St. Louis Blues: Jori Lehtera Needs To Take A Seat
By Todd Panula
The St. Louis Blues have been winning quite a few games lately. Despite their winning ways, all is not well in Bluesville to borrow a phrase.
The St. Louis Blues are on quite a turnaround at present. They’ve won three in a row and won six in a row at home with two more games on their current homestand.
Despite the team getting things done when the final horn sounds, there are lots of things that need to improve. One is the play of Jori Lehtera and sitting him for a game or two might be the right course of action.
It seems a bit harsh to pick on the guy since he just scored two goals on November 23 against Washington and had two assists six days later against Dallas. Despite the recent output, he’s been living on borrowed time.
Lehtera just isn’t getting the job done as a top center. You can argue he never was a top center or that technically he has been playing on the “second line.”
The bottom line is most of his NHL career has been spent with Vladimir Tarasenko. Despite that, his point totals just aren’t what you’d like from someone playing with one of the league’s emerging superstars.
Lehtera had a fine year in his rookie season. The guy was 27, so no spring chicken, but adjusted to the league quickly.
He formed a good partnership with Tarasenko, whom he had played with previously, and Jaden Schwartz. They formed the STL line and the results were great.
Tarasenko went from 43 to 73 points. Lehtera had 14 goals and 44 points and Schwartz had 28 goals and 63 points.
It’s been downhill since then. Injuries to Schwartz split up the line. Additionally, Lehtera has taken a slide backward.
It is not just offensively either. His stats have taken a hit going from 44 to 34 with goals falling from 14 to nine. More than that, he just doesn’t look like a top line center.
Whether it is actually the case or not, he seems to have lost a step. He rarely shoots even when the situation dictates he should and passing actually creates a worse angle. His defensive abilities are not exactly up to snuff either.
Against Boston, he was one of the chief culprits in turning the puck over with as many as five. Not only were they turnovers, but at the blueline, where puck possession is perhaps the most important.
None of this is meant to point a finger or lay all the blame on Lehtera. None of his potential replacements have it all figured out either or they would not be current scratches.
Nail Yakupov seems to benefit most if Lehtera is taken out of the lineup. Yakupov has been kept out of the lineup for several games for shirking his own defensive responsibilities and not doing enough to be a team player.
Sounds quite familiar to what many of us accuse Lehtera of. So, what would the purpose of taking Lehtera out be?
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An attempt to send a message. He’s been getting away with skating by, no pun intended, for too long.
He had been attached at the hip to Tarasenko. There were so many calls for Tarasenko to be set up with a different center that went unheeded.
He’s been playing with a superstar scorer and just not getting the kind of points you’d like. Craig Janney averaged 58 points per season in parts of four years with the Blues.
Granted, playing with Brett Hull helped. However, Janney also had a 100-plus point season too.
Nobody is asking that of Lehtera. The totals he put up in the KHL would be fine. He averaged 45 points in his last three seasons in Russia.
Scoring 15-20 goals and 40-50 points would be fantastic. That’s what you need from a center playing either on the top line or with your top player.
Either that, or he needs to get better defensively. Patrik Berglund is not scoring, but he’s been much better in terms of throwing his weight around and possessing the puck.
The bottom line is the Blues have plenty of imperfect players. Lehtera isn’t any worse than any of the others, but it’s his time to sit. He’s been getting a pass for too long because he had been labeled as Tarasenko’s center.
Nobody is saying he needs to be cast out. A game or two won’t hurt anyone.
Robby Fabbri has been a completely different player since being sat down. Some of best games players have come on the heels of being sat down.
It gives you a chance to watch the game from afar. The good players use the reflection and come back with something to prove.
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That’s what Lehtera needs to do. Sit for a bit and come back with something to prove.
His rookie season wasn’t a fluke. He may never be a true number one center, but he is better than we have seen from him recently. Time to sit him so he can come back and prove it.