Join Blues beat writer Jim Thomas for his live chat at 1 p.m. Wednesday
Get your questions ready and join in at 1 p.m. Wednesday for our weekly Blues chat.
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Jim, which coach manages the line changes? Chief was quoted after the game saying a line change that ended up with the puck in our net shouldn't have been made. Also, my opinion is mistakes often happen when the player has extended his shift too long and he is exhausted, Tarasenko looked tired when he turned over the puck. -
I believe it's Berube that handles the line changes at forward and Van Ryn who does so for the defensemen during regulation. I'm not sure if this is the case in overtime, when there's only three players out there. And good call on the OT shift. Tarasenko was out there for a full minute - which is a long shift, even for overtime. -
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To a man, the players all talk about how this is a close team. But I remember Armstrong saying (when he met with us during the 8-game losing streak) that it doesn't necessarily look like a team that's close on the ice. I don't know about "past few years" but something does seem off about this year's team. And I don't know what that is.
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What has this Team done to convince anyone that their playoff bound? Right now they have to pass, the Lanch, Cal-Gary, the Oilers, and the Nucks. Plus, you have Smashville nipping at your rear end. If we keep going at this pace (just outside of the WC) will Army pull the trigger on trading 91 and or 90?
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Tom, the Blues seem to be allergic to forechecking, which has been a strength the past few years. I’m sure Coach has harped about it, but not much has changed. Is team speed an issue - they are simply to slow to the puck? And thanks for your time and excellent comments.
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When on the PP I don’t understand why Chief leaves the 1st PP unit on when there is a stoppage in play and more than 30 seconds of PP time has expired. It results in wasted time of having to change to the 2nd PP unit and\or tired 1st unit players if they have extended puck possession in the offensive zone.
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Have you thought seriously about what the 2022-2023 team will look like? It honestly scares me because assuming at a minimum #'s 90 and 91 are no longer with us...who replaces their quality during the 2022-2023 season...and beyond? Aside from their on-ice impact, what about their locker room impact? Sheesh! Please give me some hope for the future Jim. (Kinda joking!)
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I think Neighbours and Alexandrov have to be on the team. (Bolduc and Snuggerud almost certainly aren't ready, although maybe Bolduc surprises us.) If O'Reilly and Tarasenko are both gone, maybe you find a way to keep Barbashev. And Acciari.It's clear the future of the team is Thomas and Kyrou. They have to step more completely into those roles, especially as team leaders
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too your point, the guys that could be top 6 are few years away. The Blues being as good as they have has been is both a blessing and a curse. Unless you find lightening in a bottle you are not going to be able to draft a generational talent in the back half of the NHL draft. You will find a lot of good players, just not generational. The Blues might have to stink for the next 3 or 4 years in order for us to get one of those types of players.
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The Blues have been a contending team for virtually the entire time that Armstrong has been around. That means they've gone draft after draft without a top 10 pick. The example I think of here is Buffalo. They haven't made the playoffs in 11 seasons. They had five or six top 10 picks on their roster when they played the Blues. And they looked great against the Blues. But it looks like they're going to miss the playoffs again. The Blues on the other hand have had only 5 or 6 top 10 picks COMBINED since like 1989. (I researched this back when the Blues played Buffalo before Thanksgiving. I don't have the numbers at my fingertips,, so I may be off by a number or two, but the basic point is the same.)Sooner or later this lack of top 10 picks catches up with you, particularly in the salary cap era. So you're right, the only chance the Blues may have to get one of those players would be to be at the bottom of the standings for a year or two or more.
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I have to agree with STCBluesFan for this reason. If you listen to the game last night you heard Panger, out loud, question Parako's play. Icing the puck two times in a row? They might do that in Pee Wee's but not the NHL. He rarely skates hard, and he is rarely physical. His one timer is hard because you can hear it on TV hitting the shin pads of the opposing player directly in front of him. How many all-star games has he been in? The correct answer is zero. Yes, he's a good defenseman, but not worth the $7.25m he currently makes.
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Alex Pietrangelo, a former No. 4 overall pick, used to ice the puck a lot - much more than he should. So I'm not sure what the point is here.Parayko is a large man, so it takes him a while to reach top speed. But he skates hard.He's not a physical player. I think we all see that.He makes $6.5 million a year. There are 44 defensemen in the league currently making $6 million or more. So it is not an exorbitant contract.
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Thanks for hosting the chat, JT, and I hope you and your family had a safe and merry Christmas. One of the Blues' keys to success last season was their ability to roll at least three lines that were legitimate offensive threats; this year, it's pretty much been just the Thomas line. I think the Blues would find more wins if they could add at least one more.I don't want to beat on a dead horse, but it seems that the loss of Perron has affected O'Reilly more than anyone else on the team, and Josh Leivo hasn't done anything to spark him or Saad. Is there one or two players in the league not named "David Perron" who you think might help pull those two out of their rut? Do you think Noel Acciari would fit part of that DP57 hole on that line?
