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Five Questions The St. Louis Blues Must Answer This Preseason

By Todd Panula

May 23, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues center Patrik Berglund (21) in action against the San Jose Sharks during the first period in game five of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. The Sharks won the game 6-3. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports
May 23, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues center Patrik Berglund (21) in action against the San Jose Sharks during the first period in game five of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. The Sharks won the game 6-3. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports /
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May 21, 2016; San Jose, CA, USA; St. Louis Blues left wing Alexander Steen (20) shoots as San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (88) watches the puck in the third period of game four of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center at San Jose. The Blues won 6-3. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
May 21, 2016; San Jose, CA, USA; St. Louis Blues left wing Alexander Steen (20) shoots as San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (88) watches the puck in the third period of game four of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center at San Jose. The Blues won 6-3. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports /

What is everyone’s best position?

Springboarding off the previous topic, the Blues need to figure out what everyone’s best position is. It seems to come up every year that this person should be at center and isn’t etc. Best to put that to bed early.

The Blues now seem to have plenty of options defensively.  The forwards are still a little bit of a mixed bag.

They play very well together, but the pairing of Steen and Stastny together seems odd. Not because of the combination, but because the Blues had been playing Steen at center at various times last season.

If your two best centers are on a line together, that could cause problems further down the lineup. If you want to move Steen back to center, it would be on a different line.

Apparently there are also discussions of having Schwartz play center as well.  While that doesn’t seem the best option, it is an option.

All these things need to be figured out by the time the season starts so everyone hits the ground running.

If for no other reason, it needs to be decided so Stastny can have a good start. Each year he has some sort of hitch, whether injury or switching lines, that prevents him from getting going.

Personally, I’d still like to see Stastny and Tarasenko get a run together. As of right now, that seems unlikely.

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