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St. Louis Blues Need To See Roster Changes

By Kate Cimini

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After four years of early playoff exits in a row, St. Louis Blues fans were calling for change at the end of the season and were sure they would see it among either coaching staff, front office staff, or players.

Soon after the Blues cleaned out their lockers and headed out, some home, some to vacation, Blues owner Tom Stillman said in an interview that he, as a fan, was disappointed in how the season ended but that he wasn’t going to make changes simply to make changes, as these needed to be carefully-weighed and well-thought-out decisions. He wasn’t looking for a scapegoat or someone to “throw under the bus.”

But since we’ve seen first Hitchcock return, all assistant coaches return, and no change in the front office staff, we’re left wondering how many players should return to St. Louis when they gave it their all, and their all simply wasn’t enough.

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Oshie and Berglund have had their names floated around since December as they have relatively high cap hits and Armstrong will need to free up cap space for the hit Tarasenko’s due. Backes gives it his all during the regular season but disappears during the post, as do a number of other core players. Ott is another name people bring up regularly who seems to push buttons like no other, though his presence in the room is unquestionably positive. Jackman, Bouwmeester, Michalek, Goc have all been brought up as possible trade bait while Bortuzzo became an instant fan favorite. There are a number of players who could be swapped out for someone cheaper and with nine free agents hitting the market this summer (three restricted, six unrestricted) Army will have a lot of negotiating to do. It’s not unreasonable to say we will and should see an entirely different team, even if we only replace five players or so.

But according to NHL.com writer Lou Korak, we may very well see (almost) the same team hit the ice in October that left in disgrace in April.

I don’t disagree with the notion that change for the sake of change is foolish and often results in throwing the baby out with the bathwater. You put a lot of time and effort in that baby. You want to keep that baby and nurture it and watch it bring home the Rocket Richard trophy one day. (Is it clear enough that the baby in this scenario is Vladimir Tarasenko?)

But large-scale changes don’t have to mean sweeping changes. Trading a captain, for example, would fall under the category of large-scale changes without moving a lot of personnel around. So would trading two expensive forwards who haven’t produced within your system in the way you want or need them to (cough Oshie cough Stastny).

Hitchcock has said over the past 24 hours that his biggest takeaway from this season was that the Blues were not fast enough; the four teams left in the playoffs are the four fastest teams in the League and that is why the Blues dropped it, in the end. He wants to double down on speed this upcoming season and that, on top of everything else, is what will get them to the Finals.

I don’t agree with him. There were myriad issues with the Blues that didn’t come from how quickly they could skate but rather how efficiently their system played them, the kinds of plays they were dedicated to, and a lack of cohesive vision shared between players and staff. But I am not in charge of the Blues, to my everlasting sadness.

Regardless, if the Blues’ front office has committed to Hitchcock, they also need to commit wholeheartedly to his system. If that means speed, the Blues should look for the fastest feet in the West. If that means hitting, they should lure the biggest, nastiest Coke machines on skates they can find.

There need to be changes made to the roster over the summer that will not just work in Hitchcock’s system, but thrive in it.

Who do you think should be moved, Blues fans?

Next: Blues, Hitchcock Deal Is Best-Case Scenario

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