off season mid term status report

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Re: off season mid term status report

Post by Robb_K »

Elliott had poor stats in two of his years at Ottawa because they had a lousy team defence. The same was true when he was with Colorado. He's a slightly better than average NHL starting goalie, currently on a team with a great overall team defence. He makes most of the saves he should make. He's not going to "steal" a lot of victories against great playoff teams. But, he's not going to lose games for his team. Allen has been improving for the past 2 years, and looked good for a rookie, in his NHL stint. I think they'll do fine. IF one were to get hurt, it would be better to have an NHL-ready goalie to backup one of them. I don't feel comfortable bringing Binnington up in that situation.

But, dumping Halak's salary, and going with an inexpensive twosome allowed them to sign Stastny, sign Lehtera, and have the solid depth at forward and on defence that can withstand multiple inuries, and allow the team to still have an opportunity to adjust to potential mid-season problems at the trade line, if they have to.

Paying Miller his $6 million per year would have made some of that impossible, and would have caused worse problems later, when some of the young players need to be re-signed.

Army did a GREAT job putting The Blues in position to compete for The Stanley Cup this season, and to stay on that course for the following 3-4 seasons.

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Re: off season mid term status report

Post by STLADOGG »

We have 6 million left in cap space left to sin Jaden and the boat.
I still can't believe I just typed those words.... :okman:
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Re: off season mid term status report

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[quote="STLADOGG"]We have 6 million left in cap space left to sin Jaden and the boat.
I still can't believe I just typed those words.... :okman:
http://www.capgeek.com/blues/[/quote]

Yes! And that will be enough to get it done WITHOUT having to dump off Berglund, just to get under the cap. Really, Leopold would be the one to go IF needed. But he has a limited NTC with a list of only 10 teams to which he'll accept trades. Ideally, The Blues will sign Schwartz for $3.7 million, and Sobotka for $2.3 million, and carry their tremendous depth into the season. It should be able to withstand most normal injury situations, with the couple of defencemen who can play both sides and several forwards who can play both centre and the wing.

Then, IF a terrible emergency were to come up, they could trade Leopold and a draft choice or secondary prospect, and/or Berglund (if really necessary) for what they need.

But, I'd really rather keep Berglund at this point, because he's a solid, all-around player, who may flourish at LW, not having all the defensive responsibilities of a centre, and not having to be a passer, but can do well on the forecheck, skate more straight up and down, and look more for his shot. I think he can get back to 20-25 G 17-25 assists, while still playing defence well, and be a solid 2-way player, with either Sobotka or Lehtera as his centre and Oshie, or Lindström as his RW.

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Re: off season mid term status report

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STLADOGG wrote:We have 6 million left in cap space left to sin Jaden and the boat.
I still can't believe I just typed those words.... :okman:
http://www.capgeek.com/blues/
That's assuming they spend to the cap.
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Re: off season mid term status report

Post by Robb_K »

[quote="cprice12"][quote="STLADOGG"]We have 6 million left in cap space left to sin Jaden and the boat.
I still can't believe I just typed those words.... :okman:
http://www.capgeek.com/blues/[/quote]

That's assuming they spend to the cap.[/quote]
It sure looks like they will, to fit Schwartz and Sobotka under it. I can't see them just dumbing Berglund off to get significantly under. Who else can they trade off whose salary is high enough to provide some room? Leopold has a limited NTC with only 10 teams to which he's willing to go.

If Lindström doesn't make at least The 3rd Line, he'll return to The SEL.

