St. Louis Blues Tyler Bozak: Get To Know Your Newest Blues

The St. Louis Blues needed help up the middle going into free agency. We did not know how much help would be coming, but despite a big splash, a signing in free agency should not be overlooked.

The St. Louis Blues seemed a little desperate going into the offseason, knowing and making it public they needed a center. That usually is not the best idea as it drives prices up, whether in free agency or via trades. Still, the Blues made the necessary additions.

Of course, by now, we all know about the big trade that happened as July 1 was winding down. On Canada Day, the Blues welcomed in one of Team Canada’s best from the World Championships. However, they also added another Canadian center by signing free agent Tyler Bozak.

Bozak became expendable in Toronto since the Maple Leafs knew they had the lead in the John Tavares sweepstakes over the weekend. Bozak walked from the only NHL team he has ever known, but ran right into the open arms of the Blues.

Bozak’s stats are not overly impressive. He’s a steady player that plays on both sides of the puck. He is very much a player in the vein of Alexander Steen, with a slightly lower ceiling from an offensive standpoint.

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Bozak is good in the faceoff circle, which is something St. Louis has been extremely mediocre at the last few years. He has only failed to win 52% of his draws once and that was a season he was injured and only played 58 games.

For all this talk of lack of scoring, Bozak is no slouch. He had 11 goals and 43 points last year and a 55 point season the year prior to that.

He has only eclipsed 20 goals once in his career, but you are not really bringing him in for that. You bring him in for faceoffs, perhaps some penalty killing, for steady defensive play and an ability to set guys up.

We cannot forget that Bozak played much of his career on some very bad Toronto teams. There is no reason he cannot be a 40-plus point scorer for the Blues.

That said, we cannot overvalue the St. Louis players. There is no reason to think any of the guys on the Blues are going to make Bozak a 55-plus point scorer again.

Nevertheless, his role with the Blues should be a little more defined. If nothing else, even at 32, he should bring more tempo and pace to the Blues.

The one drawback of Bozak is no fault of his own. $5 million per season for three years is definitely overpaying, unless we see a big season from him.

Unfortunately, that was the going rate. We might judge the contract harshly later, but you were not going to get a decent center for cheap in the 2018 free agent market. There were too many teams needing a center and the increase in the cap gave more teams more money to spend.

So, whether we personally agree with the terms, that was what had to be paid. When the Blues signed Bozak, there was no guarantee the Ryan O’Reilly trade would go through, even if they were still working on it.

Thus, the Blues had to land one center at least. Bozak would have filled in nicely on the second line. Now, additions elsewhere put him at the third line, which is even better.

Bozak can focus his game on the grittier side, knowing there are players in front of him that should handle the scoring. He can also focus on penalty killing, where he was second in the country in short-handed scoring as a collegiate.

Next: Get To Know Ryan O'Reilly

Bozak is not a sexy player and he won’t wow you with his skills. He is the kind of player that can help a team win big games when put in the right spots though.

Bozak should fit in very well with the Blues. While he doesn’t have the skills, he should be a very good mentor for Robert Thomas in terms of work ethic and perseverance

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