St. Louis Blues: Jaden Schwartz’ Top 5 Moments

The St. Louis Blues locked up Jaden Schwartz with a five-year contract, cementing him as part of their new core going forward. What are some of his best moments though in his brief Blues’ career?

It’s been an interesting offseason as far as fans are concerned in regards to Jaden Schwartz. The St. Louis Blues publicly stated he was their offseason priority during the exit interviews with management.

Then the bulk of the team’s activity went by without so much as a peep about Schwartz and how negotiations were going. Fans were upset when he filed for arbitration, feeling the team had not done enough to avoid the situation.

However, it was simply part of the process and may have actually been a wise decision by the team. Whether actually wanting to get a deal done or being worried that there might be less money given in arbitration, Schwartz signed a five-year deal with the Blues.

It was for less than had been reported earlier in the summer. There were whispers he was after Vladimir Tarasenko money ($7 million per season) or at least in the $6 million range. Instead he signed for an average annual value of $5.35 million.

Given the fact that the Blues are up against the cap, it doesn’t seem like a huge discount. However, given his talents and the potential savings in the future, it was a great deal.

We have yet to see the full potential of Schwartz, but he has shown himself to be a capable scorer and talented player. His lone downfall has been too much deferring to other teammates instead of looking for his own shot. That’s been a problem for several Blues, including Tarasenko.

Even so, Schwartz can do it all. He doesn’t overwhelm you in any one area, but he’s good at all of them. He can even get in a scrap or two when the occasion calls for it.

The Blues have the power of the Schwartz until he’s 29 at the very least. If he lives up to expectations, this contract may be one of the biggest steals ever.

In honor of the five-year deal, let’s take a look at his five best moments wearing the Blues’ sweater.

First Goal

They say you always remember your first. No doubt Schwartz remembers his first NHL goal. It was only four years ago afterall.

Schwartz only scored two goals in the 2011-12 season, but considering he only played in seven games that season, it wasn’t a bad haul.

His first goal came on March 17, 2012. It was a rebound effort during the powerplay at the end of the first period.

Schwartz went to the front of the net, like all good goal scorers do. He was rewarded as the puck came off the goaltender’s pad and right to him for the put back.

It wasn’t necessarily the top of the highlight reel, but as long as it goes in, it counts. Schwartz will likely remember it for the rest of his career. It was also a nice goal that came against the Tampa Bay Lightning, which is something we’ll see again.

First Hatty

Speaking of firsts, you don’t want to leave out the man’s first career hat trick. It took him four years to accomplish, but it was quality.

It came early in the season of 2014-15, against the Arizona Coyotes. Normally early season accomplishments aren’t all that notable since everyone is still getting into the swing of things. You can’t discount a hat trick no matter when it comes though because they don’t come that often.

Schwartz popped in the first goal with a slick wrister. He was the forgotten man, allowed to float in from the backside, during the Blues’ powerplay. Tarasenko hit him with a rink-wide pass and he would not fail to finish it. Even from a tight angle on the left circle, Schwartz hit the top shelf on the glove side.

This whole night was a night of firsts. The second goal came off of Jori Lehtera’s first NHL point. Lehtera won the faceoff right to Schwartz who buried a quick wrist shot from the slot. Again, it went high to the glove hand side and Mike Smith stood no shot at stopping it.

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Schwartz made it three for three when he went glove side again for his hat trick. He scored it on the powerplay with only seconds remaining in the contest. Although the goal was fairly meaningless, with the Blues already up by four goals, it was still significant from a personal standpoint.

The goal came off a rebound after a good cycle. Smith made a left pad save but Schwartz was able to bank it off his left arm and in. In his low-key fashion, he barely celebrated and merely had a huge grin on his face as he hugged teammates.

Perhaps it took a tiny bit of the luster off, since it was on the road and hats didn’t flood the ice. Still, it was a quality effort and all three were good goals, worth of the list.