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Re: off season mid term status report

Post by ComradeT »

ComradeT wrote:
flyingnote38 wrote:Strong start by Armstrong. All he needs to do is finish his remaining tasks on time and he gets an "A"

obvious positives
cost effectively addressed goaltending situation
signed badly needed scoring line center
kept draft picks and scored big on first 2 picks with badly needed center prospects

ancillary positives
restored forward depth adding 2 probable top 6 forwards and an additional top 12 forward without subtracting from our top 9 or near NHL ready forward prospects (Jaskin, Rattie)
perhaps heisted a dman from Toronto while adding an additional pick
maybe showing an interest in advanced metrics? of the 7 Blues regulars with goal for percentage below 50 last season, 3 are gone and the rest are seemingly moving down the depth chart. Both Stastny and Gunarsson were among the best possession players on their teams. Blues quickly lost interest in Ott (who sucks at hockey) after hiring Corsi - coincidence?
satisfied need to acquire former Dallas Star player who is washed up and can't play hockey anymore by signing one as a coach.

left to do
sign Schwartz and Sobotka
Maybe a scary thought here... But with the abundance at center, could it be possible that Boat is surplus to requirements?
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Re: off season mid term status report

Post by ecbm »

What's this abundance at center? Backes, Stastny, washed-up Ott, completely unproven Lehtera and extremely limited Lapierre. I don't see depth to gamble with there. And remember a minute ago when the plan was to move Backes back to the wing? Good times, those.
Robb_K wrote:I'd really rather keep Berglund at this point, because he's a solid, all-around player, who may flourish at LW
On what do you base that?

Offseason looks like a wash at this point to me.

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Re: off season mid term status report

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ecbm wrote:What's this abundance at center? Backes, Stastny, washed-up Ott, completely unproven Lehtera and extremely limited Lapierre. I don't see depth to gamble with there. And remember a minute ago when the plan was to move Backes back to the wing? Good times, those.
Robb_K wrote:I'd really rather keep Berglund at this point, because he's a solid, all-around player, who may flourish at LW
On what do you base that?

Offseason looks like a wash at this point to me.
Setting aside Ott and Bergy, Sobotka is still in the system as an RFA, so we haven't lost him, he's just playing somewhere else at the moment. We did acquire Stastny, Lehtera who has more upside coming in than Bergy and Ott and Lappy...look, I don't give a damn if he sucks the entire season, but the guy was clutch in the playoffs for us and showed alot more heart than half the losers we just signed. Lappy might be limited, but when he's rolling, the guy is effective as hell and that's what matters.

Anytime we can upgrade without damaging the core of the team is a definite win. Losing Sobotka so we can sign those two jokers is a definite crime, but Army could have done alot worse. Better Sobotka than say, Tarasenko or even Schwartz. Let's at the very least be thankful here.
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Re: off season mid term status report

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ecbm wrote:What's this abundance at center? Backes, Stastny, washed-up Ott, completely unproven Lehtera and extremely limited Lapierre. I don't see depth to gamble with there. And remember a minute ago when the plan was to move Backes back to the wing? Good times, those.
I wasn't counting Backes in the abundance. The bona-fide centers on Blues roster (not counting Fabbri as he just got drafted) are:

Stastny, Lehtera, Berglund, Ott, Lapierre and Lindstrom. That's six guys. Sure, two of them are unproven and one played wing last year but these are bona-fide centers. Abundance means a lot. Six is a lot compared to four (again, not counting Backes) last year.

As far as Backes moving to the wing, I don't see how this plan is now off the books. Stastny was brought in in order for Backes to move back to wing. That's still there.

Lehtera was brought in to center Tarasenko and Schwarts in a more offensive/creative line. That's still there.

Sobotka was, at best, going to be the 3rd line/PK center. That's no longer there but Berglund can play that role. In fact, while he was no stalwart offensively, his defensive zone/PK work was decent. His weak spot is face-offs. Ott can eat some PK minutes and center the fourth line. Lindstrom is probably there to provide competition and rotation in case of injuries.

Sobotka's toughness compensated somewhat for lack of offensive capabilities. He couldn't effectively center 9 and 91 and he wouldn't take 3-4 line center money (which the Blues were offering). He is coming off a very serious leg injury and a concussion so in my mind he was very much a question mark for the upcoming season in terms of sustaining the same level of toughness and grit. So at worst, the Blues lost a hard-working 3-4 line center with good faceoffs. Berglund or Ott (when healthy) can be that guy, I think. Time will obviously tell.
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Re: off season mid term status report

Post by ecbm »

Appreciate the thoughts. It's maddening not being able to talk to anyone who knows the Blues here.

