Bleedin' Blue
Fansided

St. Louis Blues: Grading Blues Performances In October

By Jason Martin

ST. LOUIS, MO - OCTOBER 27: Zach Sanford #12 of the St. Louis Blues is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks at Enterprise Center on October 27, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Joe Puetz/NHLI via Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS, MO - OCTOBER 27: Zach Sanford #12 of the St. Louis Blues is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks at Enterprise Center on October 27, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Joe Puetz/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 8
Next
ST. LOUIS, MO – OCTOBER 14: St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester (19) during a NHL game between the Anaheim Ducks and the St. Louis Blues on October 14, 2018, at Enterprise Center, St. Louis, MO. The Ducks beat the Blues, 3-2. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS, MO – OCTOBER 14: St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester (19) during a NHL game between the Anaheim Ducks and the St. Louis Blues on October 14, 2018, at Enterprise Center, St. Louis, MO. The Ducks beat the Blues, 3-2. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Jay Bouwmeester

Grade: F

Jay Bouwmeester has been one of the Blues worst players to start the year. After an injury-plagued season a year ago, Bouwmeester has looked slow and often lost on the ice.

We are used to seeing the dynamic duo of Bouwmeester and Alex Pietrangelo on the Blues top defensive pairing. Unfortunately for Bouwmeester and the Blues, his play has cost the Blues some points early on in the season.

At one point in the season, Bouwmeester was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career after playing in over 1000 NHL games. This was a huge wakeup call for the veteran defenseman and has seemingly worked.

After not being dressed for the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Bouwmeester is making fewer mistakes on the ice. Now, he is still not one of the Blues top 6 defensemen, at least not right now but injuries to Robert Bortuzzo and Carl Gunnarsson have left the Blues no other choice but to keep starting Bouwmeester.

We can (and will later on) criticize the coaching staff for playing Bouwmeester in critical moments during the game but Bouwmeester has taken advantage of minutes late in games. Bouwmeester’s +/- is at -2 so far this season. Usually, I am not a huge fan of this stat, but defensive mistakes are generally the cause for being on the ice for a goal, and he has been on the ice for a lot of bad goals.

Given how he has played this year, it was easy to give Bouwmeester a poor grade. He had been one of the more consistent Blues over the past few years before he was hurt last year but it looks like his career is nearing the end.

Home/Editorials