Additions: D Jeff Woywitka, D Taylor Chorney
Subtractions: RW B.J. Crombeen
UFAs: D Carlo Colaiacovo, C Jason Arnott, D Kent Huskins, LW Chris Porter
Promotion candidates: RW Vladimir Tarasenko, C Jaden Schwartz, D Cade Fairchild
There's
no guarantee those players exceed their totals in points and games
played this year, but if they do, the Blues could be the most
dangerous team in the League. "I think you score in the NHL by
committee," Hitchock told the Dispatch. "The formula for
winning is the same. It's three competitive center-icemen, good depth
on defense and great goaltending. That's what wins in the NHL. You
look at all the teams that did well this year, that's what they've
got. We've got it within our group. If we're healthy, it's sitting
there in our group." Forward B.J.
Crombeen (three points in 40 games) was traded to the Tampa
Bay Lightning in exchange for draft picks. Defenseman Kent
Huskins, who missed 46 games with a fractured left ankle, remains
an unrestricted free agent. The Blues boast one of the best blue-line
corps in the League along with a deadly goaltending duo in Jaroslav
Halak and Brian
Elliott. If this young team can grow, stay healthy and learn from
last season's sweep at the hands of the Kings, they have a chance to
raise the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history. "Every
player that I've talked to feels that there's another gear in us, and
we can get to that gear now that we have that experience,"
Hitchcock told the Dispatch. "I think what really showed in the
playoffs was that we were inexperienced at the level of commitment
necessary to win against a really good team. The temperature of the
games went up and we hadn't been involved in anything like that
before. It was like 'on-the-job training.' Now we know what it's like
and our players won't be surprised by it."
When
a team puts together a 109-point season and has almost its entire
roster back for the following season, there aren't too many questions
surrounding the club. The Blues ran into the Los
Angeles Kings' juggernaut in the second round and lost in four
games, ending a season that was as remarkable as it was surprising.
What must the Blues do to get back to the postseason and beyond the
second round? Here are some questions that could affect that.
The
tandem of Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott was one of the most
effective in NHL history last season, as it nearly had an even split
in starts and combined for a 1.78 goals-against average and .932 save
percentage. Halak went 26-12-7 in 46 starts and Elliott went 23-10-4
in 36 starts. Elliott found himself in the net far more often than
expected because of Halak's early-season struggles, but the firing of
coach Davis
Payne and hiring of coach Ken Hitchock changed the fortunes of
Halak and the Blues. During the postseason, Halak suffered an injury
and made just two starts. Elliott took over and was in net for the
Blues' four-game sweep at the hands of the Kings. Halak was signed to
be the team's No. 1 goaltender and should see a bigger bulk of the
work this season assuming he is healthy. But if he struggles, the
Blues have a capable backup in Elliott who can get the job done.
Depending on a lot of factors, it could be anything from a straight
platoon to one of the goalies seizing control of the job of
full-time.
After
four seasons in the KHL, the talented Vladimir Tarasenko will begin
his career in the NHL. The 20-year-old finished tied for eighth in
the KHL in scoring last season with 23 goals and 47 points in 54
games after finishing tied for second in points with 11 in seven
games as a member of Russia's gold-medal team at the 2011 World
Junior Championships. Blues coach Ken Hitchock envisions Tarasenko
playing somewhere in the top-nine. Whether a player is arriving from
Russia, Sweden or the AHL, a rookie's first season in the NHL is
rarely an easy one. But if he can contribute offensively to a team
that had a hard time scoring last year, he'll be a valuable piece to
an already solid team.
After
two straight 28-goal seasons, Chris
Stewart plummeted to 15 goals and 30 points in 79 games. He had
two goals in seven playoff games and was a healthy scratch during the
postseason. The Blues gave up franchise defenseman Erik
Johnson to land Stewart and defenseman Kevin
Shattenkirk at the 2011 trade deadline, and Stewart had 15 goals
in his first 26 games in St. Louis. Offense was a problem for the
Blues last season, and Stewart rediscovering his scoring touch would
go a long way toward remedying those woes.
Let's
be honest, no one thought the St.
Louis Blues were going to finish second the West last season.
