Alex Pietrangelo
This is the hardest one to pinpoint because it is so hard to pinpoint what the heck has gone wrong with the Blues captain.
In one offseason, Alex Pietrangelo somehow went from a Norris Trophy contender to one of the biggest disappointments on this team. There has not just been regression, but a total 180.
He has gone from being a top-end defender and a reliable offensive weapon to someone that looks completely lost. He has no clue about his position, has no physicality and his offensive ability has managed to go completely off the rails.
Pietrangelo does have five goals in 27 games, but it’s not the goals that are lacking. Like Dunn, Pietrangelo just can’t seem to keep a hold of the puck.
This is nothing new, since Pietrangelo set a new record for giveaways in 2017-18.
We were constantly blaming his downturn on Bouwmeester, but Bouwmeester’s turnaround in Pietrangelo’s absence seems to indicate that this is a personal problem for Petro.
He needs to figure things out. We can blame having kids and that is a huge life change. However, this is beyond a lack of sleep. There is a pure lack of focus that you just cannot have in your captain.
Perhaps that is the most disappointing thing from Pietrangelo. He seems to have lost the locker room.
Some how, some way, he has to get that back. That might need to come before he can correct the things on the ice.
Maybe Pietrangelo was the wrong choice for the C. We will never know. However, the Blues are not really in a position where they can give him up and expect someone in the minors to fill in equally.
So, Pietrangelo has to find his way or he may end up elsewhere. The Blues also have to make their own decisions about whether this is a blip on the screen or a problem that will only get worse.
If Petro can turn things back around, he will make the decision much easier for the Blues. If not, it might be another failed experiment on the blue line.