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Acciari has scored more than 10 goals only once in his first seven seasons in the league, so I don't think he's going to provide enough goal-scoring punch - at least in the long term - playing on an O'Reilly line. I'm not sure who else you could get in the league right now to fill that role. Again, you've got to fit them into the cap.But your basic premise, I think, is true. We talked about this on today's NetFront. The Blues have rarely had more than one line going with any kind of consistency.
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Not so much a question but an observation: Are Blues fans unaware that there's a salary cap when they start tossing out the old, "Army needs to trade so-and-so," or simply choose to willfully ignore that reality? Fact is, only eight of the 32 teams have more than $3M in cap space (not including LTIR relief), and only one of them--Minnesota Wild--are presently sitting in a playoff berth. In other words, any pending UFA Blue with a NTC isn't going to waive it to go to a non-contender, and none of the contenders is going to give up a player with a comparable salary in any trade with the Blues because that player is likely as or more valuable to their team as it stands. Again, more of an observation.
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One other thing I'd like to add here. If not for COVID depressing the salary cap increases each year (because of the lost revenue) the Blues would probably have about $8 million to $10 million extra cap money to play with and wouldn't be in as severe of a cap hole. You can't plan for a once in a century type epidemic. If not for that, maybe O'Reilly or Barbashev or Mikkola already would be re-signed. Maybe Perron would still be a Blue.
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Do you ever get to ask Army questions? It doesn't seem like he's available for that. His media availability is always on his terms correct? As a true blue fan we deserve to know his direction for this team. We're in a hole that ARMY has dug!! Krug is falling apart. Leddy and Schen are on the wrong side of the mountain all 3 with NTC! It's time to move on from ROR and I'm hoping Vladi gets resigned and gets the C he was passed over for. Put Lievo and Pitlick on waivers and bring up Alexandtov. And perhaps Highmore or Neighbors. DO SOMETHING ARMY it's your bed dude!!!
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I always talk to Armstrong at the prospect tournament in Traverse City. And I always try to get him at the all-star break. Additionally, he usually does a couple of lengthy press updates over the course of the season. He's already done one.Otherwise, he usually defers to Berube - choosing to have him be the voice of the team during the season.You will know his direction soon enough.
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Good afternoon Jim. When I look at how the Blues have fallen back from the Stanley Cup team, three things stand out. Please tell me you if you agree or disagree or if you want to add anything else. 1) They lost two Hall-of-Fame caliber defensemen in Pietrangelo and Bouwmeester and haven't come remotely close to replacing them. Parayko is OK but not a No. 1 defenseman. 2) The fourth line was amazing during the Cup run. Now, due to a variety of reasons, it's barely a factor. There isn't much depth. 3) Binnington has been pretty decent but no where near the run he had in 2019. That's a high bar, I know, but he should be more consistent than he's been. Thoughts? I'll hang up and listen.
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I think Alexandrov and Neighbors need to be on the team now.....The Blues get nothing from Brown, Pitlick, Toropchenko, and Walker. I know the brass wants to give the young guys more ice time at Springfield but, the big club needs help now. (I know Chief likes Toropchenko but, he has to have the worst hands in the league)
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Way too early to give up on Toropchenko and Brown. I have immense respect for Walker, but it just hasn't been happening for him this year. Grouping Pitlick, Walker and Josh Leivo together, you probably shouldn't have all three on the roster together. You've got to do better.It's a fine line on knowing when to bring up prospects like Alexandrov and Neighbours. They both need ice time and touches. Neighbours needs to get some of his offensive confidence back - he scored 4 goals in his last 6 games before the AHL's Christmas break, so maybe he's getting there. But I fully expect Neighbours and Alexandrov to be back before the end of the season.
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Hi Jim,
Hope you had a good holiday.
For a team whose ownership philosophy is to spend to the cap, a retool seems more in order than a rebuild. But this year's time reminds me more of the 2018 team, that missed the playoff by one point (loss to Colorado). We saw that they weren't afraid to deal Pauly Walnuts that year, so I think this year Armstrong deals Tarasenko and holds on to O'Reilly. Ryan is the better 200-ft game forward, and WANTS to be here. Tarasenko wants to play in New York area (Rangers?).
Do you see them doing the same? I don't see them adding D to the roster at the deadline, since Armstrong already made that decision in the offseason (signing Leddy and letting Perron walk). If what you are saying about Scott P is true, that is the deadline internal D to add and covers Krug's role on the team, if healthy. -
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