The Shattenkirk shopping thing.
1) He is an excellent offensive defensman.
2) This season when Pietrangelo missed a few games, Shattenkirk was playing in Pietro's position and didn't do as well when asked to be more responsible defensively. So, he's not that good at actually playing defense in his end.
3) With the Blues, he's always been on the 2nd pairing (unless filling in for Pietro) and doesn't line up every night against the opponents top offensive lines - as Pietro does. When he had to do so it seemed to expose that defensive weakness.
4) He will be a UFA after 2017 and will be getting a ridiculous offer from someone solely based on what he can do offensively.
5) The Blues have too many right-handed defenseman.
6) Parayko is better than Shattenkirk defensively with tremendous offensive upside and deserves to be playing on that 2nd pairing behind Pietro.
7) Pietrangelo plays 20+ minutes per night.
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Parayko deserve to be playing 20+ minutes per night and should get that opportunity, even as a 2nd pairing D-man, this upcoming season.
9) Shattenkirk is not a 20+ minutes per game kind of D-man. He's an excellent 2nd pairing, right side, offensive defenseman. He doesn't play as well when playing as a left defenseman or when on the ice for d-zone faceoffs against the opponents top line.
So - do you keep Shattenkirk and have him or Parayko playing on a 3rd defensive pairing that won't even see 10 minutes of ice time per night?
With the Blues seriously over-stocked on right-handed defenseman and Shattenkirk about to get seriously over-paid in 2017, what should the Blues do?
What the Blues lack - depth at LW. There are several young left defenseman coming up also, but a more experienced left defenseman would be nice to have if it meant the Blues wouldn't have to play Bouwmeester with Pietrangelo on the top pairing. Bouwmeester was awful at times this season and looked particularly awful vs the Sharks. One thing all 3 opponents the Blues faced in the playoffs did with regularity - enter the zone on Bouwmeester's side whenever he was on the ice. It worked for the Sharks and almost worked for the Stars and Blackhawks were it not for Elliott standing on his head in goal.
So trade Shattenkirk for a LW if possible or a better LD than Bouwmeester or the C to replace Backes if he goes elsewhere as an unrestricted free agent.
The Blues actual LWers - Jaden Schwartz, Alexander Steen (whom the Blues kept moving to center), and Magnus "Hitchcock's butt boy" Paajarvi. FYI - Paajarvi sucked but Hithcock liked his "energy" in spite of the inability to score.
So they have a 1st and 2nd line LWer. Robby Fabbri played LW all year, but needs to be a damn C if Hitchcock will ever get over his attitude about "size matters" and playing a "heavy" game. I'm afraid Fabbri will see even less ice time with the stupid changes in the coaching staff which don't favor a guy like Fabbri whose game is about speed, skill, and elusiveness - not hitting to force plays.
That's enough for now.