St. Louis Blues: All Too Early Look At 2016-17 Line Combinations
By Todd Panula
There’s quite a bit of uncertainty behind who’s going to be on the St. Louis Blues roster come the start of the 2016-17 season. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the line combinations anyway.
For this article, we’re going to assume a couple things. Since, there is no knowing whether Troy Brouwer is coming back and David Backes may have priced himself out of St. Louis, they will not be included in the proposed lineup. The other UFA’s are not included either.
On the flip side of that coin, since Kevin Shattenkirk is under contract, he will be included but we’ll also consider lines that don’t include him. Ready? Let’s give it a whirl.
Defensive Pairings with Shattenkirk
Jay Bouwmeester and Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson and Colton Parayko
Joel Edmundson and Kevin Shattenkirk
Basically the same old, same old here. I tried to think of a way to separate Jay Bouwmeester and Alex Pietrangelo, but with so much made of Shattenkirk not playing well on the left side, nothing came to mind.
Some people will ask why Kevin Shattenkirk is in the third pairing. Again, it comes down to him not playing well on the left. Colton Parayko played well enough to be moved up to the second pairing, so that moves Shattenkirk down.
Additionally, Shattenkirk started showing signs of a lot of wear once the playoffs rolled around. His defensive deficiencies began to snowball as well, so perhaps getting a little less playing time would keep him fresher for the postseason (assuming he’s even on the team by then) and would expose him less.
You would still keep Shattenkirk on the powerplay unit in this scenario. He just gets a little less playing time during five-on-five play.
Defensive Pairings without Shattenkirk
Joel Edmundson and Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester and Colton Parayko
Carl Gunnarsson and Robert Bortuzzo
Is Joel Edmundson a top line defender? Not at this point in his career, no. However, if we try to keep lefty-righty pairings going, then this seems to make the most sense.
Pietrangelo isn’t forced to make up for any deficiencies that have crept into Bouwmeester’s game and can focus on himself on the defensive end. He also has a little more freedom to go forward, knowing Edmundson is more likely to stick back.
Bouwmeester can refocus on his own game and perhaps regroup from a sub-par couple seasons and an awful defensive showing in the 2016 playoffs when paired with Parayko. Parayko is skilled enough to join Bouwmeester on the rush but quick enough to get back if there are any turnovers as well.
Carl Gunnarsson and Robert Bortuzzo are sort of hybrids that would be a decent match with the third pairing. Both are decent enough offensively to join the rush, but capable enough defensively to hang back if their partner goes up further. Also, if Shattenkirk is gone, then Bortuzzo deserves to receive the playing time. Petteri Lindbohm can then join the main roster as the extra defender for spot duty or extended play if anyone is not performing.
Top Line
Right Wing – Vladimir Tarasenko
Center – Paul Stastny
Left Wing – Jaden Schwartz
This line was probably the easiest for me to put together. You could make a case to keep Paul Stastny and Robby Fabbri together and you wouldn’t be wrong.
However, if the Blues don’t add depth at center, I’d just like to see Vladimir Tarasenko put together with an actual top-line center. That’s not meant to be a knock on Jori Lehtera, since he has had a decent combination with Tarasenko, but he’s not as good a playmaker as Stastny.
Jaden Schwartz is kind of the wild card for this line. If he plays up to snuff, there’s little doubt he can be a top line player for this team. As with several Blues players though, he disappears at random times. He seems to get confused as to whether he’s going to be a shooter or passer, when doing both is fine.
He’s still developing even though he’s been in the league a few years already, mostly due to missing time with injury. Once he learns which situations are best to shoot and when to pass it off, he’ll return to being the player the Blues expect him to be. If he does not, I could see him taking a slot lower and maybe moving either Steen or Fabbri up.
Second Line
Right Wing – Ty Rattie
Center – Robby Fabbri
Left Wing – Alexander Steen
Personally, if you can add another center via free agency or keep Backes and move Lehtera up to this line, then I’d rather keep Fabbri on the wing. However, he came up the ranks as a center and there have been enough whispers of the Blues moving him there to put him in that position here. If Fabbri can avoid the so-called “sophomore slump”, then he’s already proven in the 2016 playoffs he’s got the motor to take on the best defenders.
Ty Rattie is probably too young to be thrust into a second line role right off the bat, but that same argument could have been used against Fabbri. Also, we saw just a brief glimpse of Fabbri and Rattie together during the regular season and it was enough to at least get me dreaming of the possible combination.
This entire line could be a nightmare to defend. They’re all very quick, with Alexander Steen likely being the slowest simply due to his age. Fabbri and Steen have already shown that they can get involved and get through physical play despite not being the biggest players and Rattie would get some extra space while defenders focused on the other two.
Fabbri showed an ability to get back when needed and Steen was one of, if not the best defensive forward in the playoffs. Rattie would be the unknown, but even though the Blues came so close to the finals, they need to keep giving their prospects some chances if they’re ready.
Third Line
Right Wing – Dmitrij Jaskin
Center – Jori Lehtera
Left Wing – Patrik Berglund
This line would be really interesting. It has the potential to be very good, but could also be quite bad. You’ve got three players that have been expected to do great things, but have been let downs in certain ways.
On the negative side, all three players have defensive deficiencies and you’d be putting them all together. None of them are slow, but given their pure size, they tend to be a little more lumbering than some of the quicker players on the roster. All three tend to disappear as well. Playing them together means you don’t have any player you know you can count on to pick up the others.
On the positive side, perhaps they can all band together to ditch their baggage and just perform. All three are big bodies that can be incredibly difficult to move off the puck. If you can get all three, or at least two at a time, playing up to potential then you have an incredible line. You have three players that would be hard to get off the puck, difficult to match up to physically and all with the capabilities to put the puck in the net.
Fourth Line
Right Wing – Ryan Reaves
Center – Ivan Barbashev
Left Wing – Jordan Caron
I’ll be honest, the fourth line is a M.A.S.H. unit and that’s because we don’t know anything. You would assume that either Kyle Brodziak, Scottie Upshall or a cheap free agent veteran or two will be brought in to fill out that line.
If not, it’s not a pretty line and there wouldn’t be much you could do about it. Just inserting Jordan Caron is assuming they’d resign him as a restricted free agent since he only made $600,000 and is a big body at 6’3 and over 200lbs. In his defense, when he was actually given a real chance in Boston, he put up good numbers for a fourth liner with seven goals and 15 points.
Personally, I don’t like putting skill players on the fourth line, but you need a center and Ivan Barbashev needs to get some NHL time eventually. So, you have a fighter/grinder in Ryan Reaves, a skill player with Barbashev and a body to fill things out in Caron.
You could make a case to drop either Lehtera or Berglund down to center this line, but Lehtera doesn’t seem good enough defensively and we give a lot of stuff to Berglund, but he’s better than a fourth line player.
Overview
Going into this piece, I figured the Blues were actually fairly set and would just be missing some depth. Clearly the fourth line needs to be filled out.
I’m all for giving Barbashev a shot, but his skill set would be better suited further up the lineup. Outside of that, Reaves is the only true fourth line player the Blues have under contract. Steve Ott, Upshall or Brodziak would be welcome additions if they come back at the right price.
Also, as much as we all love the players in the Blues’ uniform, there is plenty of room for upgrades. That’s not to say they need to get rid of anyone, but certain players might be better suited on other lines and with pressure taken off by having proven performers come in via free agency or a trade.
Clearly, there are going to be a lot of changes. This isn’t going to be the lineup come early October. However, even if it was, there is enough there to know this team can still contend.