St Louis Blues

[loco man]

Would really love your take on Stewart/Berglund.

They are either prime buy low candidates or busts (well, not busts, but you know what I mean).

I may be acquiring them (Stastny/Pacioretty/Boyle - Stew/Bergy/Crawford) and could be scooping up a dominant tandem before they breakout, or pissing away Stas and Max Power.

What can we expect from these guys going forward (next year and beyond)?

Thanks

[Riverboat Danglers]

Both players are great buy low candidates. Stewart put up 53pts in 62 games last year. I feel that his potential is around 65-70pts and the guy is always going be goal heavy. He is struggling but in a long term keeper he is a steal. The guy is only 24 and sometimes power forwards struggle with consistency at the start.

Berglund is another guy that is a huge buy low. I dont think his value will ever be lower. I feel that he has the potential to be a 70-75pt guy if he can reach his potential. He has had trouble scoring goals this year but again he is only 23 and still learning the NA game. IMO he is a huge boom or bust type player. Swing for the fences or walk back to the dug out with this kid.

To break down the deal though with your scoring format I would say

Stastny-20g 40a= 80pts
Max- 33g 30a= 96pts
Boyle- 5g 35a= 120pts

Berglund- 10g 40a= 60pts
Stewart-20g 18a= 58pts
Crawford-155pts

I think that its a lose this year, but you it would turn into more of a lateral move if Berglund and Stewart can pick it up. I like the idea of you getting Crawford as a great back up but your banking a lot on Stewart and Berglund. If your comfortable with the gamble then I would take this deal. I think both players should come close to their potential in a couple of years, It actually surprised me a lot they have both struggled this much so far.

[loco man]

Thanks man, pretty sound analysis.

If I make this move, I am basically conceding this season and looking ahead. I have a shot this year, but there are 8 teams all with a legit chance and I would really need the stars to allign.

Tough one - I loved both Stew/Bergy, but just don't know how things will go in St. Louis. I'd rather Stas/MP at this point and am not sure if Boyle and Varly are a better option than landing Crawford.

So, as i don't want three tenders, it would probably look like:

Varlamov/Boyle/Stas/Patches - Crawford/Stew/Bergy/Y. Weber

Gotta ponder this one.

[ross10019]

Perron is getting closer to a return, see updates here: http://www.dobberhockey.com/index.ph...122#post847493

I get the feeling that, when he does play, he'll be put on the LW with Stewart and Berglund and will revitalize them. Just the psychological boost of his comeback after such a long layoff will have an impact on his teammates, I'd imagine.

[Riverboat Danglers]

Well its official now. Perron will be back on Saturday. I see this pushing D'Agostini out of the top 6 and possibly on a line with Berglund and Stewart. I have a weird feeling this is gonna kick start both of these guys and give the Blues 2 good scoring lines.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=604419

[ross10019]

Well its official now. Perron will be back on Saturday. I see this pushing D'Agostini out of the top 6 and possibly on a line with Berglund and Stewart. I have a weird feeling this is gonna kick start both of these guys and give the Blues 2 good scoring lines.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=604419

I agree, I could see a dynamic player like Perron giving everyone a boost, but especially the struggling Cman Berglund, and Hitch apparently confirmed that he'll start off centered by Berglund.

[loco man]

Can you give me some insight regarding Cola?

Hitch said that he wants to reunite him with AP, but I am mostly interested in PP time.

Where will he slot in? If on the top unit, then bye bye Robidas!

I know lots about Carlo from his leaf days, and he seems like he was doing OK in St. Louis, but really not sure if I should add him to my squad.

Thanks

[Ballsakic]

St. Louis Blues (Official Site) >> Colaiacovo, Grachev Activated from IR buzztap.com/-iVldjl

[loco man]

St. Louis Blues (Official Site) >> Colaiacovo, Grachev Activated from IR buzztap.com/-iVldjl

Damn! I was hoping to see some sage advice about Carlo's PP time expectations. See above and please help a brother out!!

thanks

[Ballsakic]

Carlo should get some PP time how much?

[Riverboat Danglers]

Carlo should see some PP time but it still looks like that Hitch is gonna give Arnott some PP time on the top line which usually means they are only using 1 dman. I dont think Carlo holds a ton of value unless you are in the deepest of leagues. The guy could be a 40pt dman but he is often one of the most injured guys in the league.

So far so good for Perron. He looks like he was exactly what Berglund and Stewart needed. It looks like they should both really see their point totals increase and get back to the numbers we all expected them to get at the start of the year.

Any game I have seen since the start of the year Backes has looked like the best player out there in every zone. The guy is really proving why they gave him the C this year. I dont think 30g and 35 a is out of the question for this guy this year.

[Ballsakic]

The Blues have recalled forward Evgeny Grachev from Peoria. bit.ly/t9iDye

[bondon]

And just like that the Blues are now in first place in the Central division, overtaking both Chicago and Detroit. Who'da thunkit

[bondon]

ANd just like that the Blues are now first place in the Western Conference!!!

Hitchcock announces Halak as the starter against Edmonton. If he didn't have Halak as the starter that would be insane but good to get confirmation now.

Jeremy Rutherford @jprutherford
Halak, after Monday's shutout, will get the start against the Oilers. #stlblues

[bondon]

Just thought I'd update this thread, I was kind of half-watching tonight's game and just have a few thoughts

- Damn the Wings are incredible at home. Halak won second star of the game despite having a save percentage below .900 and let me tell you straight up he definitely deserved it. His play tonight was miles better than what his %'s showed...which leads to my next point
- The Blues were fantastic in the first period, but the Wings came out guns blazing in the second period. Halak was incredible in this game making point blank saves and stretching across his crease to make saves on backdoor plays. The Blues defense tonight was less than spectacular. Felt like the tides shifted when Stewart pummelled the hell out of Stuart after Stuart laid Pietrangelo out on a clean hit....
- Which was essentially the story of the night for the Blues, taking absolutely terrible stupid penalties, and very clearly making one-on-one confrontations more of a priority than actually winning the damn hockey game. The Wings took advantage of the opportunities that the Blues handed them scoring twice on the powerplay.

Just a thought on Stewart, I noticed that he's using his body and his speed a lot more to generate his own scoring chances. Would have liked to see Hitchcock give him a bit more ice time (10:17) despite his 17 minutes in penalties because I really thought Stewart was one of the Blues' better forwards on the night.

All in all they dug their own grave tonight with lack of composure. Twice Pietrangelo was laid out by pretty clean hits and twice the Blues insisted on trying to get some form of retribution (you should have seen the penalty that Colaiacovo took, friggin hilarious trying to headlock I believe it was Franzen).