Official Best Offseason Ever Thread

[JCShutout]

Binner jersey arrived!

[StL Dan]

Binner jersey arrived!

Sweet! With SC patch?

[JCShutout]

Champions patch baby!

[StL Dan]

Champions patch baby!

[glen a richter]

The last jersey I bought was a Stempniak. I think it’s about time for a new one. Parayko or Binner? So many difficult decisions.

[theohall]

From The Athletic: How long does the Stanley Cup window stay open for the top contenders?

The important parts - which will demonstrate why I'm still not buying Nashville as a supposed contender:

Criteria to qualify as a Cup contender in a given season

Advance to the conference finals

OR

Check four of the six boxes in these categories:

1. Finish the regular season with 100 or more points (or the equivalent in a lockout year)
2. Finish in the top 10 in both the penalty kill and power play
3. Finish in the top five in the league in xGF%
4. Finish in the top five in the league in GF%
5. Finish in the top five in the league in SRS (a metric from hockey-reference that factors in goal differential and strength of schedule)
6. Advance to the second round of the playoffs the previous year

(Yes, that's strict, but it's damned accurate, IMO).

And the result (this only goes back to 07-08 due to availability of statistics used).

So I'm still not buying Nashville as contending when all they've added is a center who has really good individual statistics, but whose contribution towards the team winning has been questionable for several years, while subtracting a defenseman who eats up 22+ minutes per night. I'm not a Subban fan, but replacing what he provided won't be easy and shouldn't be expected from a rookie like Fabbro. It's almost like Nashville is going to throw a bunch of bottom 6 RDs (Santini, Yannick Weber, Matt Irwin) at the problem (finding a 2nd pair RD) along with Fabbro and see who sticks. Rookies D are rarely Top 4 guys right off the bat which is why I'm counting Fabbro as a bottom 6 - for this season.

[glen a richter]

Going into the second round after sweeping Pittsburgh, I figured the Islanders had a really good chance to go all the way. I’m still shocked Carolina swept them out.

[theohall]

What's nuts about Carolina, the last 4 times they made the playoffs, they reached the Conference Finals all 4 times.

[glen a richter]

What's nuts about Carolina, the last 4 times they made the playoffs, they reached the Conference Finals all 4 times.

Like the NY Giants, they don’t make it too often but when they do they make it count.

[WaukeeBlues]

What's most impressive to me about that chart is that they have the teams that played in the finals every year among the "select" teams for those categories.

Some years that's really impressive (where only, for example, 5 teams make the criteria) and other years it's a little less so (where there's 9) but still noteworthy.

One of the reasons I love the NHL is that there is true parity. You can honestly list out a 1/3 of the league every year that legitimately could win the Stanley Cup.

And there's so many things that go into it: goaltending, team unity, getting hot at the right time, good defense, good coaching and perhaps most pivotally, luck.

That's right, I said it, LUCK. That has a lot to do with it. O'Reilly has mentioned it several times in interviews: getting those bounces. Won't get you there by itself, but among a bunch of really really good teams you have to have some luck. For us: Winnipeg series when Schwartz scores late, what if the puck comes off the shaft of his stick slightly differently and doesn't go in the net? Dallas buries one of their numerous nearly-empty-net chances they had in Game 7 OT? Binnington makes an armpit save against Marchand in the opening period of Game 7 against Boston, what if that goes in, puts Bruins up 1-0 to start game 7?

Not taking anything away from the Blues, they earned it, they deserved it. But the margin for victory from Cup champion to playoff ouster is razor thin. Every year.

[glen a richter]

Luck and timing. You know when I knew the Blues had it in the bag? Pies goal with 7.9 left. Boston thought they’d be going into the second down 1-0 and that goal at that late in the period deflated them like a leaky implant. If it’s 1-0 instead of 2-0 at that point game 7 ends differently.

