St Louis Blues

[TK12555]

I would think we probably will see numbers similar to last season. I think he should be close to your expectation but more realistically he should get around 65pts. I think in his peak season we could see 70+ but i see him constantly improving by a small margin. He is still only 27 so I think he is still on the upward slope in his career and we could some numbers close to a PPG once this team finally turns the corner

thanks buddy!

[27Blue]

if healthy, the blues should contend for a playoff spot.

they allowed the second fewest shots per game in the league last year, with a decimated blue line and a number one goaltender that was either injured or playing hurt and he was adjusting to a new team.

they also scored more than any other team down the stretch... after the all-star break (with the arrival of stewart and shatty- and a fairly healthy line-up), no team scored more goals...

i love watching the blues and i look forward to dropping in and reading your thoughts on the team.

[GMGates]

Officially tweeted and great start already.

Good luck Chris!

[duballstar014]

Very excited for Blues coverage. Welcome!!

[horrorfan]

Welcome aboard. Is it fair to suggest that we have to temper our point predictions due to the amount of depth they have up front, and the amount of ice time they will have to share? With Oshie, McDonald, Stewart, Berglund, Backes and Steen as arguably their top six offensive players (maybe D'Agostini will emerge at some point), there is only so much scoring to go around. They were the sixth highest scoring team in the Western Conference last season and only had one 60+ point player.

[Sudden Death]

Welcome aboard. What are your expectations for Halak this season? Do you think last year was more about injuries or the workload?

[edesjardins]

Any love for Sobotka? He's too good to play on the 4th line.

[Riverboat Danglers]

Welcome aboard. Is it fair to suggest that we have to temper our point predictions due to the amount of depth they have up front, and the amount of ice time they will have to share? With Oshie, McDonald, Stewart, Berglund, Backes and Steen as arguably their top six offensive players (maybe D'Agostini will emerge at some point), there is only so much scoring to go around. They were the sixth highest scoring team in the Western Conference last season and only had one 60+ point player.

The blues were a high scoring team last year. They were tenth in the league for goals for. I do feel though they would of had more players break the 60 point barrier had they been healthy. Stewart, Mcdonald and possibly even Steen had oppurtinities to surpass the 60pt mark had they played a full 82 games. Also oshie at the start of the season was on pace to get past the 60 point mark. The kid had 10 pts in 13 games. As for D'Agostini i believe he has a limited window to produce now. Tarasenko is breathing down his neck for that top 6 role and if he doesnt take full advantage of it this year, he could end up being traded or turned back into a depth guy.

[Riverboat Danglers]

Welcome aboard. What are your expectations for Halak this season? Do you think last year was more about injuries or the workload?

I feel that last year Halak had some unlucky bounces with injuries. Kind of like the entire team. They were on fire out of the gate but as soon as the injury bug bit, it bit hard and took done a lot of key components. In Halak's last season with Montreal he played 45 games in the regular season and 18 in the playoffs, so he has had to deal with heavy workloads before. Halak's wins are gonna rely a lot on the health of this team. I feel that he should get around 33 Wins next year in roughly 60 starts. I feel that the acquisition of Elliot will help cut down the workload of Halak.

Any love for Sobotka? He's too good to play on the 4th line.

I have always had a man crush on this guy and thought that he could be a good player on an alright team. for me his problem has been he was in boston they had no room whatsoever and then he went to st louis where they have a lot of depth as well. if the injury bug hits the blues again i can see Sobotka having a good year once again. He put up decent number last year, but its gonna be hard to top those numbers playing 3rd/4th line minutes. If he ever gets an opportunity to consistently play top 6 minutes i could see him getting 45-50 points. but that is gonna rely on the health of the blues and a couple of them are going to have to get hurt. I feel that Steen is way ahead of Sobokta as a replacement for the top 6

[Sudden Death]

I feel that last year Halak had some unlucky bounces with injuries. Kind of like the entire team. They were on fire out of the gate but as soon as the injury bug bit, it bit hard and took done a lot of key components. In Halak's last season with Montreal he played 45 games in the regular season and 18 in the playoffs, so he has had to deal with heavy workloads before. Halak's wins are gonna rely a lot on the health of this team. I feel that he should get around 33 Wins next year in roughly 60 starts. I feel that the acquisition of Elliot will help cut down the workload of Halak.

I have Halak and Stewart on a keeper team - would love to see them both healthy for the entire year.

[Riverboat Danglers]

T.J. Oshie

Oshie is the kind of hockey player dads inspire their sons to be. He is noticeable every time he steps foot on the ice whether its laying an opponent out, scoring a highlight reel goal or using his blazing speed to burn through defenders. He brings the same intensity whenever he laces up his skates and is always a guy the opposing coach is circling on the white board. Oh and did I mention the guy sports sick flow.