I hope you guys are right but I'm dubious about our centers. I don't see Lapierre as valuable at all; basic & advanced statistics back that up. The idea of an Ott-Lapierre-Reaves line makes me gag. That's a bad line for possessing the puck, creating offense or staying out of the penalty box. I don't know what to expect from Lindstrom & Lehtera in the NHL and truth told, neither does anyone else.

I see Backes staying at C because I can't fathom Berglund at 3C. If we're lucky, Lindstrom does much better than anyone can expect and slots in there allowing Backes to go back to the wing. I don't find assuming the best case scenario serves me well very often though. Lehtera has more upside than Berglund but he's replacing Sobotka. I'm not convinced that's much of an upgrade. I hope I'm wrong. Injuries and others' underperformance landed Sobotka at 2C for parts of last season-Stastny is DEFINITELY an upgrade there so that's still good. I just thought the approach would be to supplement parts of last season's core that worked. Whereas the club lost one of their most effective centers and penalty killers and retained their two most ineffective forwards, who very much embodied the twin problems of lack of timely scoring and wilting in the playoffs, to larger contracts than they merit. They explain Ott citing grit and locker room presence but let Cracknell and Sobotka walk and trade Polak for a finesse dman coming off surgery. They say Sobotka wanted too much but give Berglund $700K more than he wanted after a bad season. There's so much turnover that I worry about gelling.
Sobotka was, at best, going to be the 3rd line/PK center. That's no longer there but Berglund can play that role.
Sobotka's toughness compensated somewhat for lack of offensive capabilities.


Sobotka outscored (by 1pt) and out-hit (by 22) Berglund playing 17 fewer games.

I think some Blues fans are making excuses for Berglund they would find laughable about a comparable player on another team. He'll make $1M less than Backes next season. Wrap your mind around that.
Ott can eat some PK minutes and center the fourth line.
I suppose he can do PK but I'm not sure why you'd want that. He wasn't good in any way last season-bad corsi, bad possession, bad +/- (can't blame Buffalo), nothing special in FO% and didn't score once for us. His mobility is bad, even worse than it was before, and it will continue to decline. Also, he can only do that if he's not the guy in the box-92 PIM last season. It was his lowest total since '06-07 so there's that.

My enthusiasm for next season has taken a big knock.

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Re: off season mid term status report

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ecbm wrote:Appreciate the thoughts. It's maddening not being able to talk to anyone who knows the Blues here.

I hope you guys are right but I'm dubious about our centers. I don't see Lapierre as valuable at all; basic & advanced statistics back that up. The idea of an Ott-Lapierre-Reaves line makes me gag. That's a bad line for possessing the puck, creating offense or staying out of the penalty box. I don't know what to expect from Lindstrom & Lehtera in the NHL and truth told, neither does anyone else.

I see Backes staying at C because I can't fathom Berglund at 3C. If we're lucky, Lindstrom does much better than anyone can expect and slots in there allowing Backes to go back to the wing. I don't find assuming the best case scenario serves me well very often though. Lehtera has more upside than Berglund but he's replacing Sobotka. I'm not convinced that's much of an upgrade. I hope I'm wrong. Injuries and others' underperformance landed Sobotka at 2C for parts of last season-Stastny is DEFINITELY an upgrade there so that's still good. I just thought the approach would be to supplement parts of last season's core that worked. Whereas the club lost one of their most effective centers and penalty killers and retained their two most ineffective forwards, who very much embodied the twin problems of lack of timely scoring and wilting in the playoffs, to larger contracts than they merit. They explain Ott citing grit and locker room presence but let Cracknell and Sobotka walk and trade Polak for a finesse dman coming off surgery. They say Sobotka wanted too much but give Berglund $700K more than he wanted after a bad season. There's so much turnover that I worry about gelling.
Sobotka was, at best, going to be the 3rd line/PK center. That's no longer there but Berglund can play that role.
Sobotka's toughness compensated somewhat for lack of offensive capabilities.