[JCShutout]

Luck and timing. You know when I knew the Blues had it in the bag? Pies goal with 7.9 left. Boston thought they’d be going into the second down 1-0 and that goal at that late in the period deflated them like a leaky implant. If it’s 1-0 instead of 2-0 at that point game 7 ends differently.

That early?! I got a lot of texts then and responded to every one, "Long way to go." I felt good (duh) going into the 2nd with a 2-0 lead, but I started thinking they might win when Boston didn't dominate the 2nd. Instead of coming out hard, the Blues held their own and were still up 2-0 after 2. Goal 4 was when I thought we pretty much had it. I still love Perron's celebration after that goal. He knew that ended it and was so excited. Not to mention how hard he battled to get it. Dude worked his ass off to make sure the Blues took that cup home.

[glen a richter]

Well maybe not in the literal sense of knowing they had it in the bag, but retrospectively that was the biggest and best timed goal of the season because everything else that happened after that was because of the 2-0 lead. Even if it was 2-0 but the 2nd goal was scored with 5 minutes left it may have been a different story. Just the timing of the goal was everything. The team and the fans at the garden that night knew they were franked because of it. Everyone else elevated their game because of it and the rest was history. The only thing that was really disappointing was Binny losing the shutout. That would have been icing on the cake, end the season the same way it finally began that day in January when they decided to pull their heads out of their asses and play as a team.

What's amazing to me is I've been a fan since I was in 6th grade, so we're looking at 26 years as a fan. In those 26 years there were so many times I thought they had a solid chance to win it all, starting with my first year following the team--the year they swept Chicago and Belfour went berserk. Every year I thought they could win it they disappointed, and the one year (aside from the incredibly lean post-lockout years) I figure they were left for dead and didn't have a chance in hell they go ahead and win the whole thing.

[WaukeeBlues]

Luck and timing. You know when I knew the Blues had it in the bag? Pies goal with 7.9 left. Boston thought they’d be going into the second down 1-0 and that goal at that late in the period deflated them like a leaky implant. If it’s 1-0 instead of 2-0 at that point game 7 ends differently.

That early?! I got a lot of texts then and responded to every one, "Long way to go." I felt good (duh) going into the 2nd with a 2-0 lead, but I started thinking they might win when Boston didn't dominate the 2nd. Instead of coming out hard, the Blues held their own and were still up 2-0 after 2. Goal 4 was when I thought we pretty much had it. I still love Perron's celebration after that goal. He knew that ended it and was so excited. Not to mention how hard he battled to get it. Dude worked his ass off to make sure the Blues took that cup home.

For me, you could tell really early that Binnington was dialed in. That alone got my spirits up right out of the gate. "He's feeling it, he's got this" may have been a statement repeated 5,308 times from me those first two periods. But when that puck somehow went in from the point and we got that first goal... I exploded. Didn't think for a second at that point (or when we went up 2-0, worst lead in hockey) that we "had it" but when we scored first I had my first "oh sh*t we might win this thing." That first goal has just proven so pivotal, and especially on the road in a game 7.

My "We got it!" moment was actually Schenn's goal. I screamed my head off and basically collapsed in a heap on the couch. It just felt that that did it. Down 3 goals with less than 10 to go, with the way Binnington was playing... and then on the 4th goal I just started celebrating and phone just exploded from text messages. It was great.

Unbelievable run, crazy series, great game. I'll never get sick of the memories, that's for sure

[theohall]

Game 7 1st period was driving me nuts... until the Blues scored. It was obvious Binnington was dialed in, but it was also painfully obvious the Blues were not playing the "help their defense" game which was how they won the majority of games they did win starting in about mid-December. Once that first goal went in, then the forwards started playing the 200' game. After Pietrangelo put in that 2nd one, the rest of the game was a massive lockdown by the Blues forwards everywhere on the ice, instead of just trying to do it in the neutral zone alone like they had been doing until scoring that 1st goal. I actually texted my brother about at the 10 minute mark of the 1st that the Blues forwards needed to pull their heads out of their butts or all this work Binnington is doing won''t matter. Then ROR scored, after Boston had dominated the game to that point, and it was over. I didn't know if it was over when the 2nd goal was scored, but texted my brother saying we should see the defensively dominant, forwards playing a 200' game from this point and we did.

