Where do you rank the Blues C depth?

[Dbrownss]

Lol a ,"mere" ppg guy.

 

[Atomos2]

What tells you the Oilers dont win the cup this year?

It's not like their lineup has made any significant changes like adding a franchise centre. And they did just miss the playoffs last year. But I guess you can use that argument if you want....who knows. I guess anything is possible. However based on how they finished last season and their respective offseasons, you'd think one would be ahead of the other.

 

[Mrb1p]

It's not like their lineup has made any significant changes like adding a franchise centre. And they did just miss the playoffs last year. But I guess you can use that argument if you want....who knows. I guess anything is possible. However based on how they finished last season and their respective offseasons, you'd think one would be ahead of the other.

What changed since 2016 though?

 

[Kamiccolo]

Bozak is fine as a #3. ROR has the shutdown defense, so you don't need a defensive 3rd line. Bozak scoring ~40ish points and winning a bunch of faceoffs is a good #3.

Wait until you watch him for a full year. Also don't forget he scored 40 while playing with JVR the whole year and Marner half 5v5 and on the PP with Marner. He's probably going to get 30 in St. Louis while being a liability defensively.

 

[TK 421]

Wait until you watch him for a full year. Also don't forget he scored 40 while playing with JVR the whole year and Marner half 5v5 and on the PP with Marner. He's probably going to get 30 in St. Louis while being a liability defensively.

He's going to have wingers who historically have finished with around 40-45 pts which I believe is right around his own career average. Let's say it's closer to 30 than 45 for arguments sake for whatever reason. You could cite a Yeo coached PP as a reason his #'s might drop but other than that I can't see a reason why his production would fall that dramatically. As far as the defensive liability comment goes there are a couple ways that could play out. For starters his FO #'s are strong so theoretically he's helping to win possession more often than not. If he did end up being the defensive liability you claim he is then the Blues could simply put him in at RW and use Thomas as the 3C. Or use defensively responsible wingers like Steen for instance. Given all the new personnel available there are quite a few options the Blues could explore. That's before you even get to the part where the Leafs D is simply not on par defensively with the Blues. No offense but the Blues are in a better position to cover for any potential defensive liability that Bozak represents.

 

[Kamiccolo]

He's going to have wingers who historically have finished with around 40-45 pts which I believe is right around his own career average. Let's say it's closer to 30 than 45 for arguments sake for whatever reason. You could cite a Yeo coached PP as a reason his #'s might drop but other than that I can't see a reason why his production would fall that dramatically. As far as the defensive liability comment goes there are a couple ways that could play out. For starters his FO #'s are strong so theoretically he's helping to win possession more often than not. If he did end up being the defensive liability you claim he is then the Blues could simply put him in at RW and use Thomas as the 3C. Or use defensively responsible wingers like Steen for instance. Given all the new personnel available there are quite a few options the Blues could explore. That's before you even get to the part where the Leafs D is simply not on par defensively with the Blues. No offense but the Blues are in a better position to cover for any potential defensive liability that Bozak represents.

I get it man you are happy I am sorry for raining on your parade. I am just coming from someone who is a huge Bozak fan so don't take it as a basing, but if he got that deal from the Leafs I would have been mad. He has never been the best player on his line or even the 2nd best. He is elite in the shootouts (maybe one of the best) and at faceoffs.

He is a good piece on the PP when you have a ton of skill and just need a body who can read signals and put the puck in an open net (which Bozak has a huge habit of missing, you will get to know this Blues fans). However, that is about where his value ends. His play in his own zone is non existent, and even Babcock on him couldn't get him to consistently put in a defensive effort. He will frustrate you by missing the easiest chances and then skate back down the ice and get beat for a goal against.

He's just not an elite piece and he is not an elite defensive piece. He is a very very average player, who needs 60 point guys to produce. He scored 43 and his winger scored 36 goals and he played with Marner on the PP who had nearly the best statistical season on the PP of all time.

I just feel Blues fans feel they have their expectations in check but their expectation is basically his ceiling.

 

[Dbrownss]

I get it man you are happy I am sorry for raining on your parade. I am just coming from someone who is a huge Bozak fan so don't take it as a basing, but if he got that deal from the Leafs I would have been mad. He has never been the best player on his line or even the 2nd best. He is elite in the shootouts (maybe one of the best) and at faceoffs.

