theohall wrote:Going to make one assumption - Kostin makes team.
The top 6: Tarasenko, Schenn, Schwartz, Fabbri, Stastny, Kostin.
Bottom 6: Sobotka, Berglund, Jaskin, Brodziak - and a dog fight for the last 2 spots between
Sanford, Sundqvist, and all those guys in the AHL and juniors still, plus any draft picks that might be ahead of where we expect. I have no idea who will grab the final 2 roster spots. My guess is Sundqvist replaces Brodziak for the 2018 season, so might not be on the roster this season. Toropchenko could be a wild card in this, because his specialty his net front presence on the power play while also being an excellent penalty killer.
something happen to Steen?
I blame it on amnesia... response was to post about moving Steen out of top 6 and forgot to include him in the bottom 6...
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Also I don't know about any sort of tryout for a 4th round pick. If he was NHL ready he wouldn't have been a 4th round pick by the Blues, he'd be a 1st or 2nd round pick by Vegas looking for a "homegrown" for the fans to flock behind.
glen a richter wrote:So the current assumption is that Kyrou, Blais, Thompson and Musil aren't ready?
That's all the guys competing for those last spots... couldn't remember everyone's name. Kyrou is likely going to stay in juniors another year.
In all honesty, I don't see Blais and Musil as Top 6 forwards ever. Thompson and Kyrou are a different story.
I'm probably wrong about Musil with how consistently he's performed regardless of level the past 3 seasons. Would be good to have a big 3rd LW who can produce along with Fabbri and Schwartz.
Last edited by theohall on Tue Jun 27, 2017 4:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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While Toropchenko was a 4th round pick, his style of play with his size is one of the things this Blues roster currently lacks. Everyone lamented not having Brouwer or Backes to work the front of the net on the power play. This is Toropchenko's best skill with the size to match it. This is why he could make this team sooner than expected. And he's an excellent penalty killer. He could be one of the "bottom 6" guys, but also used on the power play.
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Regarding Musil, I'm not worried about a revamping of the top 6, I'm worried about a revamping of the bottom 6. Musil seems like the type of guy who would be a great centerpiece to a 4th line that can play 10+ minutes and contribute on the scoresheet, which is what has been sorely lacking from this team. I never expected him to be a top line guy, but it would sure be great to have four lines that can give teams matchup fits every night.
I thought you didn't want them to draft Kostin and now you think he's ready to make the team? What changed your mind? Bill Armstrong said it'll be awhile, btw.
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I don't think all is lost, if Army doesn't lose sight of what I think he's finally realized: you have to have a stronger 3rd and 4th line than our current versions.
It looks to me like he figured this out and is taking the right steps to fix that problem. Whether that translates to this year or a couple years from now when the proper youngsters are on the roster remains to be seen. But I think if we could rely on 3 or 4 more guys to provide even a shred of offense, just to keep the matchups a nightmare for other teams, we'd have gone deeper this year. I don't think this team is as far off as it seems.
Still not convinced we have the right coach to implement a more offensive system when younger talent is infused. His system is so reliant on defense, first, offense will suffer. There needs to be more balance in how the Blues use their forwards to protect their defensive zone versus looking for offensive opportunities. What is kind of humorous is Yeo had been here all season with Hitchcock. Hitchcock had actually given the forwards a little more freedom to look for offense, but it wasn't working defensively. What does Yeo do? He puts in the defensive stuff similar to Hitchcock, which was upsetting to some Blues players at the end of the 14-15 season, because it was so defense-first minded.
Yes, the Blues were giving up the fewest goals/game in the league after Yeo took over. However, the Blues dropped ~.5 goal/game once Yeo took over. What were the Blues lacking in the playoffs? Offense. Maybe a deeper talent pool will fix this in spite of the coach. Who knows?
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You have to dig all the way back to 2005 to find our last player of long term significance to the team who was drafted after the 3rd round... that being 5th rounder and offensive juggernaut Ryan Reaves. In the same draft, Stanley Cup Champion Patrick Hornqvist went 230th... dead last. This team truly sucks at drafting in the later rounds. It's a problem that needs to be corrected, and we'll see with such later rounders as Toropchenko, Gawdin, Musil and Blais but my gut feeling is they have a big hill to climb to break a tradition of weak ass drafting.
The thing with Toropchenko is he was rated between a 2nd and 4th rounder. The Blues getting him in the 4th was a good thing, IMO, and a bit surprising he dropped that far.
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This doesn't sound good. EDIT: Nevermind, Kostin would be a KHL UFA, not an NHL UFA which I guess would make it easier for him to sign with the Blues right away.
https://twitter.com/A_Kalnins/status/880088841905987584https://twitter.com/A_Kalnins/status/880088928933613569https://twitter.com/A_Kalnins/status/880089161490984960
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New owners bought Dynamo Moscow. After buying the team, these owners were refusing to pay any of the players brought in by the prior owners (Kostin is in this group) while also refusing to release them from their KHL contracts. Seriously! Can't make this stuff up.
IMO, screw them and ignore the KHL contract, just like the KHL did when they signed Kovalchuk who was under contract to the Devils. He certainly wasn't "released" to be able to sign, which is what the BS is about now - releasing players from KHL contracts to sign NHL deals - whether ELCs due to being drafted or as UFAs. If it didn't matter to the KHL for Kovalchuk, it shouldn't matter the other way. Especially when the KHL can't even afford to pay their players.
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Before my hopes are crushed, yet again, next April/May.
I'm just ball breakin', but it'd be sweet if that came to fruition. He's a RW by trade and the Berg Dawg wounding himself will open the door for someone.
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I need to research Kostin a little more, but the way I see people talk about him reminds me of Tarasenko. "He's a total steal if _____" type comments. I don't know what to think, but people could be saying much worse, so I'm starting to get a little excited on that basis alone.
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