Let's Go Blues

Sweet mother of pearl, that is a franking awesome deal! Stew leaving, alone, makes it worth it. That the only prospect going east was Carrier is even better. Color me pumped about this trade.

AMAZING...Army DOES IT AGAIN!

Elliott HAS to be furniture and the way I'm seeing it makes perfect sense:

The one thing Ells has been consistant with, has been in the playoffs. He's been solid, capable and reliable the last two years. He's the floor. Bringing in Miller raises the ceiling.

Stewart gone by itself MAKES ME HAPPY, but swapping him for Ott? Suddenly Ott HAS A REASON TO PLAY HARD NOW and he's got the skills and desire. He's on a contender, now. Stillman's sent the message out: We're here to win, NOW.

Never been more happier to be a Blues fan. Ownership is committed to win.

I don't think we're done just quite yet for the trade deadline, though. I sense another deal waiting to be made. Just a feeling.

As for trading off the picks? That's a few years down the road, they can't help us win a Cup now. And we want to win one now....God, I love you Stillman, you sexy man you!

Steve Ott has a great personality LOL

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4 Blues Players fighting each other lol
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Apparently if we re-sign Miller of we make it to the Conference Finals, Sabres also get our 1st round pick this year. I guess I'm OK with that.

Sabres can have the next 10 1st rounders if the Blues win The Cup this year.

glen a richter wrote:Sabres can have the next 10 1st rounders if the Blues win The Cup this year.

THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

glen a richter wrote:Sabres can have the next 10 1st rounders if the Blues win The Cup this year.

True story. I might not live past the night we win the Cup, so I couldn't really care less what we do with our future picks.

Apparently the 2016 3rd rounder is also conditional. It's an either or thing.

glen a richter wrote:Sabres can have the next 10 1st rounders if the Blues win The Cup this year.

Plz delete this...


cause you know New Jersey could use another 15 first rounders from us...

Personally, the only difficulty I have with this trade is shipping off Halak, but that's just because I liked the dude- he holds franchise records with the Blues after being here less than 4 seasons. But hey- if you're going to upgrade your goaltending (which I agree this move does), either he or Elliott had to go, so I think it's the right choice, just a tough one.

What role do you all expect Ott will fill on this team? We already have Lapierre, who has quite a reputation, and even Backes has a reputation around the league as well. Do we really need another edgy, hard-nosed, get-under-your-skin, rough-and-tumble agitator? Don't get me wrong, I would have been glad to dump Stewart for a plate of toasted ravs, but do we now have too many agitators?

hmm...lets see...two years running, we go up against LA, and are considered soft, and lose both rounds...granted last year it was better ( at least we won two games ). What I'm trying to say is, you can never have too many agitators in my book, AS LONG as they can also play the game....Morrow said it best when he said Ott is a great guy to have on your team, but hate to play against. He isn't afraid to get dirty. get in the goal crease, block shots etc...
I'll take him...


As always, Just My Two Cents

guess I'm the only one who hates this trade. Addressed two areas that weren't really problems and gave up way too much.

are we even better on ice right now?

Stewart straight up for Ott....don't think I'd do that. I wasn't looking for more 'grit' on offense, I'd like a little more scoring personally. Ryan Callahan would have been nice. Steve Ott? Don't we have like 5 of him already?

Halak for Miller? Posted the other day there's little evidence to suggest Miller is significantly better than Halak -- even Army says he's maybe a 5% upgrade. Ok so slightly better in goal.

Maybe I'd do Halak, Stewart and a 3rd for Miller and Ott. ( But I'd rather of stuck with Halak and dealt Stewart and a 3rd for Callahan. )

But I sure as heck wouldn't throw in 2 first round picks.

I've been thinking about where ott fits and my guess is they have him center the third line and move bergland out to wing. I think this is actually a good plan and upgrades both spots. I'm not convinced Bergie was ever fully comfortable as a center and his size works better for him on the outside.

We will see.

And Halak's groin may be the biggest reason to move him. He's been injured at critical times it seems.

so glad Chris Stewart is gone. Dude is absolutely worthless.
You guys say Ott is good at faceoffs and hits, then im happy with that.
Only thing I dont like is the 1st rounder. Which honestly, for a real good #1 goalie is worth it.

flyingnote38 wrote:guess I'm the only one who hates this trade. Addressed two areas that weren't really problems and gave up way too much.

are we even better on ice right now?

Stewart straight up for Ott....don't think I'd do that. I wasn't looking for more 'grit' on offense, I'd like a little more scoring personally. Ryan Callahan would have been nice. Steve Ott? Don't we have like 5 of him already?

Halak for Miller? Posted the other day there's little evidence to suggest Miller is significantly better than Halak -- even Army says he's maybe a 5% upgrade. Ok so slightly better in goal.

Maybe I'd do Halak, Stewart and a 3rd for Miller and Ott. ( But I'd rather of stuck with Halak and dealt Stewart and a 3rd for Callahan. )

But I sure as heck wouldn't throw in 2 first round picks.

I would do Stewart for Ott straight up in a heartbeat. Stewart tends to disappear at times. I don't think Ott will. I was talking with a buddy of mine that's a Sabres fan. He hyped Ott a lot saying we will love him. Also, as mentioned, assuming he plays center, it allows Berglund to move to wing which is probably a better fit for him.

