Pool Outlook for St. Louis

I thought in the off-season that the St. Louis Blues had a whole load of potential, as the team tapped a starting goalie and made a point that his understudy would get his fair share of work, but it would be a pretty simple dynamic.  Of course, as goaltending stories go, the panic button gets pushed at some critical times and it has a ripple effect through the entire lineup and all of that potential fizzled in the playoffs, despite loads of regular season success.

There is always something to be said about stepping up when injuries occur and earning a coach's trust, but having one thing said and another thing done, then asking a future Hall of Famer to come in as support when an injury does happen, only to let him fade into management, going back to the saying one thing, that one is a starter and going with the understudy in the playoffs.  The Blues coaching staff out-thought themselves and the Minnesota Wild took down the Central Division champions in the opening round of the playoffs.

You know, once you get past the train wreck that was the playoffs for the St. Louis Blues, there was so much to get excited about.  They now have a couple of the most exciting young players in the game today, coupled with a blueline that can go head-to-head with just about anyone and they also have a few more futures in the system as well.

It will be interesting to see how the Blues will move forward in this off-season, as there are going to be some changes, we'll just anxiously await to see where they happen.

The Blues were among the popular teams in the pool this season, as 13 of them were taken at the original draft in September and by the end of the year, through trades, signings and the pool's Waiver Draft, there were 15 players touched by the pool, three of which had been dropped in the year.  There was a surprise or two, but once players were not really hitting the high numbers in offense, there was a little bit of a drop-off, for sure.

Russian forward Vladimir Tarasenko was an absolute dynamo and a regular on the highlight reels on the sports networks, as he scored a bunch of beauties this year and wowed the competition into submission some nights.  Tarasenko finished up the year with 37 goals and 73 points in 77 games played this year, which was good enough for 22nd overall in pool scoring and 10th overall among all forwards.  His electric style of play also earned him a nod for the All-Star Game in Columbus this year and will have his name firmly planted on the tip of many tongues at the draft this coming Fall.

Including Tarasenko, the Blues finished with seven forwards, who were in the top 184 for scoring in the position, firmly planting themselves into the psyche of those pool teams looking for immediate offense.  The biggest drawback for the pool in St. Louis was the health of the forwards, as none of the pool worthy played all 82 games.  Alex Steen played in 74 games and had 64 points, Jaden Schwartz played in 75 games and had 63 points, David Backes played in 80 games and had 58 points, T.J. Oshie played in 72 games and had 55 points, Paul Stastny had 46 points in 74 games and Jori Lehtera had 44 points in 75 games.  You could definitely argue that a lack of consistency in their lineup may have hurt their scoring, but a division win quickly makes you forget about that.

The blueline suffered through a shortage of offense as well, but they played well in their own end, which was their biggest strength.  Only Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk were pool-worthy in 2015, picking up 46 and 44 points, respectively.  There was a huge gap between the top two and the next defensemen in scoring, as Barret Jackman was 3rd on the team list with only 15 points.

Then there was the ill-fated goaltending tandem, as Brian Elliott and Jake Allen had a reasonable split of the minutes played, somewhat due to Elliott's injury, which forced him to miss a considerable amount of time.  Elliott was good for 65 points and Allen was good for 54, both picking up points at a scoring rate of just over 1.5 points per 60 minutes played, but it was the indecision and wavering that led to a lack of confidence in either goalie, going into the playoffs.

2016 Pool Outlook

The excitement around Tarasenko and Schwartz up front and Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk in the back will remain, they are great players.  The outlook beyond those four is certainly in question, as they really didn't put up huge numbers, something I had projected as a whole last Summer, so if you were looking to hit the jackpot in St. Louis, you came up short.  I think something close to the same will happen again, barring a long home run hit in the off-season.

There is quite a bit of excitement that surrounds the team's 2014 1st round pick, Robbie Fabbri, so he'll likely get a pretty good look in training camp this Fall, while 2011 2nd round pick Ty Rattie finally played in 11 games for the Blues, keeping his rookie status for next season.  The Blues are somewhat deep at forward, so to make the roster out of camp means that they have something to offer and if that's the case, I would have a peek at these two, especially for the talent that is surrounding them.

Free Agency and the Salary Cap

The Blues' marquee man is the headliner for free agency as well this year and the team knows it.  Vladimir Tarasenko is a restricted free agent and the team has mentioned that he is their number one priority, as he should be.  Goalie Jake Allen is also an RFA this Summer and it will be interesting to see what kind of numbers he drums up.

Unrestricted free agency doesn't have any pool-worthy players from earlier in the post, but we'll mention Vladimir Sobotka, who spent last season in Europe and their captain, Barret Jackman, both will raise an eyebrow or two, likely for different reasons.

By my count, the Blues have 28 players already signed on for 2016, at a combined cap hit of $65.9 million, so they have some room to move.  Flexibility will certainly help this team, as they try to find the missing piece in the puzzle that brings them some playoff success.

Needs at the 2015 Entry Draft

Looking at the overall structure of what the Blues have signed on for the 2016 season, I think there is an immediate need for a little bit more depth on the blueline, as they have good depth at the pro level, they don't really have a lot in the cupboards, if you were to ask me.  The Blues have some size in the cupboard, but a kid like Colin White would give them a little bit more depth down the middle and if he is anything like the two-way centre he is being touted as, then he could be a very good asset to a defensively responsible lineup down the road.

What I Said Last Year, At This Time...

I fully expect the Blues to be active in the marketplace this Summer and I expect them to pull out some pretty good talent, since this franchise looks like one of the more promising teams to play for going forward. If the team can find themselves a player with a better playoff pedigree to lead this squad of youngsters, they could really push for Cup contention in the year. I like St. Louis' chances at a Central Division title in the regular season next year and on the shoulders of a regular number one, who should play all year for the team, they could be confident enough to make that push into the West Finals or even further. I think the best year for the Blues is right in front of us.

I think this prediction was doing really, really well... up until the last couple weeks of the regular season.  There's no doubt that the internal implosion was at the root of this team not progressing out of the first round of the playoffs, because they certainly had the make-up of a team that did a little bit of tinkering here and there and were ready to rock, let down by a lack of confidence and confusion.

The Blues in 2016 will compete, I think that's a given.  The franchise has a roster of players that can do some amazing things, but they all need to be coordinated properly to achieve the proper end goal, which is to win the Stanley Cup.  If you can trust what the management and coaching staff say closer to the start of the season, that should determine how good of a team this should be.  The players will also have to take some accountability and when changes start to be made, that's when those statements come out.  No matter what though, the Blues will be above the wild card spots in the playoffs and if they show some real direction in the off-season, we can start talking about moving further in the playoffs.