St. Louis Blues Offseason Grades: 2015

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Trimming The Fat

The offseason began with letting a handful of players go via free agency.

Barret Jackman, Olli Jokinen, Zbynek Michalek, Chris Porter, and Marcel Goc all began their search for new homes July 1.

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Jackman, a long-time Blues defenseman and fan favorite, was the biggest shock but he represented the need for change. Outside of Jay Bouwmeester the defense core is mostly young, fast, and full of offensive upside. Robert Bortuzzo and Carl Gunnarsson fit nicely into the Blues system, and their combined salaries equal about what Jackman made on his own. Gunnarsson is the stay at home partner that allows Shattenkirk to dazzle in the offensive zone, and Bortuzzo is a younger depth defenseman with sizable potential. This made it much easier to let go of Jackman.

Not that these players departing were necessarily bad players. Goc and Porter are both serviceable grinders, Jokinen has seen better days but still has scoring skill, and Michalek just can’t seem to stay away from the Coyotes for long. The Blues just need to go in a different direction, and these players weren’t the right pieces to solve the Stanley Cup puzzle.

St. Louis Blues. MOVING ON. A. Armstrong cut the expendable pieces, didn’t commit to any players the team didn’t need, kept space open for upcoming contract extensions for key players..

Next: Bench Boss Change Up?

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