Sobotka outscored (by 1pt) and out-hit (by 22) Berglund playing 17 fewer games.

I think some Blues fans are making excuses for Berglund they would find laughable about a comparable player on another team. He'll make $1M less than Backes next season. Wrap your mind around that.
Ott can eat some PK minutes and center the fourth line.
I suppose he can do PK but I'm not sure why you'd want that. He wasn't good in any way last season-bad corsi, bad possession, bad +/- (can't blame Buffalo), nothing special in FO% and didn't score once for us. His mobility is bad, even worse than it was before, and it will continue to decline. Also, he can only do that if he's not the guy in the box-92 PIM last season. It was his lowest total since '06-07 so there's that.

My enthusiasm for next season has taken a big knock.
All because they didn't sign Vladimir Sobotka? Wow. He wanted $4 million to be a bottom 6 forward? I liked him as much as the next guy but Steve Ott will be fine. Berglund is the one who seems to be getting a free pass all theses years. It's time for him to shit of get off the pot. Maybe being on the third line with Oshie and Jaskin will take some of the pressure off him. We can only hope.
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Re: off season mid term status report

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All because they didn't sign Vladimir Sobotka? Wow. He wanted $4 million to be a bottom 6 forward?
No, not just because Sobotka. Sobotka, Berglund and Ott taken together make me wonder if this front office has the nous to finish the job, ever. They seem more interested in proving that their methods work than in winning. But it's not 1999-2000 anymore. Shero had more success in Pittsburgh than any GM has ever had in StL. He was shown the door the second it was clear his methods are stale. That's the kind of cold self-criticism and ruthless willingness to pursue results that winners need. I also wonder about the emotional toughness of Armstrong-he says that he's not sure that Sobotka has signed in the KHL but then airs every piece of dirty laundry about the negotiations? Bush league, much more bush league than maybe asking for a slightly inflated salary after giving great production for $1.3M and watching Berglund be given a large raise after a poor season.

Look at the market. $4M is about market rate for a 27-year old 3C who plays 2 minutes of effective penalty kill every game and has 50pt potential. Sobotka's agent says they were only offered $2.7M in any case. Where would you place Brandon Dubinsky on this team? He just got $5.7M/season for six seasons.

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Re: off season mid term status report

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ecbm wrote:
All because they didn't sign Vladimir Sobotka? Wow. He wanted $4 million to be a bottom 6 forward?
No, not just because Sobotka. Sobotka, Berglund and Ott taken together make me wonder if this front office has the nous to finish the job, ever. They seem more interested in proving that their methods work than in winning. But it's not 1999-2000 anymore. Shero had more success in Pittsburgh than any GM has ever had in StL. He was shown the door the second it was clear his methods are stale. That's the kind of cold self-criticism and ruthless willingness to pursue results that winners need. I also wonder about the emotional toughness of Armstrong-he says that he's not sure that Sobotka has signed in the KHL but then airs every piece of dirty laundry about the negotiations? Bush league, much more bush league than maybe asking for a slightly inflated salary after giving great production for $1.3M and watching Berglund be given a large raise after a poor season.

Look at the market. $4M is about market rate for a 27-year old 3C who plays 2 minutes of effective penalty kill every game and has 50pt potential. Sobotka's agent says they were only offered $2.7M in any case. Where would you place Brandon Dubinsky on this team? He just got $5.7M/season for six seasons.
What great production? Here are Tarasenko's (T), Schwartz's (Sc) and Sobotka's (S) regular season numbers (G, A, P):

T 21 22 43
Sc 25 31 56
S 9 24 33

Given the first two lines, Sobotka should have had ~50 assists, not 24. Also, where do you get the idea that he would have signed for $4mm here? That's what he signed for in KHL, sure, but the taxes are much lower and life is much cheaper in Omsk, so it is very likely that having received that offer, he would want quite a bit more than $4 mil to stay with the Blues. Also, the Blues offered him 3-, 4- and 5-year deals "north of 3mil". $2.7mil for one year was their last offer.

