The St. Louis Blues had a very disappointing, well talked about and well-documented start to the 2018-19 season. That all turned around for everyone on the team except for maybe Jaden Schwartz.
The St. Louis Blues in the midst of the all-time greatest turn around in professional sports were humming. Everyone was getting in on the party throughout the regular season. Everyone except Jaden Schwartz.
Schwartz had a down year last year and not until the playoffs did he really start potting goals as we all expected him to prior to the start of the season. It was apparent he was struggling and was battling some confidence issues.
He would be consistently turning down shot opportunities and defer to his teammates when he clearly had the best chance to score. It was frustrating for him and Blues’ fans alike.
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He finished the 2018-19 regular season with only 11 goals and 25 assists. 2 power-play goals with 3 power-play assists among those.
Not at all what anyone, even Schwartz expected of him when the season was about to begin.
He came alive when it mattered most in the playoffs collecting 12G and 8As. Amazing really for him to have scored more in the post-season than the regular season.
Coming into the championship defense season of 2019-20 everyone was hoping that Schwartz had refound his goal-scoring ability in the playoffs and it would carry over in the new season. Sadly, through the first 15 games of the season, Schwartz had 1G. Putting him on an abysmal pace of just 6G for the season.
Well since game 16 and on Schwartz has 10Gs. It’s a pace that would give him 30G on the season. On top of the goals, he has 18As. No one is talking about it either. He’s quietly constructing a rebound season that the Blues need!
With the loss of their top goal-scorer Vladimir Tarasenko, the Blues desperately needed someone to step up and fill the void where those goals would’ve been. David Perron has been doing that the most and getting all the hype because of it. Especially with Schwartz’s slow start.
Schwizzle is back! Look, he was expected to score 20G a season, but the biggest reason he was drafted and so well respected by the coaches and front office has and always will be his defensive play. Schwartz is a very good two way forward.
He backchecks as hard as anyone in the NHL. He has a motor and a work ethic that doesn’t rest. It was definitely concerning to see the 1G in 15 games to start the season, but the coaches and front office all knew and believed that he would work his way out of it.
He’s been doing that and doing it at a really nice pace right now. He seems to be finding some chemistry with Jordan Kyrou on the wing and had his best game of the season offensively recently against San Jose scoring a goal and 2 assists.
He’s also been doing that with ample time on the power-play. Here’s an interesting stat. Schwizzle has more power-play points than Alex Ovechkin right now. (insert shocked face emoji)
I think it’s safe to say for now that Schwartz is working his way out of it. It is imperative to the success of the team that he continues to work his way out of it and keep putting points on the board. Specifically points in the form of goals.
Jaden Schwartz has one more year left on his contract with a cap hit of $5.35 million this season and next. I don’t see him going anywhere else. He’s a character guy and 2 way forward that Craig Berube and Doug Armstrong love.
Drop the puck!