As for Halak, I don't think he was a weakness like some. He did alright and I think we could have won a Cup with him. But, I didn't consider him a strength either. He was a better than average goalie, but fairly run of the mill in comparison to other playoff contenders IMO. I think Miller is one of the top few goalies in the league though. I know his numbers are fairly comparable to Halak's, but that's on a really really bad team that is allowing many more high quality chances. I think his numbers will be noticeably better than Halak's. I don't know if that's 5%, 10%, or what. But, in a long playoff series full of games decided by 1 goal, I think the difference between the two COULD be the difference between moving on and going home.

The fact we did it without dealing any prospects, though, is what makes it a great deal to me. The first rounder and conditional 2nd first rounder are unfortunate, but not the end of the world IMO. Of course, if we don't win this year and don't re-sign either Miller or Ott, it ends up being a failure of a trade. But, I like that our front office is going for it.

Enough has been said about Halak for Miller. What to make of Stewart, etc. for Ott? A good deal, IMO. Ott is a guy who will play hard (an upgrade, although intangible). He will also win you faceoffs. Currently, Sobotka is the only faceoff specialist the Blues have and he's out. We lose too many offensive zone opportunities due to lost faceoffs. Plus, Ott is no slouch on attack. He's not going to score bunches for us but he can work the boards, pass and screen and I think he can be a great third line center, with Sobotka centering second and Backes first. I also agree that Berglund can be a good fit on the wing.

Do we need another agitator/hard hitter? Heck yeah. Besides Backes, Oshie and Reaves, no one on the Blues offense really hits. And we need to hit those western conference teams if we want to win. Everyone on LA roster can hit and hit hard. They intimidated our D with constant hitting on forecheck during last year's playoffs, and the Blues had very little to counter. I would personally love to see Ott drop Brown on his ass a few times.

I don't really know much about Carrier so I am not too upset there. Picks may be a lot but if we win the cup, they are worth it. And the way the Blues roster and prospect line-up looks right now, we can afford a couple of years' worth of 1st round picks.

I think you have to really look at Stewart for his actual value is not his potential.

He's got good hands, he's a big kid, can play with an edge, and is built to be a star power forward. Seriously, this is a guy who could score 50 goals if he found his motivation - he scored 15 in 26 games after the trade from Colorado when he had his panties in a bunch.

The reality is that he drifts for loooong stretches, lacks a consistent internal motor, is terrible with puck possession (his advanced metrics are total shit, btw, especially since ~60% of his shifts start in the offensive zone - go look them up), and is often a liability in his own end. This guy is built like Tkachuk, but doesn't do enough of the little things to play like him.

Trading a big salary and a problem to the Sabres for a reliable, hard working, veteran centerman who consistently wins faceoff and does the small things is a GREAT deal for us. It wouldn't shock me to see Buffalo move Stewie again for more picks.

Assuming we get healthy, Ott projects to center the 4th line with Morrow and Reeves. That's going to be fun to watch. In the interim he's not going to hurt you playing 3rd line minutes.

It's a good hockey trade for both sides.

Love the trade. Miller improves the goalie position and will hopefully sign to stay in STL.

Having Ott now pushes this team even more. We need the toughness and edginess. The Blues now have many options in line combos and in general roster makeup. Need some speed, put in Paajarvi. Need size, put in Jaskins. Can't wait to have Sobatka back.

Ott and Miller feed into the Blues' personality way more than Stewart and Halak.

If Stewart wasn't motivated on a great team, how will he be on a bad team? Honestly, I wish him the best of luck and hope he can find his game in Buffalo as long as it's not against the Blues. But really, is he ever going to amount to anything more than a guy with a ton of talent that he wastes on a nightly basis because he's a lazy sack of cow shit?

Our team boasts Lapierre, Ott, Backes, Steen, Sobotka, and Reaves. A gut feel tells me that teams are going to hate to play us in a 7 game series. I like that quite a bit.

The other way I can quantify how much I like this trade is this: I agree with cardsfan who said we could have probably won a Cup with Halak. But the difference between Miller and Halak is that I personally believe Miller has an extra 'gear' that Halak doesn't have. I know Halak was great during that 2010 run to the ECF with Montreal. But aside from that, it was rare we saw him completely steal games. One that comes to mind is that great shutout he had against Montreal his first game back there. But a guy like Miller has the ability to steal games which is huge come playoff time. I get the feeling that Army didn't feel he had that in Halak. Who knows?

All I know is that Ryan Miller is a goalie that was at one time considered elite. I don't think Halak ever was. Hopefully this will be a Fuhr Part 2 with Miller, where we get a guy who performs really well for us even after his prime years.

I liked Halak, but I'll reiterate that I don't feel like he has that fire that you need in the playoffs. I know people love talking about Halak vs. Washington, but what has he done in the playoffs or similar atmospheres (Olympics?) since then? Not a whole lot. Miller, on the other hand has that fire. He HAS to be extra amped up about his opportunity here as well which can only be that much more beneficial to us.

As for the Stewart for Ott part, you're silly if you'd rather have Stewart. Nobody can look like a great scorer and then go absolutely invisible for long stretches like he can. Ott might not have the scoring ability of Stewart, but I think he has more heart. It wouldn't be that hard. It's not always the "stars" that shine come playoff time. Oftentimes it's the role players, of which Ott should fill nicely.

I don't know much about the picks or the prospect we gave up. I'm just glad it wasn't any of our true top guys; Jaskin, Rattie, etc. Our 1st rounder isn't going to be very high so I don't feel too bad about that for the return we got. I do kind of wonder what happens next year if we don't resign Miller....I guess we had a similar dilemma with Halak though as well. Whatever, we'll cross that bridge when we get there, but right now we've got business to tend to.

LETS GO BLUES!