3 St. Louis Blues That Might Be Expendable/Traded Summer 2022
Marco Scandella
As far as social media fans have been concerned, Marco Scandella became expendable early in the 2021-22 season. Much of that is an overreaction, but there is not much doubt that Scandella had a rather poor season.
The funny thing is that it’s rather hard to pinpoint what was wrong with Scandella. If you look at the stats, he was normal.
He had a typical offensive season for him. Scandella was a plus-player, had a decent amount of hits and his turnover numbers were not nearly as bad as one might think.
However, he just did not pass the eye test. His partnership with Colton Parayko had all but dissolved, he was out of position at times and seemed a step too slow.
The coaching staff must have agreed. While some of his ice time was due to some injury problems, it has to be noted that his 18:08 average ice time is the lowest he’s had with the Blues and also the lowest in a full season since 2018-19 with Buffalo.
Scandella was also a minus-4.5 in Expected Plus/Minus, which is an advanced statistic. What that looks into is where the shots, for and against, came from compared to the league average of those same shot placements across the league.
While it’s a little more technical, if you boil it down, a minus player in expected plus/minus is giving up more goals than the average defender with a shot from that exact same spot.
I don’t believe Scandella is a bad player. However, he has reverted to type and is now what he was in Minnesota, which is a third-pairing defender, ideally.
$3.275 million is not terrible, but it’s a little high for a bottom pair defender. Robert Bortuzzo is not even making $1 million per season.
St. Louis probably needs to look for an upgrade somehow, but they also have organizational depth that makes Scandella more expendable.
Scott Perunovich still needs to become a better defender and stronger, but he’s on the fast track to the NHL full time. Niko Mikkola needs to be a little smarter with the puck and have quicker decisions, but at worst, he’s already Scandella level and is younger and potentially cheaper.
Calle Rosen may only be a depth piece that shuttles from Springfield to St. Louis, but he stepped up well in the playoffs. It might be replacement by committee.
The bottom line is that Scandella was brought in to be the counterpoint to Parayko and it worked beautifully for those 11 regular season games in 2020. It has not worked so well since.
The Blues have some players lined up and could use the cap room.
Jordan Kyrou
If you had brought up this idea last offseason, I’d have slapped you in the face. Even midseason, I’d have called you insane.
Jordan Kyrou was one of the untouchables. He is too young, too much talent with too much upside and could be a Blues lifer.
However, while you should never judge a player on a short stretch or just the playoffs, Kyrou took a nose dive. He quickly went from a name that should be a lock for top line or top six minutes to a guy that fans are willing to see packaged for another player.
For me, the disappointment and the change in my own perception came late in the 2021-22 season and into the playoffs. Kyrou shrank from the moment.
I don’t say that lightly. This is a talented man who just scored 27 goals and 75 points in a season where we still probably have not seen his best.
However, there were horrendous inconsistencies. He only managed five goals in his last 23 games, two of which came in one game.
His ice time would be over 20 minutes in one game and then below 15 minutes the next, proving he was not earning the trust of his coaches. The same was true in the playoffs.
Statistically, he was actually good. Four of his seven goals came against Colorado, which is exactly when you want a potential star to step up.
However, he had 11 minutes of ice time in Game 6 against Minnesota. He played less than 16 minutes on the ice in three of the six games against the Avalanche.
A lot came down to the eye test. Statistically, Kyrou was ok. His regular season turnover numbers weren’t terrible, nor were they worse than anyone else in the playoffs. Oddly, he actually led the Blues in takeaways in the 2022 playoffs.
But, for lack of a better way to put it, he was weak. He slunk away from the physical side of the game.
There were plenty of times against the Avalanche where he would duck away from hits. That’s fine to preserve yourself, but he would forget about the puck in the process. The phrase take a hit to make a play has merit, but if you’re going to duck the hit, you have to take care and keep the puck.
Kyrou was also incredibly weak on the puck in the playoffs. Perhaps his statistical giveaways were not high, but Kyrou had a lot of lost pucks.
I lost count of the times he would casually be skating up the wall and have his pocket picked in the neutral zone or in his own zone. You have to have positional awareness, especially in the playoffs.