He is a great checker, really good on faceoffs and very useful on PK - sure. But he's not a scoring line center and he would never be a 50-point guy. Our third line would've been better with him but he didn't want that. Ott actually had 20 points on a shitty Buffalo team before coming to the Blues and being thrown into new lines, new system etc, all amid a huge team-wide skid at the end of the season.
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Re: off season mid term status report

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ecbm wrote:
All because they didn't sign Vladimir Sobotka? Wow. He wanted $4 million to be a bottom 6 forward?
No, not just because Sobotka. Sobotka, Berglund and Ott taken together make me wonder if this front office has the nous to finish the job, ever. They seem more interested in proving that their methods work than in winning. But it's not 1999-2000 anymore. Shero had more success in Pittsburgh than any GM has ever had in StL. He was shown the door the second it was clear his methods are stale. That's the kind of cold self-criticism and ruthless willingness to pursue results that winners need. I also wonder about the emotional toughness of Armstrong-he says that he's not sure that Sobotka has signed in the KHL but then airs every piece of dirty laundry about the negotiations? Bush league, much more bush league than maybe asking for a slightly inflated salary after giving great production for $1.3M and watching Berglund be given a large raise after a poor season.

Look at the market. $4M is about market rate for a 27-year old 3C who plays 2 minutes of effective penalty kill every game and has 50pt potential. Sobotka's agent says they were only offered $2.7M in any case. Where would you place Brandon Dubinsky on this team? He just got $5.7M/season for six seasons.
What the shit are you talking about? 50 point potential?? :lol: He has come nowhere near that.

http://www.hockey-reference.com/players ... tvl01.html

Last year was his highest point production playing while even playing minutes on the 1st and 2nd lines and the PP. Look, they're going to miss his face-off ability and tenacious play and I loved watching him play but he's not a $4 million player.
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Re: off season mid term status report

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After the Sobotka debacle (yes, that is the word I'm choosing to use for it) it only knocks the Blues offseason score, in my eyes, a little bit.

Let's say from an A to a B+.

Stastny was huge. We had to get either him or Spezza. We've been bashing the Blues on this message board for depth up the middle, with legitimate point producers and we got one. I wish we would've landed Spezza but sith happens, we didn't give up anything more than money to the best available center in free agency. That is a MASSIVE win.

Berglund... well... here's hoping he plays better? Nothing pisses me off more than a big-bodied forward that doesn't use it so I have never loved the guy from the start. Here's hoping he plays better! (Trademark, St. Louis Blues, 2009)

Sobotka fail and Ott signing... Again we just have to hope and pray this works out and Ott settles in. No other choice.
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Re: off season mid term status report

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ComradeT wrote:
ecbm wrote:What's this abundance at center? Backes, Stastny, washed-up Ott, completely unproven Lehtera and extremely limited Lapierre. I don't see depth to gamble with there. And remember a minute ago when the plan was to move Backes back to the wing? Good times, those.
I wasn't counting Backes in the abundance. The bona-fide centers on Blues roster (not counting Fabbri as he just got drafted) are:

Stastny, Lehtera, Berglund, Ott, Lapierre and Lindstrom. That's six guys. Sure, two of them are unproven and one played wing last year but these are bona-fide centers. Abundance means a lot. Six is a lot compared to four (again, not counting Backes) last year.

As far as Backes moving to the wing, I don't see how this plan is now off the books. Stastny was brought in in order for Backes to move back to wing. That's still there.

Lehtera was brought in to center Tarasenko and Schwarts in a more offensive/creative line. That's still there.

Sobotka was, at best, going to be the 3rd line/PK center. That's no longer there but Berglund can play that role. In fact, while he was no stalwart offensively, his defensive zone/PK work was decent. His weak spot is face-offs. Ott can eat some PK minutes and center the fourth line. Lindstrom is probably there to provide competition and rotation in case of injuries.