The only concern is when a guy is constantly playing with this ferociousness it tends to lead to injuries. At only 5’11 and weighing in at 195 LBS, Oshie is not the biggest guy on the ice. His smaller frame has led to him missing 64 games in the past 3 seasons. Albeit in 2009/2010 he played 76 games and he has still averaged only 61 per season. This is a significant chunk of points that he is missing out on year in and year out.

Oshie burst onto everybody’s radar during his draft year playing for Warroad High School. He helped his team to a state championship and later was nominated for the prestigious “Mr Hockey“. He then went on to pursue a highly successful career at The University of North Dakota, each year surpassing the 40 point plateau. Respectably in his final season, he was a top ten finalist for the Hobey Baker award. T.J was also relatively healthy throughout his career in North Dakota, but his in your face attitude and style have slowly caught up to him.

At the beginning of last year Oshie was on pace for a career year. With ten points in his first thirteen games it was really starting to look like he was having his break out campaign. Until he broke his ankle and missed 33 games. He was on pace for roughly 63 points along with 40 penalty minutes and a plus/minus rating of 19. I realize that players are streaky and it would be unreasonable at times to suggest that he would of continued this torrid pace but I feel that he could of achieved close to these totals if he stayed healthy.

Oshie has every tool in the box to be a dominating force for the blues. When he is actually healthy and playing every NHL general manager wants a player with Oshie’s skill set. He brings the intangibles night in and night out that make him the “X” factor. At a drop of a dime this guy will burn by a defender and rifle the puck to the top corner.

I see Oshie continuing to be on a line with McDonald and Backes as that line had a lot of success last year when they were playing together. TSN has Oshie eligible for all 3 forward positions which is extremely valuable in certain leagues.

It will be interesting to see when Oshie finally has his break through season. I feel that if we could get lucky and he could play a full season we could see anywhere from 60-65 points. As a fantasy owner he is a player that you are worried about when he is on your team but looks very attractive from the outside looking in. For me he is a bit to much of a injury risk to own, so he is a player I would feel like maximizing their potential once he gets hot and trying to sell him before he gets hauled off to the dressing room once more. When he is playing he is a easy player to sell to the untrained eye since he is constantly on the plays of the night. Expect 50 points out of this kid with only 60 games played, but if you want to gamble and throw the dice we could see 65 points if he gets close to a full season in.

[bondon]

Interesting, looks like a more definitive update on Perron should be coming soon.

http://www.truehockey.com/articles/B...rron-Next-Week

Blues fans can expect an update on forward David Perron in the very near future. I'm told GM Doug Armstrong will speak with Perron at some point next week to get a better idea of where he is in his recovery. Perron's availability for training camp should be clearer following the meeting. If Perron shows the necessary level of progress, the Blues will likely map out a plan that hopefully lands their former first round pick back on the ice.

An early August meeting has been arranged for several weeks as Perron continues to recover from a November 4th concussion which led to him missing the Blues final 72 games of the season.

Perron will eventually need to return to St. Louis and pass a number of tests in front of Blues medical personnel before he receives clearance to begin skating.

[dyzfunctioned]

I wouldn't get my hopes up about Perron..

[bondon]

I wouldn't get my hopes up about Perron..

Yeah you're right. The official word is he won't be ready now. Still suffering symptoms.

After a meeting on Monday, Blues GM Doug Armstrong has come to the conclusion that David Perron is not ready to engage in the necessary workouts required to be ready for training camp next month.

Perron has been sidelined since November 4th following an open-ice collision with San Jose forward Joe Thornton. He missed the remaining 72 games of the season.

At this stage of the summer, it would be unrealistic to expect Perron to be ready for camp considering he hasn’t lifted weights or performed normal NHL strength training since the injury occurred. He’ll need to get to the point where he can pass his vo2 testing along with his strength testing before he’s cleared to get back on the ice and get his on-ice skills back to NHL standards.

...

As Armstrong explained in a phone conversation early this morning, Perron is still not symptom free and has yet to take his workouts beyond basic light exercises. He’ll need an unspecified amount of time to get cleared and ramp up his exercise program.

Armstrong tells me he along with the medical experts believe Perron will play NHL hockey this season. No date has been set for a return but it’s obvious he won’t be ready for the start of camp or the regular season.

http://www.truehockey.com/articles/P...-Training-Camp

[Riverboat Danglers]

Yeah you're right. The official word is he won't be ready now. Still suffering symptoms.



http://www.truehockey.com/articles/P...-Training-Camp

That's really bad news. Perron was on a tear last year. 7pts in 10 games. It was looking like he was going to be in their top 6 for the next decade. Now its looking like he may be lucky to ever have a full season again.