In terms of moving forward, no I don't consider Jackman a core guy that we are building around. Do you?
The guys I put in there are guys I'm not entertaining trading without big overpayment. I love Jackman and hope he finishes here with at least one cup, but he isn't a core player, at least not in the terms I'm talking about.
Backes
Oshie
Berglund
Pietrangelo
Shattenkirk
Tarasenko
Perron
Halak
While there are other guys I wouldn't want to trade (McDonald, Steen, Stewart, Schwartz,etc.)I don't consider them core guys.
To a lesser extent, I think Sobotka should be on there too, especially considering his role. He is such a good player. I hope when the times, he can be extended too. Huge part of the team.
To a lesser extent, I think Sobotka should be on there too, especially considering his role. He is such a good player. I hope when the times, he can be extended too. Huge part of the team.
He's effective, but, honestly, guys like Steen and Polak are far more important to winning hockey games. Having top notch bottom line forwards cannot be overlooked, but you need the bigger minute and responsibility players before those role-players matter. That's why Russell, Reaves, and Nichol have all looked as good as they have - because the higher impact players are doing their jobs.
To a lesser extent, I think Sobotka should be on there too, especially considering his role. He is such a good player. I hope when the times, he can be extended too. Huge part of the team.
I love Sobotka on the Blues, but he's much more easily replaced than top 6 players. That said, I don't see why he won't enjoy a long career with the Blues.
I was pretty hard on and disgusted with Stewart's play last year. Probably because I knew he could be better and wasn't playing like he should. So far this year, he is a completely different player. He looks great. He looks quicker and is playing more like a power forward. With his size and hands, he should dominate in front of the net. He should be a Tkachuk type player. I love when Stewie fights on occasion too. If he plays like this, I would love to see him stay a Blue for a long time. His size and strength adds a lot to Hitch's system. Same with Bergy too.
If the Blues stay relatively healthy and figure out how to bring their A game consistently I don't see a better team in the NHL. I think a healthy, consistent Blues team would be a nightmare playoff opponent. So much depth.
Yup, health is the key. I don't think the Blues have played a complete game yet this year. I have seen a few periods, but not a complete game yet. `Probably several factors as to why.
Yeah but he's worth way more than that and deserves to get it.
8 years @ 6.5-7.5 is what Im hoping for. Kind of depends on if he has just a very good season or another Norris-calibur season this year. He wont be lower than Karlsson, but he wont be too much higher than Doughty.
Nicely stated. Stewartbwill never have top end hockey instincts and his play along the boards is below expectations but the guy offers toughness and can score goals. He also offers good speed. I kept waiting all last year for him to come around and he never did. I will add that Hitchcocks system is a defensive system that can suppress players stats. This team has a lot of fire power and is still scoring goals in this system. This is an excellent organization top to bottom.
Nicely stated. Stewartbwill never have top end hockey instincts and his play along the boards is below expectations but the guy offers toughness and can score goals. He also offers good speed. I kept waiting all last year for him to come around and he never did. I will add that Hitchcocks system is a defensive system that can suppress players stats. This team has a lot of fire power and is still scoring goals in this system. This is an excellent organization top to bottom.
You didn't think his effort and defensive play improved significantly as the season went along? He didn't score more, but he played well towards the end of the year and was one of the most consistently good forwards against LA in the playoffs.
Even without his famous fitness improvements, better overall performance this year doesn't surprise me at all because of how he looked later in the season.
So I have a fantasy trade in the works. I am thin on defense and goaltending but have decent centre depth (Zetterberg, Benn, Marchand, Jokinen). I have been offered the following trade:
Oshie
Vokoun
Markov
for
Zetterberg
Giguere
From my vantage point this trade is a steal if Oshie has decent production. He has good numbers thus far this year, seems to be in his prime, and I believe is one of the Blues most important offensive players. Can we expect near PPG production from Oshie this year? I think if he can put together about 2/3rds of the points that Zetterberg does than I'm laughing. Does he seem dialed in? Do Blues fans like the looks of this trade? Thanks!
You didn't think his effort and defensive play improved significantly as the season went along? He didn't score more, but he played well towards the end of the year and was one of the most consistently good forwards against LA in the playoffs.
Even without his famous fitness improvements, better overall performance this year doesn't surprise me at all because of how he looked later in the season.
Don't agree. He looked just as bad at the end as throughout the year. He also was not at all a consistently good forward in the playoffs in either series. Hitchcock even healthy scratched him in each series. With so many guys playing poorly against LA, if he'd really been that consistent Hitchcock wouldn't have scratched him for a second time in the postseason.