Sobotka's toughness compensated somewhat for lack of offensive capabilities. He couldn't effectively center 9 and 91 and he wouldn't take 3-4 line center money (which the Blues were offering). He is coming off a very serious leg injury and a concussion so in my mind he was very much a question mark for the upcoming season in terms of sustaining the same level of toughness and grit. So at worst, the Blues lost a hard-working 3-4 line center with good faceoffs. Berglund or Ott (when healthy) can be that guy, I think. Time will obviously tell.
Lindstrom is not a center he's a winger...
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Re: off season mid term status report

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Misc. Blues wrote:
ComradeT wrote:
ecbm wrote:What's this abundance at center? Backes, Stastny, washed-up Ott, completely unproven Lehtera and extremely limited Lapierre. I don't see depth to gamble with there. And remember a minute ago when the plan was to move Backes back to the wing? Good times, those.
I wasn't counting Backes in the abundance. The bona-fide centers on Blues roster (not counting Fabbri as he just got drafted) are:

Stastny, Lehtera, Berglund, Ott, Lapierre and Lindstrom. That's six guys. Sure, two of them are unproven and one played wing last year but these are bona-fide centers. Abundance means a lot. Six is a lot compared to four (again, not counting Backes) last year.

As far as Backes moving to the wing, I don't see how this plan is now off the books. Stastny was brought in in order for Backes to move back to wing. That's still there.

Lehtera was brought in to center Tarasenko and Schwarts in a more offensive/creative line. That's still there.

Sobotka was, at best, going to be the 3rd line/PK center. That's no longer there but Berglund can play that role. In fact, while he was no stalwart offensively, his defensive zone/PK work was decent. His weak spot is face-offs. Ott can eat some PK minutes and center the fourth line. Lindstrom is probably there to provide competition and rotation in case of injuries.

Sobotka's toughness compensated somewhat for lack of offensive capabilities. He couldn't effectively center 9 and 91 and he wouldn't take 3-4 line center money (which the Blues were offering). He is coming off a very serious leg injury and a concussion so in my mind he was very much a question mark for the upcoming season in terms of sustaining the same level of toughness and grit. So at worst, the Blues lost a hard-working 3-4 line center with good faceoffs. Berglund or Ott (when healthy) can be that guy, I think. Time will obviously tell.
Lindstrom is not a center he's a winger...
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Re: off season mid term status report

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ComradeT wrote:
Misc. Blues wrote:
ComradeT wrote:
ecbm wrote:What's this abundance at center? Backes, Stastny, washed-up Ott, completely unproven Lehtera and extremely limited Lapierre. I don't see depth to gamble with there. And remember a minute ago when the plan was to move Backes back to the wing? Good times, those.
I wasn't counting Backes in the abundance. The bona-fide centers on Blues roster (not counting Fabbri as he just got drafted) are:

Stastny, Lehtera, Berglund, Ott, Lapierre and Lindstrom. That's six guys. Sure, two of them are unproven and one played wing last year but these are bona-fide centers. Abundance means a lot. Six is a lot compared to four (again, not counting Backes) last year.

As far as Backes moving to the wing, I don't see how this plan is now off the books. Stastny was brought in in order for Backes to move back to wing. That's still there.

Lehtera was brought in to center Tarasenko and Schwarts in a more offensive/creative line. That's still there.

Sobotka was, at best, going to be the 3rd line/PK center. That's no longer there but Berglund can play that role. In fact, while he was no stalwart offensively, his defensive zone/PK work was decent. His weak spot is face-offs. Ott can eat some PK minutes and center the fourth line. Lindstrom is probably there to provide competition and rotation in case of injuries.

