St. Louis Blues: Top 5 Players With Much To Prove In 2019

The St. Louis Blues 2018-19 season ended with many things going right. Players who started poorly turned it around. Bounces that went the other way started going our way.

There are rumblings around the league’s fanbase that we were lucky. Not many want to flat out say it, but they have it in their minds that the St. Louis Blues may have snuck one. All of that to say, the city deserved one, but it maybe wasn’t fully earned.

Discussions I’ve encountered have referenced the rookie sensation Jordan Binnington was carrying a horseshoe up his, well, we’ll call it a human pocket to keep it clean around here. Talks that the Blues were dirty and we got away with so many penalties that if called, we lose.

We had goals coming from guys who just don’t score. Aka Robert Bortuzzo and Carl Gunnarson to name two obvious players, so let’s add Sammy Blais to the list.

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It bothers me that people want to take away from what this team accomplished. I don’t need to go into detail as we all know the story, but it does leave me as a fan with a bad taste in my mouth.

According to some of the interviews I’ve seen and heard from the Blues players, they have that same bad taste. A proverbial chip on their shoulder. Vladimir Tarasenko has mentioned it in several interviews and Binnington has hinted at the same.

I am not naive. I know some calls went our way that maybe shouldn’t have, but that’s sports. For 50 plus years I’ve witnessed the “hockey gods” suck the life out of the Blues season in and season out. Lady Luck seemed to be a bitter ex-wife of the Blues.

We got some bounces for a change, sure but that doesn’t mean we lucked into a Stanley Cup Championship!  The Blues had many an opportunity to fold up and go home. The biggest one was the missed hand pass against San Jose. Yet we persevered.

In 2019-20, this entire organization has something to prove. As much as I want to talk about every player, I am limited to just five players that have the most to prove. So let’s get started.

Jordan Binnington

Obvious right? The rookie sensation has a whole lot to prove this season. It goes far beyond determining that a horseshoe doesn’t fit in his human pocket too. He has the opportunity to show everyone that it wasn’t a flash in the pan half-season.

He will be going out there not just trying to win for the team, but also prove to everyone that he is no Andrew Hammond, aka the Hamburglar. I believe he will do this. I don’t think he will put up the sick numbers he did last season, but I will definitely expect to see him in the top-5 goalie rankings for 2019.

Jaden Schwartz

Schwartz will be coming into the 2019 season having had a tremendous postseason after a very disappointing regular season. You could see Schwartz during the season clutching too hard on his stick.

He lost confidence in his ability to score and would pass the puck when he should’ve shot. Happened so many times it frustrated even Mother Theresa. Schwartz, I know for a fact, is ready to put that behind him.

It seemed as though he was doing just that in the playoffs. Although he didn’t score a goal in the Cup Finals, he was instrumental in carrying the Blues to wins in the other series. Without Schwartz, we don’t go all the way, and without Schwartz this regular season, we may not go at all.

Vladimir Tarasenko

Tarasenko, I feel, has had something to prove every single season. Not that he can score. Not that he can make plays. We know he can. What I feel he has needed to prove every season is that he can lead! It’s no secret that he has wanted a leadership role with this club and he has got it, and earned the responsibility two or three years ago.

What needs to happen now is he needs to own that role. I believe playing on the same team with Ryan O’Reilly has and will continue to move Tarasenko into understanding what is exactly required from a leader in the NHL.

I believe we started to see it in the second half of the season and after seeing a couple of camp practices, he seems to be much more engaged and setting the tone of practice. Leading the younger players and helping get them up to speed with the big club.

I believe Tarasenko’s best season is 2019-20. Not just points-wise, but his all-around game. I think he puts it all together this year and we see what we all have known we should I see from him.

Oskar Sundqvist

Sunny had a phenomenal year! He was dynamite for the Blues. He was the epitome of a plug and play player. He was moved up and down the line-up and no matter where he landed, he was effective.

It’s the first time he has had a season that had so much meaning to the team. In his career, he has had 16 goals and 24 assists. 14 of those goals came last season along with 17 of the assists. The Blues signed him to a four-year $11million extension in the offseason.

Sunny has everything to prove now. The Blues bet on Sunny, and I like it. Sundqvist will easily slot back into the fourth line along with fellow linemates Alex Steen and Ivan Barbashev. It’s up to Sundqvist now to prove that the season he had wasn’t a fluke, but that he is a legit NHL player now.

Zach Sanford

Sanford had a respectable season. He scored some big goals in the playoffs and seemed to find a home alongside David Perron and O’Reilly. The reason I’m saying Sanford has more to prove than say Jay Bouwmeester, Vince Dunn, Colton Parayko, Ivan Barbashev, or even Jake Allen is because I think Sanford has the biggest question mark over his head.

With the likes of Jordan Kyrou and now Austin Poganski breathing down his neck for a roster spot, Sanford needs to show that he’s matured into an NHL’er. He needs to show that he is up to play the 200-foot game and that he can deliver on his offensive promise.

He has shown flashes of brilliance but then seems to fade away. I think it’s time he proves to himself more so than anyone that he is willing to do the little things to win games consistently. That he will go to the dirty areas to get goals and show some tenacity. I don’t mean to go out there and drop the mitts, Robert Bortuzzo has already showed him that’s not a good idea.

Just get in the scrums and irk the opposition. Jump in with Perron and agitate the other team. I believe it will only elevate his overall game. Get after it, Sanford! You have the talent, now apply the work ethic and brains!

To pick just five players was difficult. This entire squad has much to prove in 2019. O’Reilly, Craig Berube, Alex Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester, so on and so forth. I could’ve mentioned them all. One thing I do know about this team because they’ve proven it is that they will not shrink to a challenge.

They will fight until the bitter end. That collectively, they have the hearts of champions, and that doesn’t need to be proven this season. No, this season is about proving to themselves that teams win championships and that they truly are the best TEAM in the NHL.

Drop the puck!