The Blues have been consistent for years now but playoff success has not come easy to this team as they have not reached the finals during the last decade. The defence is still good even without Shattenkirk while the offence is average and the goaltending could use some work if Jake Allen does not improve. Even with solid play all around the roster, the Blues will be fighting to keep their playoff streak alive.
Arrivals/Departures
Arrivals: Brayden Schenn, Beau Bennett, Chris Thorburn, Oskar Sundqvist
Departures: David Perron, Jori Lehtera, Ryan Reaves, Nail Yakupov, Scottie Upshall, Ty Rattie, Kenny Agostino, Brad Hunt
Forwards:
Vladimir Tarasenko has emerged as one of the best pure - and consistent - snipers in the NHL scoring 47, 40 and 39 goals over the past three seasons. Tarasenko is the Blues' offence as after him they lack any superstar talent but they do have good depth throughout the forwards group. Paul Stastny is the number-one center but he would be better suited as the number two as he only produces between 40 and 50 points per season and is a long way removed from his career high 79 point season in 2010. Alexander Steen has been the Blues' best forward after Tarasenko for a while now as he continues to score at a good pace. The Blues' big off-season acquisition was Brayden Schenn and he will be the number-two center after putting together his best two seasons over the past two years with the Flyers. Jaden Schwartz had another solid campaign with the Blues and if he continues playing like this, he should be a good top-six forward in St. Louis for years to come. After a very good rookie season, Robby Fabbri missed the second half of the year with an ACL injury but he should be ready for the start of the season. Patrik Berglund will miss the first half of the season but when the big center returns, he should add offence from the third line. Sobotka had turned himself into a very reliable third-line NHL player but he has spent the last three years playing in Russia. He came back for the Blues playoff run and he should be there for the whole 2017-18 campaign. Dmitrij Jaskin has been on the cusp of becoming a full-time NHL player but after years of just missing out, it will be his final year to prove to the Blues he belongs on the roster for more than the 51 games he suited up for last year. A great example of a perfect fourth-line center is Kyle Brodziak as he plays a shutdown penalty kill role helping this team more than you might think. The wingers on the fourth line are both goal scorers whose NHL careers never worked out as planned as Magnus Paajarvi and Beau Bennett have both moved around teams a bunch. Ivan Barbashev is the Blues' best forward prospect and he may be ready to make the full leap to the NHL after playing in 30 games during last year. Chris Thorburn will also be there to provide depth as an enforcer.
Defencemen:
The defence is no longer as dominant as it once was as Kevin Shattenkirk is now gone and Jay Bouwmeester is past his prime but it can still win the Blues games to give them a chance at the playoffs. Alex Pietrangelo is still the leader of the defence as he has improved his offence to evolve from a defensive defenceman into an offensive one as well as taken on the captaincy. Jay Bouwmeester is still one of the best skaters in the league but his offensive production has taken a huge hit dropping all the way down to 13, 19 and 15 points over the past three seasons; he will need to improve those numbers to help replace the offence Shattenkirk left behind. Colton Parayko is one of the best young defencemen in the league as he has had two very good seasons to open up his career; the next step will be expected from him entering the season. After those three, the defence could use some work though as Joel Edmundson will pair up beside Parayko even though he does not have much experience and is better suited on the bottom pair. Carl Gunnarsson is still a good bottom-pair defender as he teams up with Robert Bortuzzo to provide the Blues with an average bottom pairing. Jordan Schmaltz is the Blues' best prospect on defence so he could experience some more NHL action this season after playing only nine games.
Goaltending:
Jake Allen was up and down during his first season as the full-time starter with the Blues but for the most part he was good showing bright signs for the future. The Blues will be in a tight playoff race so Allen will need to steal them some games if they are to take one of the wild card spots from a division rival. Carter Hutton will be the backup again after a good year in 2017; he played well when Allen was struggling a year ago.
Projected Lineup:
Alexander Steen
|
Paul Stastny
|
Vladimir Tarasenko
|
Jaden Schwartz
|
Brayden Schenn
|
Robby Fabbri
|
Vladimir Sobotka
|
Patrik Berglund
|
Dmitrij Jaskin
|
Magnus Paajarvi
|
Kyle Brodziak
|
Beau Bennett
|
Zach Sanford
|
Ivan Barbashev
|
Chris Thorburn
|
Jay Bouwmeester
|
Alex Pietrangelo
|
Joel Edmundson
|
Colton Parayko
|
Carl Gunnarsson
|
Robert Bortuzzo
|
Jordan Schmaltz
|
Petteri Lindbohm
|
Jake Allen
|
Carter Hutton
|
Luke Opilka
|
Top 10 Players:
10. Patrik Berglund
9. Jake Allen
8. Paul Stastny
7. Jay Bouwmeester
6. Colton Parayko
5. Jaden Schwartz
4. Alexander Steen
3. Brayden Schenn
2. Alex Pietrangelo
1. Vladimir Tarasenko
Projected Finish: 92 Points (5th in Central)
Last Year: 99 Points (3rd in Central)
Photo credit for Brayden Schenn goes to http://www.cbc.ca/. Vladimir Tarasenko goes to http://www.thescore.com/. Alex Pietrangelo goes to http://nesn.com/. Jake Allen goes to http://www.nhl.com/.
No comments:
Post a Comment