Sobotka's toughness compensated somewhat for lack of offensive capabilities. He couldn't effectively center 9 and 91 and he wouldn't take 3-4 line center money (which the Blues were offering). He is coming off a very serious leg injury and a concussion so in my mind he was very much a question mark for the upcoming season in terms of sustaining the same level of toughness and grit. So at worst, the Blues lost a hard-working 3-4 line center with good faceoffs. Berglund or Ott (when healthy) can be that guy, I think. Time will obviously tell.
Lindstrom is not a center he's a winger...
Center according to Stlblues.com and Wikipedia. Please provide references that designate him as a winger.
Elite Prospects wrote:Lindström is a very talented winger. He has fine offensive skills and he is not afraid of heavy traffic. Lindström sees the ice very well and has an offense-first attitude. He is not overly physical but he can stand up for himself. Lindström is shifty, has quick feet and a fine scoring touches. The main concern here is health, and especially his shoulder has been keeping him out of the line-up in the past. (EP)
http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=229
http://www.eurohockey.com/player/32324- ... dstrm.html
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdis ... ?pid=56896
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CanesandBluesFan
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Re: off season mid term status report

Post by CanesandBluesFan »

Interesting!
Hockey-Reference.com and NHL.com both have him as a center, however, in 2005-6 he played 3 games, took 0 face-offs. 2006-7 7 games 0 face-offs. 2007-8 25 games 7 face-offs. 2008-9 44 games 14 face-offs. 2011-12 16 games 5 face-offs. Those certainly look more like winger numbers.

Trying to dig up some SEL/SHL stats.
http://stats.swehockey.se/Players/Stati ... aders/4920
He's not in the top 25 in FO percentage either 2013-14 or 2012-13. Not in the top 4 on his team, either.
Can't seem to find a direct link to number of face-offs taken.
the SAIK home page isn't much help
http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... 6bih%3D762

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ComradeT
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Re: off season mid term status report

Post by ComradeT »

Misc. Blues wrote:
ComradeT wrote:
Misc. Blues wrote:
ComradeT wrote:
ecbm wrote:What's this abundance at center? Backes, Stastny, washed-up Ott, completely unproven Lehtera and extremely limited Lapierre. I don't see depth to gamble with there. And remember a minute ago when the plan was to move Backes back to the wing? Good times, those.
I wasn't counting Backes in the abundance. The bona-fide centers on Blues roster (not counting Fabbri as he just got drafted) are:

Stastny, Lehtera, Berglund, Ott, Lapierre and Lindstrom. That's six guys. Sure, two of them are unproven and one played wing last year but these are bona-fide centers. Abundance means a lot. Six is a lot compared to four (again, not counting Backes) last year.

As far as Backes moving to the wing, I don't see how this plan is now off the books. Stastny was brought in in order for Backes to move back to wing. That's still there.

Lehtera was brought in to center Tarasenko and Schwarts in a more offensive/creative line. That's still there.

Sobotka was, at best, going to be the 3rd line/PK center. That's no longer there but Berglund can play that role. In fact, while he was no stalwart offensively, his defensive zone/PK work was decent. His weak spot is face-offs. Ott can eat some PK minutes and center the fourth line. Lindstrom is probably there to provide competition and rotation in case of injuries.

Sobotka's toughness compensated somewhat for lack of offensive capabilities. He couldn't effectively center 9 and 91 and he wouldn't take 3-4 line center money (which the Blues were offering). He is coming off a very serious leg injury and a concussion so in my mind he was very much a question mark for the upcoming season in terms of sustaining the same level of toughness and grit. So at worst, the Blues lost a hard-working 3-4 line center with good faceoffs. Berglund or Ott (when healthy) can be that guy, I think. Time will obviously tell.
Lindstrom is not a center he's a winger...
Center according to Stlblues.com and Wikipedia. Please provide references that designate him as a winger.
Elite Prospects wrote:Lindström is a very talented winger. He has fine offensive skills and he is not afraid of heavy traffic. Lindström sees the ice very well and has an offense-first attitude. He is not overly physical but he can stand up for himself. Lindström is shifty, has quick feet and a fine scoring touches. The main concern here is health, and especially his shoulder has been keeping him out of the line-up in the past. (EP)
http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=229
http://www.eurohockey.com/player/32324- ... dstrm.html
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdis ... ?pid=56896
Fair enough.
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