NOTABLE ADDITIONS
Matt Foy, RW (Signed as a free agent, previously with the Minnesota Wild)
Chris Mason, G (Acquired in a trade with the Nashville Predators)
Mike Weaver, D (Signed as a free agent, previously with the Vancouver Canucks)
Brad Winchester, LW (Signed as a free agent, previously with the Dallas Stars)
Andy Wozniewski, D (Signed as a free agent, previously with the Toronto Maple Leafs)
NOTABLE LOSSES
Mike Johnson, RW (Signed with Kolner Haie of Germany)
Ryan Johnson, C (Signed as a free agent with the Vancouver Canucks)
Jamal Mayers, RW (Traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs)
Martin Rucinsky, LW (Signed with HC Sparta Praha of the Czech Extra League)
Hannu Toivonen, G (Signed with Ilves Tampere of the SM-Liiga of Finland)
Matt Walker, D (Signed as a free agent with the Chicago Blackhawks)
2007-08 Season Finish: 5th Central Division, 14th Western Conference, 79 Pts.
2007-08 Playoffs: Did Not Make Playoffs
2008-09 Prediction: 5th Central Division, 14th Western Conference
The St. Louis Blues have been a rebuilding team since the lockout ended in 2005. Rather than rebuild the team through veteran talent via free agency, the Blues are preferring to build their team with prospects. The Blues are not likely to be a playoff contending team next season, but with the growing young talent they have, could be a competitive team once again in a few years. Paul Kariya, one the Blues' top offensive players, brings the team lots of goal-scoring skills, offensive depth, and leadership, while veteran Keith Tkachuk provides the team with lots of toughness and offensive skills. Brad Boyes and Andy McDonald give the Blues two talented, goal-scoring forwards with good passing skills. Lee Stempniak and David Perron give the Blues two talented forwards with lots of offensive upside who will likely play for the team for years to come. David Backes brings lots of physicality and offensive talent to the Blues forward lines, while Jay McClement provides decent offensive depth. Dan Hinote, Cam Janssen, D.J. King, and Brad Winchester give the Blues three very tough and gritty forwards, while Matt Foy and Yan Stastny bring decent offensive depth. The Blues have several talented and promising prospect forwards who will look to make the team at training camp, including Patrik Berglund, T.J. Oshie, Lars Eller, and Tomas Kana. While the Blues have plenty of young forwards with lots of offensive talent, the addition of a few veteran forwards for depth could be beneficial to the team.
The Blues' defense suffered a huge loss as training camp opened with a knee injury to Erik Johnson that will likely see him miss the entire 2008-09 season. Johnson brings plenty of toughness and offensive skills to the blueline that will be sorely missed in the new season. Eric Brewer and Barret Jackman are two rugged defenseman who bring lots gritty play and defensive skills to the Blues' defense. Jay McKee and Mike Weaver bring lots of defensive depth and veteran talent to the blueline, while Jeff Woywitka and Andy Wozniewski give the Blues some decent defensive depth. With the injury to Johnson, 2008 first round draft pick Alex Pietrangelo could very well make the team. Pietrangelo plays with a good, physical edge and has lots of offensive upside. Prospects T.J. Fast, Roman Polak, and Steve Wagner will look to make the team at training camp on their fine defensive skills. As with their offense, the Blues have some decent young talent on their blueline, but the addition of a veteran defenseman or two, particularly and offensive defenseman, could significantly improve their defense.
Manny Legace had a decent season as the Blues' starting goaltender in 2007-08, but looked shaky at times. Hannu Toivonen, who had a very disappointing 2007-08 season, would have been Legace's backup for the 2008-09 season but opted to sign over in Finland and was replaced via trade with Chris Mason. Legace and Mason will likely share the goaltending duties for the 2008-09 season, unless one goaltender outshines the other. The Blues have decent goaltending depth with Legace and Mason and either one can easily step into the starters' role if the other should struggle or get sidelined with an injury.
STRENGTHS
- Plenty of good, prospect forwards.
- Lots of toughness on defense.
- Plenty of solid, veteran depth in goal.
WEAKNESSES
- Need more veteran players for depth on offense.
- Need more offense on defense.
- Could use more veteran players on defense.
No comments:
Post a Comment