He is a good piece on the PP when you have a ton of skill and just need a body who can read signals and put the puck in an open net (which Bozak has a huge habit of missing, you will get to know this Blues fans). However, that is about where his value ends. His play in his own zone is non existent, and even Babcock on him couldn't get him to consistently put in a defensive effort. He will frustrate you by missing the easiest chances and then skate back down the ice and get beat for a goal against.

He's just not an elite piece and he is not an elite defensive piece. He is a very very average player, who needs 60 point guys to produce. He scored 43 and his winger scored 36 goals and he played with Marner on the PP who had nearly the best statistical season on the PP of all time.

I just feel Blues fans feel they have their expectations in check but their expectation is basically his ceiling.

If Bozak is our new whipping boy, things are going well in Stl if what you say is true. He's just not a critical piece with ROR joining the team.

 

[TK 421]

I get it man you are happy I am sorry for raining on your parade. I am just coming from someone who is a huge Bozak fan so don't take it as a basing, but if he got that deal from the Leafs I would have been mad. He has never been the best player on his line or even the 2nd best. He is elite in the shootouts (maybe one of the best) and at faceoffs.

He is a good piece on the PP when you have a ton of skill and just need a body who can read signals and put the puck in an open net (which Bozak has a huge habit of missing, you will get to know this Blues fans). However, that is about where his value ends. His play in his own zone is non existent, and even Babcock on him couldn't get him to consistently put in a defensive effort. He will frustrate you by missing the easiest chances and then skate back down the ice and get beat for a goal against.

He's just not an elite piece and he is not an elite defensive piece. He is a very very average player, who needs 60 point guys to produce. He scored 43 and his winger scored 36 goals and he played with Marner on the PP who had nearly the best statistical season on the PP of all time.

I just feel Blues fans feel they have their expectations in check but their expectation is basically his ceiling.

Yeah I hear you and I tend to agree based on what I've heard about him. I really enjoy getting insights from fan bases who have seen a lot of a former player so thank you for that. Fwiw I could easily see him scoring in that 30 pt range you cited but I'm projecting 35-40 which I think is a reasonable expectation. Yeo's PP's tend to be mind bogglingly bad at even getting zone entries to the point where you wonder, "W...T...F...do they just not practice PP's at all?" But he does have strong winger support here so I think if he does have a drop in production the most likely cause of that would be the Yeo PP Effect.

In any case we collectively are just expecting him to be a 3rd line center which is obviously right in his wheelhouse. I think a bit too much is being made of him being our 3rd line center, the strength of this center group is based around the Blues now having a very strong group of 4 guys with 3 of them being slotted perfectly into roles that suit them and the 4th being an excellent 200 ft center who's decidely better than 4th line quality. After having essentially what amounted to 2 4th lines last year we're all excited to have an actual 3rd line again and far more importantly, the best center depth we've had since....forever?. Now if I can just get Jake Allen and Mike Yeo aboard the same space exploration mission the off season would be perfect.

 

[MNRube]

Very average. Personally i dont think Bozak is very good, and will he feasted on in the Central. If I were Yeo id consider putting Bozak with Tarasenko and allow ROR and Schenn handle more dzone starts.

 

[Atomos2]

What changed since 2016 though?

I dunno. But whatever did caused the Oilers to miss the playoffs in 2017.

 

[Empoleon8771]

They're probably in the 8-12 range, if I had to guess. ROR is a 1C, but he's a lower end 1C. I'd probably say Schenn is a high end 2C and Bozak is a low end 2C. So they do have 3 top-6 centers, but there are a lot of teams that have better 2Cs than ROR.

 

[Aladyyn]

They're probably in the 8-12 range, if I had to guess. ROR is a 1C, but he's a lower end 1C. I'd probably say Schenn is a high end 2C and Bozak is a low end 2C. So they do have 3 top-6 centers, but there are a lot of teams that have better 2Cs than ROR.

Washington, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Edmonton, Florida, LA, maybe Tampa? Wouldn't say that's "a lot" but that's just me.

 

[Yamazaki]

Bottom 10

 

[Ainec]

top 10

 

[wintersej]

Krejci numbers(ppg) havent changed at all BUT he hasnt been able to stay healthy ... That #3 is a ? Worse case Backes plays 3rd line C... Could be a lot worse

That didn't age well