One holdover the Blues still had from the Yeo era was how the forwards play when the team is in "must-win" situations in individual games - like being down a goal. They tended to way over-play the offensive side of the puck and they did that in all 3 losses vs Boston and the 1st period of Game 7. Thank goodness for Binnington being so damn awesome in that first period and the Blues getting goals when they weren't the team working as hard for those goals. Of course, if they were able to get leads back, they were a great lockdown team most nights from January on.

It's scary to think how many games this team could win if they just realize how effective they are when everyone is playing a 200' game the entire game. Just some nights, the forwards seem to take the night off in the 90' on their own side of center - and it's not just one forward, it's pretty much all of them except ROR and Sundqvist. I know the problem with this is 1) mindset and 2) it's damn hard physically to do every night. So - do enough to make the playoffs again and gets this 200' mindset locked into everyone for the playoffs and another Cup is a real possibility with this roster.

It's fun reading things on The Athletic with comments about the Blues having two #1 RD and neither being paid like they are #1s. Yes, Parayko would be a #1 RD on lots of teams today.

[glen a richter]

After the Pie goal the texts started coming in fast and furious.... except for my one buddy who's a Bruins fan. He went conspicuously silent. But he was really gracious after the game ended, so that was cool. Dude knows his hockey, being a New Hampshire native, so I think he also recognized it was over at that point.

[glen a richter]

From what I understand, today is Maroon’s day with the Cup. Wouldn’t be surprised if he signs with Edmonton tomorrow or the next day, kind of like how DelZotto signed with Anaheim quick after his day with it. I’m guessing the hold up on his decision centered around his waiting for his turn.

[theohall]

This is probably best for someplace else, but...

2021: Seattle Expansion draft
2021: Binnington is a UFA.

A major key to Vegas success these first two seasons has been Marc-Andre Fleury. Get great goaltending right off the bat and your expansion team is competitive.

So... depending on what happens over the next 2 years with how Binnington plays and how the Blues prospects develops - Binnington could be a major asset in the Seattle expansion draft. But that's 2 years from now and who the heck can predict that kind of stuff with the parity-ridden NHL.

[StL Dan]

Interim HC Craig Berube: 06/24, offered and signed 3 yr contract with the StL Blues

UFA
Carl Gunnarsson: 06/27 - signed 2 yr, 3.5M contract (1.75M AAV) with the StL Blues
Michael Del Zotto - - signed 1 year FA deal with the Anaheim Ducks
Jared Coreau- signed FA deal with the New York Islanders
Chris Thorburn
Pat Maroon

RFA
Oskar Sundqvist 07/21 - signed 4 yr, 11M (2.75M AAV) contract with the StL Blues
Ville Husso 07/20 - signed 1 yr/ 2way contract with the StL Blues
Jordan Binnington 07/13 - signed 2 yr (4.4M AAV) with the StL Blues
Robby Fabbri 07/12 - signed 1 yr, 900K contract with the StL Blues
Zach Sanford: 07/08 - signed 2 yr, 3M (1.5M AAV) contract with the StL Blues
Sammy Blais: 07/01 - signed 1 yr, 850K contract with the StL Blues
Joel Edmundson 07/09 - Arbitration hearing set for Sunday, August 4
Ivan Barbashev

Existing contracts with caveats
Bozak has 10-team no trade list
Perron has 5-team no trade list
Schwartz has 15-team no trade list

Full no trade clauses:
Tarasenko
Pietrangelo
Steen
Bouwmeester

**Chris Butler: 07/03 - announces retirement from the NHL

[glen a richter]

4/11 mil is a goddam steal! Well done, Army.