This year, he's had a couple of good games already, though he's 9th in minutes among forwards and hasn't been all THAT impactful. Obviously, the Blues are deep so it doesn't mean the same thing to be the 9th forward in minutes on the Blues as it does with, say, Columbus. Still, we're going to have to wait and see how this season unfolds. Too early to say how his season will go.
Don't agree. He looked just as bad at the end as throughout the year. He also was not at all a consistently good forward in the playoffs in either series. Hitchcock even healthy scratched him in each series. With so many guys playing poorly against LA, if he'd really been that consistent Hitchcock wouldn't have scratched him for a second time in the postseason.
This year, he's had a couple of good games already, though he's 9th in minutes among forwards and hasn't been all THAT impactful. Obviously, the Blues are deep so it doesn't mean the same thing to be the 9th forward in minutes on the Blues as it does with, say, Columbus. Still, we're going to have to wait and see how this season unfolds. Too early to say how his season will go.
Stewarts 2 fights most likely cut in to his ice time so he would most likely being sitting at #8 in TOI among forwards just behind Tarasenko who is #7 among forwards in TOI. Which i think we all agree Tarasenko is playing well.
Stewarts 2 fights most likely cut in to his ice time so he would most likely being sitting at #8 in TOI among forwards just behind Tarasenko who is #7 among forwards in TOI. Which i think we all agree Tarasenko is playing well.
As I said, the Blues are deep. Stewart would still be almost a minute behind Tarasenko even if you credit him the 2.5mins worth of shift time he might've lost divided by 8 games. Also, Tarasenko is getting less ice time than the established forwards for rookie/settling in reasons, not for impact-on-the-game reasons. Stewart isn't being limited in ice time because he's a rookie/still learning the ropes.
We'll know soon enough what kind of season Stewart will have. If he has a bounceback year do you think he's taking less than 4M? Not sure the Blues should be paying 4M+ to the 8th/9th forward. On the other hand, if he starts earning more minutes with improved all-around play this year, he'll no longer be the 8th/9th forward. So we'll see.
Initial thoughts on the slightly underperforming/struggling players on the Blues?
Jaden Schwartz - The guy has yet to take over many plays. He seems passive with the puck on his stick, unless it is in the corners. Anyone think the guy needs a confidence boost on top of some more muscle?
Alex Pietrangelo - Seems a little off his game on the defensive side, but I would wager he just needs a bit more time to get acclimated.
Pietrangelo doesn't have the resume to get paid like Doughty and Karlsson...Yet. No Norris nominations/trophies or team awards, which makes a huge difference in money. If he wants over 7 like some people are saying, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a big holdout. I'd bet every cent I have that Armstrong will try to get him under 6.5, if not 6...Assuming it's not a bridge contract, that may be preferred. Pietrangelo COULD price himself off this team/hinder it with his demands.
Pietrangelo doesn't have the resume to get paid like Doughty and Karlsson...Yet. No Norris nominations/trophies or team awards, which makes a huge difference in money. If he wants over 7 like some people are saying, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a big holdout. I'd bet every cent I have that Armstrong will try to get him under 6.5, if not 6...Assuming it's not a bridge contract, that may be preferred. Pietrangelo COULD price himself off this team/hinder it with his demands.
I'd disagree and say that he certainly has the resume to get what Karlsson got. Karlsson had a Norris nomination when he got his 7y/$6.5m. Pietrangelo finished 4th in voting in his second year, and we'll see what this year brings.
Totally agree that he could price himself out of St. Louis though. If he is determined to get $7m+ a year, I have no doubt that the Flyers would give him that. I don't think money is going to be his main motivation though.
His agents have been in town this past week, so hopefully we'll get an announcement this month. $6.5m is what I expect, anything less is a bonus. I think anything less than $6m long term is fantasy though.
So I have a fantasy trade in the works. I am thin on defense and goaltending but have decent centre depth (Zetterberg, Benn, Marchand, Jokinen). I have been offered the following trade:
Oshie
Vokoun
Markov
for
Zetterberg
Giguere
From my vantage point this trade is a steal if Oshie has decent production. He has good numbers thus far this year, seems to be in his prime, and I believe is one of the Blues most important offensive players. Can we expect near PPG production from Oshie this year? I think if he can put together about 2/3rds of the points that Zetterberg does than I'm laughing. Does he seem dialed in? Do Blues fans like the looks of this trade? Thanks!
Mods, can we have a dedicated sticky thread for fantasy hockey talk, to separate that discussion? I think that is helpful to both parties (fantasy players and those of us who want to talk about the NHL season.)