From the Knees

If the last moment was a bit low key from the player, this one was anything but. Schwartz had reason to celebrate and he did.

Even low-key guys have moments where the play astounds even then and this was likely the case for Schwartz. In February of 2015, the Blues were locked up in a 1-1 OT battle with the Tampa Bay Lightning (told you we’d see them again).

Normally these are throw away games. In the course of a season, you want as many points as possible, but over the course of history these games tend to be forgotten because there isn’t much spice in interconference games.

However, when you manage to slip one in the way Schwartz did, it gets remembered.

Schwartz did it all on his own. He took a pass just before the redline, then stickhandled through the neutral zone. He almost lost the puck, but bullied his way past two defenders and avoided a third.

The dekes got Ben Bishop out of position and down. Schwartz held onto the puck long enough and slipped it just past Bishop’s skate on the left side.

Schwartz exploded with emotion as did the crowd. The OT winner sent the fans home happy and could go down as one of the better goals Schwartz has throughout his career.

The Return

The NHL took away embedding, but you can see the highlights here.

Jaden Schwartz missed much of 2015-16 due to a fractured ankle. He played in a few games to start the season, but the injury kept him out until February of 2016.

The Blues were in need of his help, as they had struggled to score for much of the year and got by mainly on grit and determination. They were more than happy to welcome one of their better shooters back to the lineup.

Schwartz wasted no time getting back into it as well. Playing against the red-hot Florida Panthers, Schwartz managed a goal and an assist.

The goal came at a critical time in the game. It was tied 1-1 when Schwartz whipped home his first of the season. The Blues would take a 4-1 lead from there, but Florida would answer with two goals to cut it down to 4-3.

St. Louis would win 5-3 and Schwartz picked up an assist on the eventual game-winning goal. He sent the pass to Jay Bouwmeester, whose shot was stopped but the rebound was put in by Tarasenko.

Sure, it was another mid-winter game against an Eastern Conference team. However, it showed that even a rusty Schwartz was going to be a productive player and provide the Blues some pop.

Bye-bye Birdie

Highlight here.

Schwartz has had prettier goals. He’s had slicker plays. He’s done things with more flash or flair. However, when you can send an entire arena full of Blackhawks fans home sad, you’ve done something.

No goal might be more important than the one he scored in the 2016 playoffs in Game 3 of their series with Chicago. With controversy surrounding the series due to questionable penalty calls in Game 2, the Blues were in desperate need of a win to keep their playoffs from crumbling the way they had in season’s past.

It came down to Brian Elliott and Schwartz. Elliott, and the post, kept the Blues in things and they did enough in regulation to keep the game tied until late.

With the Blues on the man advantage, Schwartz was able to strike. Again, getting close to the net, he scored on the powerplay.

Tarasenko brought the puck down to the top of the circle. He whipped a pass to the endline to David Backes. With a one-touch pass right to Schwartz in the slot, he scored just to the right of the left pad of Corey Crawford.

No, it wasn’t a series winner. No, it didn’t end the game in overtime. It did prove to be the game winner though in a pivotal series where every moment of every win would matter.

Any time you can send the Blackhawks home with a loss is a good thing as well.

Honorable Mention

As fans, we focus on the on-ice moments. However, though we never truly know these players, they are still humans with lives and feelings. Never was that more evident than when Schwartz and his family lost his sister.

Mandi Schwartz lost a battle with Leukemia a couple years prior. While Jaden had done various charitable works to honor her, he took it to a more visual step in 2014.

When Vladimir Sobotka left for Russia, the number 17 became available. Schwartz jumped at the chance to wear it since it was his sister’s number as well.

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The number change hasn’t prompted any better play or prettier goals. It hasn’t been lucky or changed anything. However, the symbolism behind it was worth more than any of that. It was a huge gesture by a brother who had lost more than just a sister.

That’s our top moment’s for Schwartz thus far.  Did I miss any?  Let us know and thanks for reading.