St. Louis Blues: Should they risk the big move?
As we approach the NHL Trade Deadline, the St. Louis Blues may be approaching a big move. Should they even make a move?
We are less than a week away from the trade deadline in St. Louis, and we still don’t know what sort of team we have on our hands. When, at any given time this season, multiple assistant captains are watching games from the press box, it’s fairly safe to say that our product on the ice cannot be adequately judged.
Are the St. Louis Blues the 4 goals-per-game juggernaut that lit up the league in October, or are we the sputtering disaster which routinely blew leads in January? Are we the defensive stalwarts who just won five in a row against the league’s best, or the porous stooges who ground their way to oblivion Tuesday night?
As the deadline approaches, I feel myself torn between the spirit of optimism and the dark cloud of pessimism which haunt me as a Blues fan, especially now that Andrew Ladd is a Blackhawk again and the central division’s arms race is putting pressure on the St. Louis organization to do something, anything.
My internal pessimist still doesn’t have faith in this roster, a roster which completely fell apart in the gutless playoff loss last year. T.J. Oshie may be gone, but the vast majority of the players who seemed too keen to shake hands after the series remain on the ice here at Scottrade.
Have we really seen anything from this squad that we didn’t have in years before? Sure, Allen and Elliot have been alternatively incredible, to the tune of a .926 save percentage combined. But so were Elliot and Halak in 2011, to the tune of a .932 save percentage combined. Ah yes, back in 2011-2012, when the lower bodies of our netminders remained intact until the playoffs, when they then fell apart. .
Tarasenko is lighting up the league this year, but he did that last year too. Sure, we may have a few more secondary scoring threats in Fabbri and Brouwer, but last time I checked, we were still in the bottom third in goals per game.
So, trade Shattenkirk to Edmonton for Nail Yakupov and a 1st like they’re saying. Let’s pray the pick goes to lottery, gifts us Matthews and we’re set for years.
But another part of me sees the way the team picked up for Tarasenko as he was bleeding on the bench last night and gives me a glimmer of hope. Fabbri’s face after the puck crossed the line shows the elation of a team proud to defend their own.
Scoring is an issue, but so is putting a roster on the ice that casual fans can recognize this season. If so, then flip Ty Rattie and a 3rd round pick to Calgary for Jiri Hudler, plug Hudler on the second line RW and pray Steen comes back in time for the playoffs.
Yet my pessimist notes that Hitchcock is still putting lines in a blender, or spinning a giant game-show wheel emblazoned with his players’ names. Not to mention that any time we get chemistry, one of them has to get hurt.
Thursday, Kevin Klein decided to throw a puck into Jori Lehtera’s mouth, so we get Berglund holding off a defender on his surgically repaired shoulder, pushing the puck ahead of him like a runaway janitor through the offensive zone while Tarasenko takes a breather. Chemistry.
Stuff like this makes me forget that we’re still the 4th best team in the league, even if we have money tied to Steve Ott, currently our 4th best radio commentator (Behind Kerber, Chase and Claiborne). Throw him on the Long-Term Injured Reserve and ship Jaskin and a 2nd to Toronto for Nazem Kadri. At least Kadri’s a restricted free agent, and getting him lets us throw Backes on the wing so that he can play his natural game.
All this pessimism is just Schadenfreude, that’s what it is. The St. Louis Blues are great this year. Do we, as a fan base, get it?
We’re fourth in the league. Sure, third in our division, but fourth in the league. Awed by the defense of the Kings? We’ve won more than they have. Jealous of the shooting gallery in Tampa? We’re ahead of them, too. So let us sit at the deadline, or move a 4th rounder for P.A. Parenteau or something. Brouwer and a pick for Brandon Pirri. Trade Jordan Schmaltz and a 1st for Drouin. Trade laterally and pray, because the sky isn’t falling. Yet.
Think of it this way…Chicago came into the playoffs without a healthy Patrick Kane last year. In 2012, Los Angeles won a cup as an 8th seed…and we all know that a healthy Elliot or Allen can steal a game like Quick. In 2008 and last year, the eventual cup winner had a goalie controversy in the first round. The #1 seed hasn’t won the cup in a full season since before the Blues’ current playoff drought.
This all reaffirms the saying that the regular season ceases to matter once the Playoffs roll around. How many times have we been the pre-season breakout favorite? I’m not hearing that this year. This year, I’m glad the St. Louis Blues are flying under the radar, but I’d rather we stay out of the hospital too.
Now, let’s just hope that once the playoffs roll around, our real team will finally show up.