Blues review 2024

[yave1964]

OFFSEASON OUTLOOK Huge changes, Taresenko and O'Reilly were gone, the hope was that Robert Thomas and Kyrou would replace them and they might fight for a playoff spot.

 

FINAL RECORD 43-33-6 92 points, missed the playoffs by six points.

 

STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR they won 25 home games, one of only 8 teams to have done so, all the others made the playoffs and had damn solid road records. The Blues had a non playoff very bad 18-19-4 road record, their futility on the road doomed their season.

 

HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR tHEY BEAT Edmonton on February 15th running their record to 29-22-2 right in the thick of the playoff hunt. They were on a nice streak of 8-2-0 and looked like they were going to fight with Nashville and the surprisingly (as of then) Knights for the wildcard spots.

 

LOW POINT OF THE YEAR They simply got passed by the red hot Predators down the stretch. They didnt play badly, iin fact they won more than they lost down the stretch it was just that Vegas and Nashville caught fire and St. Louis didnt. You could make the argument that firing Berube after losing 6-4 to the Wings as they limped along at 13-14-2 in mid December was the low.

 

WHAT WENT RIGHT Robert Thomas is the most unknown star in all of hockey, 86 points, 870 faceoffs, 60 assists, nobody noticed but man this guy can play. Kyrou replaced Taresenko with 31 goals. Buchnevich was also under the radar, had a damn fine season. Saad and Neighbors had cool solid Cy young seasons with 52 goals between them. Faulk and Krug, warts and all were decent on the back end. Parayko was the anchor back there, again, underrated nobody noticed. For all the criticism of Binnington, he and Hofer were both solid and a hell of a net tandem. Drew Banister did a good solid job with the roster and is in consideration for the head coach job.

 

WHAT WENT WRONG Kevin Hayes is washed up, scoring 3 goals all year. Brayden Schenn labored all year but while I cannot call last season a bust many cracks appeared in his game. Kapanen and Sundqvist were brought in to supply secondary scoring and both failed. It seems like years ago but Jakub Vrana last year blew his probable last chance in the NHL and was a huge bust. 

 

FREE AGENTS Kapane, Blais and Vrana will absolutely not be invited back and will not be missed. 

 

BLUES TOP PROSPECTS I really like Jimmy Snuggerud and think he will fit in with Neighbors as exciting young top six scoring wingers. Hofer is only 22 and is established as a 1B and may push for more net time. Zack Dean and Zachary Bolduc are B minus forwards who will fight for time. If Dalibor Dvorsky impresses in camp and earns a spot he will push middle six minutes and has a very high upside.

 

  I like the forwards, not quite love them but close. They will push a talented group and make them better. The defense has nobody who I feel will compete or earn a job next year, nobody close and defense is a gaping hole everywhere.

 

QUESTION MARKS How to rebuild the defense? Look i like Parayko, i cannot stand Faulk and Krug and there is nobody else on the back end worth a damn (including Leddy) and the defense cost the team a playoff spot. The Blues need to add likely not one, but two top four blueliners for them to be competitive.

  Can they compete? Yes, absolutely. Thomas is the real deal, as is Kyrou with kids coming up among the forward ranks. They need to give up assets to move out the 4 years at 6.5 million on Schenns deal and the 4.5 million for two years left for Saad. 

 

  I like the core, i like nearly love the prospects, I have been ultra critical of GM Armstrong but the team looks like it has been rebuilt on the fly, they desperately need two legit d-men and I feel they are in the playoffs next year. They need to bite the bullet and trade the msitake contract of Schenn to anyone willing to take it on.

[Brewin Flames]

Great Review....

 

Screw them, Binnington and that Cinderella run.

 

[radoran]

1 hour ago, yave1964 said:

The Blues need to add likely not one, but two top four blueliners for them to be competitive.

 

1 hour ago, yave1964 said:

They need to give up assets to move out the 4 years at 6.5 million on Schenns deal and the 4.5 million for two years left for Saad. 

 

That's a LOT for a team that can "absolutely" compete.

 

Do they have the assets to both acquire two top 4 defencemen AND get rid of $11M in cap space with term?

 

 

Teams gotta be willing to part with players. Signing Schenn was a Bad Move if not for the short term then for the medium to long.

 

Long views. Not "make the playoffs and anything can happen" build championships.