St. Louis Blues’ Defensive Core Is Among NHL’s Best
By Tyler Andrus
The St. Louis Blues are Stanley Cup contenders once again this season after starting the season as the best team in the Western Conference. Most of this is due in large part to the play of their defensive core, consisting of the captain and a shutdown duo, thus far.
Statistically speaking, the St. Louis Blues have three of the best defensive players in the game. At this point, the trio are all veterans.
All three rank in the top 15 of defensive point shares. Overall, the Blues have given up the fifth least amount of goals (72) in more games played than the other four. That is in no small part because of the three guys we’ll discuss.
While the Blues may give up a lot of weak shot chances (currently ranked 22nd), their 5-on-5 save percentage is third-best at .927. That’s because of the defensive prowess of the Blues’ defensive core.
Alex Pietrangelo
Alex Pietrangelo has been worth every penny of the $6.5 million he is owed this season. In 29 games, The Captain has driven six shots to the back of the net collecting 14 total points.
He is all over the ice on a nightly basis. He is not a stranger to shooting the puck with 85 shots on the season and a shooting percentage of 7.1%
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Petro averages 23:58 time on ice per night, acting as a true number one defenseman. He has accumulated 1.8 Defensive Point Shares (DPS) which ranks 12th in the NHL.
The possession metrics are slightly surprising. A quarter of the way through 2019-20, Petro is slightly low with just a 49.4 Corsi For Percentage (CF%, a measure of how often his team has the puck while he is on the ice).
The Blues are hoping to get one more good playoff run out of Pietrangelo before his current contract ends in 2020. He is destined to get a huge deal based on the eight-year, $9.059 million AAV deal that Roman Josi got from the Predators this offseason.
Jay Bouwmeester
For all the crap you hear about Jay Bouwmeester, only half of it should be true. Offensively, he is a complete liability with his -0.1 offensive point shares so far in 2019.
On the flip side, he has been the ninth-best defender in the league analytically. The 17-year NHL veteran has been everything St. Louis needs in the defensive zone blocking 38 shots, possessing the puck well, all the while while averaging 21:44 time on ice (TOI) per night.
Bouw’s on-ice save percentage (oiSV%) sits at an eye-popping .928 and he has put up 2.1 defensive share points (ninth in NHL) in 29 games. His CF% is slightly disturbing at 47.8, but I assume this is due to his inability to produce on the other side of the ice.
Overall, Jay Bouwmeester does not get enough credit for what he does in his zone and $3.5 million is a steal for what he has provided for the team defensively.
Colton Parayko
The last defensive stud I want to talk about is the big man, Colton Parayko. The 6’6″, Alberta native has been a shot-blocking machine.
Parayko has collected 48 blocks (28th in NHL) and he has a great plus/minus at plus-3. Even though it may not show up on the stat sheet, he does a fantastic job of using his long stick to cut down passing lanes and to break up plays on the rush.
Offensively, Parayko is scoring at the highest rate of his young career. He has collected 12 points in 29 games putting two pucks in the back of the net.
He does a fantastic job of staying out of the box with just eight penalty minutes. Parayko also eats up a lot of big minutes with a little over 23 minutes per night.
This season has been very strong for the 26-year-old with 2.3 point shares so far this season. I would be willing to bet that he passes up his career-high of 8.8 set in his rookie season in 2015-16.
What’s even more exciting is the two remaining seasons he has left on his contract. Hopefully, the Blues can make the “next Chris Pronger” a career St. Louisan.
Next. The Cardinals Have Mini-Pedro. The St. Louis Blues Have Mini-Petro. dark
All that is without mentioning Vince Dunn is playing like an all-star and Justin Faulk is starting to find his bearings in the Blue note.
These three players have been crucial to their team this season and there is no doubt that this team is a legitimate Stanley Cup contender – even with the injuries. As long as these three players are performing like this, the fanbase has absolutely nothing to worry about.