

[Blueston]

Rentals generally walk away for nothing to the teams trading for them.....that's why they're called rentals. That doesn't stop teams from ponying up what they envision to be late first round picks for them all the time.

We could have gone into the draft this year with two more potential 1st round picks, or more likely a 1st (Schwartz) and a 2nd (Hoffman).

Maybe nobody was offering that? Army has historically only traded rentals when he can get a 1st.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

Maybe nobody was offering that? Army has historically only traded rentals when he can get a 1st.

It's a fair point, but Nick Foligno went for a 1st, you have to think Edmonton or Montreal would have potentially ponied up too....maybe Carolina or Florida?

 

[BlueOil]

still the primary concern that will hold us back imo. parayko's a premier shutdown defenseman, but is going to need to score more for me to feel comfortable that this team has a bonafide #1 defenseman that can be relied on to carry the back end. faulk showed he can do it in spurts, krug supports on the powerplay and from the penalty box, and scandella should probably be a #5 guy. the top four is not strong, but it's adequate. it doesn't seem there are a lot of internal solutions either. scott p. being the next krug doesn't really do much for the concerns, so i hope armstrong continues to work to improve the d-core. even a 3 RHD to split or replace bortuzzo would be helpful at this point. i like bortz, but he should not play every game.

i'd give the defensive line up a B overall. with the forwards pitching in, we could have B+ or A- defense sometimes, but i wouldn't count on it nightly

krug - parayko
scandella - faulk
walman - bortuzzo
mikkola

 

[Ranksu]

Why does everyone seem to want the Krug-Faulk pairing back? They absolutely suck together.

They all have drink Army Kool aid.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Why does everyone seem to want the Krug-Faulk pairing back? They absolutely suck together.

I certainly don’t. It makes no sense to me.

When I see Krug-Faulk, I don’t even wretch; I get an error message.

 

[Ranksu]

....yes?

We had an option to trade both at the previous TDL but didn't b/c we went on a three game winning streak and Armstrong figured it was good enough for us to take a run......there were plenty of people saying back then that the three game winning streak leading up to the deadline was about the worst thing that could happen b/c it gave management faith to go the direction of competing when the previous 10-15 games had clearly shown we weren't a very good team and we should have been selling. I'm simply pointing out that we should learn from that mistake, if we sleepwalk through the first 50-55 games of the season then go on a mini-run right before the TDL let's not grab hold of the fool's gold

I love to be 2.0 thedizee, except I was right.


I TOOOLD YOU SOOO. I WAS RIGHT.