Even fewer people thought that when coach Davis
Payne was fired 13 games into the season and replaced with Ken
Hitchcock. In the previous six seasons, the Blues never finished
higher than third in the Central, made one trip to the postseason and
were swept away in four games. Was last year an instance of all the
Blues' young players coming into their own all at once? Whether the
Blues contend for the League's best record again remains to be seen,
but their 109 points came in a season with three of their best
players (David
Perron, Andy
McDonald, Alex
Steen) missing a lot of time and Stewart playing so poorly he was
seeing fourth-line minutes at times. With a solid young defense corps
and two top goaltenders, the Blues should contend for a Cup if they
can stay healthy.
The
Blues were 21st in goals last season and decided against bringing in
a proven scorer during the offseason. Tarasenko will join the club,
but he's hardly a Rick
Nash acquisition or a Zach
Parise or Alex Semin signing. So with the same cast of characters
in 2012-13, the Blues will be relying on a full season from its
players who dealt with injuries last season and a resurgent campaign
from Stewart. Perron (24 games, concussion), McDonald (57 games,
concussion, shoulder), Steen (39 games, concussion) all had extended
absences at varying points of the season. Perron, McDonald and Steen
combined for 92 points in 125 games, an average of 0.74 points game,
which is a big hole in the lineup when they are absent. Stewart will
also be counted upon to return to his nearly 30-goal form of the
previous two seasons.
There
may not have been a more underrated player in the NHL last season
than Alex Pietrangelo. The 22-year-old finished fifth among
defenseman in scoring with 51 points, which were the third-most on a
Blues' team that had a hard time scoring goals. He averaged 24:43 of
ice time, 16th-most in the NHL, and was plus-16. Despite his youth,
he was routinely matched up against the opposition's top lines. With
Nicklas
Lidstrom retired, that's one less obstacle standing in
Pietrangelo's way. The King City, Ontario, native will also benefit
from a full season in Hitchcock's defensive system. The Norris voting
can be based somewhat on reputation, but if he can improve slightly
on his offensive numbers without losing his defensive edge, he could
be on the short list for the award. The veteran had two more goals
than Chris
Stewart, who was expected to do big things last year after two
consecutive seasons of 28 goals. Whether Stewart bounces back this
season remains to be seen, but he has spent the offseason doing
everything possible after listening to advice from Arnott. "I
talked to a guy like Jason
Arnott, who really prides himself on his nutrition and who really
takes care of himself," Stewart told reporters. "We talked
about it during the year, but at the end of the year, we sat down,
talked about it and he really said if I can commit myself to the gym
this summer and come back here that I can be a difference-maker next
year. "You can't really read into the hype or the hoopla.
Everyone's entitled to write what they want. I do see myself as a
goal-scorer in this League. That's something I can do. I think this
year was a learning experience and a good year learning how to be a
pro and what you've got to do to be successful in this League and
look toward next year." The 6-foot-2, 230-pound Stewart is a
mountain of a man who will be 25 years old in October. He was
acquired at the 2011 trade deadline from the Colorado
Avalanche, along with defenseman Kevin
Shattenkirk, in exchange for defenseman Erik
Johnson and forward Jay
McClement. Stewart made an immediate impact with 15 goals in 26
games. That performance raised expectations for the Toronto native
the following season. But instead of reaching 30 or 40 goals or
matching his output of the previous two seasons, Stewart found
himself in a slump like never before in his career. After scoring
twice in the Blues' first two games, he went 10 games before scoring
another goal. After that tally, he went another nine games before
scoring his fourth goal of the season. Stewart had five stretches of
at least six games without a goal and ended the nightmare season with
zero goals in 13 games. "When you do struggle a little bit, it
starts to get your confidence," Stewart said. "You try to
change your game or over-compensate. You can't really worry about it.
"I've got to be the player that I am. I've got to do the things
that made me successful this year. I've got to get back to being
Chris Stewart,
just be me and playing my game. I got myself into this. I'm the only
one that can get myself out of it and I'll do it. You can't really
read into the hype or the hoopla. Everyone's entitled to write what
they want. I do see myself as a goal-scorer in this League. That's
something I can do. I think this year was a learning experience and a
good year learning how to be a pro and what you've got to do to be
successful in this League and look toward next year." Stewart is
hoping that trainer Matt Nichol, who has worked with Mats
Sundin, Michael
Cammalleri and Lee
Stempniak, will have the tonic for what ailed him last season.