There were too many shifts where he looked like a guy still playing junior style hockey, where he was the most talented one, against men. Kyrou is still very young and gaining experience, but he’s been to the playoffs enough to know things ramp up and he just felt unprepared.
Kyrou was definitely not the only one, especially against the Avs where St. Louis looked quite outmatched in several games. However, as much as I dislike the cliche, he was not playing Blues hockey and maybe he’s not going to be that style of player.
Nobody needs him to go run people down like Brayden Schenn or Ivan Barbashev. If you don’t have a little toughness and ability to be strong on the puck, then perhaps he can fetch a good enough haul to make a deal worth it.
I hate to give up on speed because speed kills. There’s not much room for speed in the playoffs though.
Colton Parayko
Last, but definitely not least, for players that suddenly wore out a welcome, we have Colton Parayko. My, how the mighty have fallen.
To an extent, we only have ourselves to blame. As fans, we always went a current player to the the new incarnation of this guy or that guy.
We want Robert Thomas to be the new Adam Oates or Bernie Federko. We hoped Vladimir Tarasenko would be the next Brett Hull. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a young man, especially when the styles don’t always fit.
Fans really didn’t do Parayko any favors. We thought he would be the next Al MacInnis with a Chris Pronger body – the best of both worlds, right?
That’s a terrible burden. Those are two Hall of Fame players with Stanley Cups and Norris Trophies to their names.
While they were never realistic expectations, Parayko has not lived up to those lofty aspirations. He is afraid to unleash that cannon shot and his mild manners have prevented him from showing even 1/10th the nastiness Pronger would showcase.
Even if you take those comparisons away, Parayko just has not yet shown the ability to be what the Blues need him to be. I was all on board with letting him be the top defender when Alex Pietrangelo wanted his overpriced contract.
Parayko was more worth his money and was also younger. He seemed ready for that next phase of being a leader.
Whether perception or reality, his nice guy demeanor seems to hold him back. You don’t get the sense he’s leading anyone on the ice, much less the locker room.
This was a guy whose name was vaguely mentioned as a potential captain when Petro left. There are multiple ways to lead, but that’s flimsy ground.
Parayko is still a good player. He does more than we give him credit for at times.
He led the team in blocked shots in 2021-22 by a wide margin. I’d bet most fans would not have guessed that since he’s often accused of getting out of the way or screening his own goalie but missing the puck.
For me, the issue is puck possession. Parayko has regressed.
Prior to his injury, Parayko was a stallion. He was fast and skilled enough that many claimed he could play forward if the Blues needed him to – they did come close when injury ravaged the forward lines a few seasons ago.
Now, that long stride has disappeared. Instead of confidently skating the puck out, Parayko stands behind the net and tries awful passes from the goal line.
There are plenty of talented players with worse turnover numbers, but he still led the team. Parayko gave the puck away the most out of any Blues player in the regular season and the playoffs.
St. Louis just cannot have that. They have skill and a bit of speed, but they’re not a team that transitions you to death.
They make smart plays through the neutral zone and, when at their best, move as five-man units. Parayko currently disrupts that.
His penchant for standing behind his own net for noticeably longer than any teammate keeps him further away than any teammate. St. Louis is not a stretch pass team and yet most his turnovers were trying to thread some imaginary needle when even a novice could tell it would be picked off.
His skating definitely improved from 2021 to 2021-22. You still have to wonder if something about that back injury is holding him back.
Parayko is only 29 and just seems diminished. Unfortunately, the Blues have to make a decision soon.
If he is no longer the player he was or might have been, his stock will only decrease. St. Louis is tied to Parayko with a very long-term deal, but you might be able to convince a team to take on that burden now, but not later.
Personally, I don’t want any of these players gone. They all have talent and can help this team.
The problem becomes that all three go through periods where the only time they help the team is when they are at their best. A player still needs to be beneficial to his team even if he’s having a mediocre night.
If Parayko is not on, he’s handing the puck to the opponent. If Kyrou isn’t scoring, he’s a ghost. Scandella just seemed to be punching above his weight class on some nights.
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Add that to the fact the Blues need cap flexibility and a player like Nick Leddy might be more a fit for this team, then you have decisions to make. Don’t listen to the social media types that say give any of these players up for the proverbial back of pucks.
We would be foolish not to think they are now expendable. None are untouchable as we sit here today.