St. Louis Blues Defend Against The Avs

The St. Louis Blues don’t seem to be making any big moves in the near future, having settled in with their roster. They are simply waiting for training camp to begin before making any real decisions, as far as we at Bleedin’ Blue can tell.

But speculation never sleeps. If the Blues were to take on some of their Central Division rivals today, with the rosters each team has to their name, who would they ice on the forward lines? And for defensive pairings?

We had to know.

In a continuation of our top-two lines and pairings matchups that we started with forwards, we tackle (or check) the defensive pairings for the Colorado Avalanche.

Next: Blues F Lines Against Colorado

Per Nadia Archuleta of Mile-High Sticking, our first partner in this endeavor, we bring you her top-two defensive pairings for Colorado:

Erik Johnson-Francois Beauchemin

Tyson Barrie-Nikita Zadorov

Erik Johnson: Premier two-way defenseman with a meaner streak than Landeskog’s. He’s big, he’s fast and he likes to hit. He possesses a bomb of a shot from the point, but he also likes to bank a shot off the boards for a forward to get the rebound. He’s also a fantastic skater — and he scores a lot on the Blues.

Francois Beauchemin: He excelled at the Anaheim Ducks’ puck possession and physical game. He’s more of a stay-at-home defenseman.

Tyson Barrie: He’s a classic offensive defenseman. He’s still young, but he’s the Avs’ clutch player. The higher the stakes, the more he excels.

Nikita Zadorov: He’s big, he’s mean, he hits. He’s not very offensive, in the goal-scoring way, but he likes to get physical. I suspect he’s going to be Barrie’s protector: “You touch Barrie, you get Big Z.” (Imagine that in a deep Russian accent.)

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The St. Louis Blues would likely ice the following in response:

Carl Gunnarsson – Kevin Shattenkirk

Jay Bouwmeester – Alex Pietrangelo

Carl Gunnarsson: Gunn isn’t the most popular defender here, but his puck movement is going to be key to the Blues ability to exit their zone quickly and without complications. He’s got a long reach, and while he’s not the most physical player he’ll help with the Blues transition game against the Avs, particularly while paired with Shattenkirk.

Kevin Shattenkirk: Shattenkirk’s your offensive defenseman, who led the Blues in points during the postseason. He was on his way to a Norris-caliber season when injury took him down in February, but when he came back it was almost as if he’d never left. He’s got a quick shot that can find its way through traffic and a fearlessness about him born from good hockey sense. He’s great at outlet passes and transitions the puck well, for which he was paired with Gunnarsson here. While his size isn’t tremendous, he’s strong and fearless on the ice. His strength makes him the equivalent of Johnson when pressed, and he can work around the likes of Beauchemin with Gunnarsson as backup.

Jay Bouwmeester: Bouw is a great shut-down defenseman, who can outskate almost anyone. He’s got a strong sense of the way the wind is blowing and rarely, if ever, gets caught out of position. He has tremendous stamina and can eat up minutes like nobody’s business. His physicality isn’t always there, so his skating will be key for St. Louis against the Avs.

Alex Pietrangelo: Pietrangelo plays a great shut-down role on the Blues but his offensive talent and points production is right up there with Shattenkirk’s. He’s aggressive, plays a great two-way game and is very physical, laying hits that can knock an opponent off the puck. That, combined with his ability to quarterback the play makes him an impressive figure on the ice, and a good counterpart to Barrie.

Next: Blues Should Move Backes To Wing

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