St. Louis Blues: Five Things We Must Know By End Of 2017 Preseason
The St. Louis Blues have opened their 2017 preseason camp. While there are tons of possibilities and some intriguing questions this team has in front, there are five clear things that we all need to know by the time the 2017-18 season begins.
The St. Louis Blues have plenty of things to look for during this fall’s preseason. With camp beginning, there is nothing but possibilities.
Mike Yeo is already showing that he has no qualms about setting up some really interesting lines. So far, almost every line has had a solid top-six guy, a guy pushing for a roster spot and some of the prospects.
Even the defensive pairings have not been what you would expect. In the early stages it was Alex Pietrangelo paired with Joel Edmundson and Jay Bouwmeester with Colton Parayko (both of which I’ve been asking for awhile).
These are not the lines we will likely see to begin the season. However, training camp and preseason affords you the chance to experiment.
You can try things out because you have enough practice time to work out the kinks. The regular season does not give you that opportunity because there are usually not enough practice days in between games.
Experimentation is great. Having enough players with versatility to move them around the lineup is a plus as well.
Still, with all that in mind, the Blues need to have several things clearly answered by the time the season begins. Once camp and the preseason games are done, the Blues need to have a razor sharp focus.
With that in mind, let us discuss the five things that the Blues must absolutely know for sure by the time camp ends.
Robby Fabbri’s Position
This is probably the easiest one to label. Robby Fabbri has a lot of people excited. After a great rookie campaign, Fabbri had fans dreaming of glory, both for the player and the team.
A slow start and missing the last third of the season in his sophomore year dampened expectations just a bit. There is still a lot of hope and promise in the youngster.
Interestingly, Fabbri’s size or durability has rarely been in question. The main issue has been where to play him.
There has been a nagging whisper coming from seemingly nowhere that the Blues need to try Fabbri at center. Why is a bit of a mystery, but they do seem determined to give him every effort to be a centerman.
Personally, I’m completely against the idea. Fabbri seems to provide more dynamic line combinations if you keep him on the wing. He seems comfortable trying to be a scorer, so adding the expectation of setting guys up is a bit curious as well.
Complaining about it won’t do much of us any good. Fabbri is going to get plenty of work at center this preseason and we just have to swallow and deal with it.
That said, we need to have a crystal clear idea of what position he is going to be in by the time the season begins. Outside a slew of injuries, they cannot be moving him back and forth throughout the year.
If Fabbri earns a spot at center, he needs to play at least a third of the season at center consistently. If he gets put at winger, then leave him at the wing.
Again, there is always the possibility for change if the Blues have injured players. Fabbri did play a little center last year when guys went down.
For the most part though, he needs to be settling into one spot. Playing him at center one game and then the wing for another should not be an option at all.
If the Blues don’t know what Fabbri’s position by the time the season starts, I compare it to the multiple QB scenario. In football they say if you have two starters, you have none. If Fabbri has two positions, then he really has none.
Klim Kostin’s Viability
It might seem too soon, but we need to know where Klim Kostin stands at this point in his career.
As fans, we are admittedly starting to range into European soccer territory. We want these guys to be superstars and just know how to get it all done at the age of 18 or 19.
The reality is that just does not happen often. Say what you want about the guy, but Sydney Crosby is the exception not the rule when it comes to guys that young contributing at high levels that young.
With that in mind, we still need to know what the team’s plan is for Kostin. If he’s going to play in the AHL, so be it. Let him learn the trade in the minors, in a scenario with less pressure.
I think Kostin needs to stay in the AHL if that’s where you put him. There is nothing wrong with bringing either up for a stretch of games during a week or two in the middle of the year. For 85-90% of the season though, these guys need to stay in one spot.
Additionally, we need to know if Kostin is going to be able to translate to the NHL or not. Some will say that is somewhat harsh, but there are ways to tell.
Even in a small sample size, you could tell Vladimir Tarasenko was going to be a force during his debut at the end of the 2012-13 season.
If Kostin can score 3-5 goals during preseason and look smooth entering the NHL style, there is great reason to hope. If he struggles against the stronger competition, then we know it might be more than a year or so before he can become a regular.
Either scenario is fine. If he needs more seasoning and time to adjust to the North American style, that is fine.
I simply want to avoid a scenario where you think he can play for the Blues right away this season and then the NHL is too big a shock. Fit him in at one spot or the other.
Tage Thompson’s Potential
While the tagline is a bit vague, the Blues basically need to know what Tage Thompson‘s viability for the NHL this season is by the end of camp. They also need to know his position, so he’s a combination of the issues with Fabbri and Kostin.
If he does not make the team, we will get political answers. We will hear the usual “he’s great and he’ll be up here soon” stuff. We should be able to tell if he’s going to play at all this season or if it is going to be another year or two.
Neither possibility is bad. If Thompson is not ready for the NHL, he’s not ready. I’m not advocating thrusting the guy into the lineup just for the sake of it. I simply want to know how his great finish last year and his prospect camp work translates with the big boys.