Blues coach Ken Hitchcock believes it's a step in the right
direction. "I'm really excited because, to me, [Stewart] is
starting to turn the corner we've needed him to turn," Hitchcock
told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "He has elite skill, he's an
elite athlete, but now he's followed it with a high level of fitness
training. Like, we're talking high level. Where he's at, the people
that he's working with, it's a real high level of fitness training.
He's getting pushed hard every day and he's responded. So, he's
started to figure it out, and he's starting to figure out that you
can't just rely on your skill level." "When you just rely
on your skill level, you go through peaks and valleys. You score 30
one year, 10 the next. When you just rely on your skill, people you
play against end up outworking you. [Stewart’s] figured out that he
wants to have a long career. It's not like he's suddenly found a
trainer. What he's found is that he can only get so far himself doing
the training. Now he's got somebody pushing him really hard every
day. I'm really proud of him."
The
timeline for teams who have committed to rebuilding through the draft
has worked almost like clockwork in cities such as Pittsburgh,
Chicago and Washington. Absorb many defeats on the ice for
two-to-three years, collect high picks and watch the franchise go
from pretender to contender almost overnight. This is not how the
script played out in St. Louis. After the Blues were bad for a few
years (with a slightly surprising surge toward the middle after
hiring Andy Murray mixed in), they made the playoffs in 2008-09 but
were knocked out in the first round. Instead of taking the next step
forward and becoming a serious contender, the Blues went sideways for
two years. The collection of young talent finally, after another
coaching change, put it all together in 2011-12. St. Louis roared
toward the top of the Western Conference, winning arguably the
strongest division in the League and earning the No. 2 seed for the
postseason. With Ken Hitchcock in charge, the Blues expect their
upward development curve to continue. To that end, the only major
addition to the lineup this season will likely be top prospect
Vladimir
Tarasenko. Considering that the only other playoff team from the
West last season to add an impact player without subtracting was San
Jose -- the team St. Louis dispatched in the first round, the Blues
should be considered one of the favorites to win the conference this
season. Two of the contenders in the Central Division lost franchise
defensemen (Detroit and Nashville), while Vancouver's path to a
Northwest title (and the No. 1 seed) looks quite a bit tougher after
each of the other four teams in the division improved this offseason.
Toss in how competitive the Pacific was last year and should be again
this season, and the top seed in the West could be a possibility for
St. Louis.
The
Blues are loaded, and provided Ian
Cole or Cade
Fairchild is ready for regular NHL minutes, the lineup looks like
one of the League's best.
Forwards
David
Perron - David
Backes - T.J.
Oshie
Andy
McDonald - Patrik
Berglund - Chris
Stewart
Alexander
Steen - Vladimir
Sobotka - Vladimir
Tarasenko
Matt
D'Agostini - Scott
Nichol - Jamie
Langenbrunner
Ryan
Reeves
Defensemen
Ian
Cole - Alex
Pietrangelo
Kevin
Shattenkirk - Barrett
Jackman
Kris
Russell - Roman
Polak
Jeff
Woywitka
Goaltenders
Jaroslav
Halak
Brian
Elliott
NOTES:
Hitchcock will make Tarasenko earn important minutes, but if he's as
advertised and the forwards can collectively stay healthy, the Blues
are going to score more goals this season. There's so much potential
for improvement here beyond adding Tarasenko, whether it is a full
season from Perron, McDonald and Steen or Stewart returning to
pre-2011-12 form. The team's second-best forward prospect, Jaden
Schwartz, could also force his way into the lineup with a strong
training camp. There is less known depth on the blue line, but that
perception would change if Cole and Fairchild are ready. Pietrangelo
is a star, but he also spent nearly 73 percent of his even-strength
ice time with either Carlo
Colaiacovo or Kent
Huskins, both of whom are no longer with the team. If Cole isn't
ready for big minutes, any of Jackman, Shattenkirk or Russell could
slide into that spot on the top pairing. If Cole or Fairchild aren't
going to be every-night guys, expect them to be sent to the American
Hockey League instead of the press box. Halak and Elliott formed a
deadly tandem last season, but Elliott was a mess in the playoffs
after Halak got hurt. Expect Halak to see a little more of the
workload this season if both guys stay healthy.
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