Thompson led all scorers, not just Blues scorers, in the Traverse City Prospects Tournament. He set up teammates, scored goals and looked like a player that is going to be hard to stop when he is on his game.
Hopefully we get a good sample size to know if that will carry over into the pro game. If we don’t see it translating enough, I’d like him to stay in the AHL for 90% of the season.
If Thompson is not going to be the last man cut or even have a shot at the team this year, leave him down to develop. I’d rather not have him be one of the guys jockeyed back and forth when the inevitable injuries occur.
We might not know what team Thompson will be on (likely Chicago), but he needs to get used to playing. Being in the NHL for a game and then sitting in the press box would do nothing for his development.
If Thompson pulls a Robby Fabbri and doesn’t let the Blues send him down, that’s fantastic. The guy seems to have enough potential that I’d love to have a new dynamic in the bottom-six. We need to know where he clearly stands once the smoke clears and the season begins.
Speaking of Fabbri, we need to have a better grip on where Thompson will slot in. The Blues seem to have a habit of starting guys they want at center on the wing. I’ve never quite understood how that makes sense unless there is that much less pressure on the wing.
Thompson has said he feels comfortable at center and the Blues need depth up the middle. If he’s a center then leave him there and let him work through things.
Which 4th Line We’ll Get Most Nights
Some people will ask why we should care about this one. After all, it is just the fourth line.
Over the last few seasons, the fourth line has been almost set in ink though. The Blues did not have to worry about it at all.
They knew the three, sometimes four, guys that were going to play in those spots. They knew what they would get out of that line each night as well.
Now, only Kyle Brodziak remains from that steady trio. Who takes up the wing spots? Is Chris Thorburn really just a matchup player or will we be seeing him the majority of the season?
Can you put skill players like Kostin or Thompson or other prospects on the fourth line and expect them to defend like a fourth liner? Can you expect goal production from those same guys if they only get fourth line minutes?
These are all questions that need to be answered by the end of the preseason. The Blues might not have that bottom line set in stone, but it cannot be some amorphous blob of players. It cannot be a revolving door where it’s almost a new wing every other game.
We should not expect there to be no rotation. The Blues are going to want to try guys out and see what combinations work best. The fourth line will always be the dumping ground for guys getting a look, but not quite ready for top-six minutes.
Still, you need to have some chemistry, even on the bottom line. Teams that have gone far in the playoffs recently have been able to roll out four lines and get production of some sort from all of them. Even the Blues team that went to the conference finals had that luxury.
Now that Sanford is out, that takes away one option that I believe the team had penciled into that slot. So, the question mark just got bigger for this situation and the Blues need to have some definitive answers by the time the season gets here.
What To Expect From Brayden Schenn
When dealing with more veteran players, it becomes less clear what will happen during the season based on preseason. Guys can score a bunch in preseason and then go cold and vice versa.
With Brayden Schenn, it won’t be so much about pure numbers in preseason, but more how he fits in with this team. Like many of the other players listed in this article, Schenn has some questions about him.
The main one will be where he plays. The Blues had plenty of winger depth and though Schenn is an upgrade no matter what, you have to believe they brought him in to be center.
The team needs him to be a strong player up the middle. Schenn wants to play center, but these situations have a way of going however the coaching staff thinks will benefit everyone.
As a fan, I’m not going to be too happy if we have Schenn on the wing and Fabbri at center. I think that just goes against the more likely successful scenario, but that’s why I’m not in charge of the team.
Beyond just the general position, the Blues need to know where he fits into the line combinations. Schenn probably is not a top line center, but, at this point, is Paul Stastny?
On the flip side, Schenn is putting up pretty decent numbers to this point in his career. However, if he gets placed on the top line, is 50 points going to be good enough for fans? That question is less about the team figuring things out than fan acceptance, but still.
The question that the team and the player must answer is whether or not he can be a consistent force at five-on-five. Of the 25 goals Schenn scored in 2016-17, only eight came at full strength.
The Blues need that kind of contribution for their awful powerplay, but they can’t have Schenn be a one-trick pony, so to speak. Even if he is not scoring, he cannot be a ghost when the team is at even strength. The Blues have had enough of those guys in recent memory.
Also, what kind of defensive player will Schenn be for the Blues? Plus/minus is not a true telltale sign of defensive accountability, but Schenn has alternated plus and minus seasons.
If he keeps up that trend, he’ll have a plus year this season. Still, the Blues need a consistent effort from him. I’m not talking winning the Selke Trophy, but his line needs to be defensively responsible.
Next: Thompson Or Kostin For 2017-18?
There are lots of questions about this team. Some are more important than others and I’m sure each individual fan has their own set they want answered.
That is part of the fun of preseason though. You wonder how it will all come together. Sometimes you get pleasant surprises you did not expect, sometimes it turns out exactly as you figured – for good or bad.
This is going to be a very entertaining Blues season. Hopefully we get a very good indication of how it’ll pan out by the time camp ends.