The St. Louis Blues just got a jolt of electricity to their system with the return of forward Jake Neighbours.
Despite his absence, Neighbours is leading the team in goals, an accomplishment made more impressive by his missed time. Neighbours was playing absolutely electric hockey before his departure, and a return to the lineup will add some much-needed offense.
How much of an impact can Neighbours have on the squad? Is it possible he can save the Blues season and galvanize this team to more wins?
Wins and losses
One player can only have so much impact on a given hockey game, and Jake Neighbours is not quite on the level of some of the league's top talents. That being said, I still believe he can provide a jolt that this team sorely needs.
The biggest problem for the Blues so far has been the team defense, an area where Neighbours perhaps won't make as much of an impact. But in terms of scoring goals to help win games, I absolutely expect Neighbours to make an immediate impact on the ice.
Neighbours has been an offensive sparkplug for the team, playing a physical brand of hockey and providing a solid net-front presence that has led to some of his goals. He is a crafty enough skater to create offense and plays hard and strong with his stick, meaning he can leverage his strength against opposing skaters.
Neighbours provides a new look at offense that was clearly working for the Blues at the beginning of the season, and the team was sorely lacking his offensive profile. His presence alone could redefine the style of hockey that the team plays and inspire his teammates to play with a little more fire, just like Jake does.
Culture of the team
While Neighbours alone might not win the Blues games (which he very well could), Neighbours brings a lot more intangible qualities to the table that can help serve his team in other ways.
Neighbours is a leader both off and on the ice, leading by example with his playstyle and serving as a vocal leader for the team in practice drills and on the bench too. Despite his young age, he has already established himself as one of the most important presences on the team, and dare I say may have the makings of a future captain down the road.
Neighbours could be the piece needed to help the Blues escape the funk they find themselves in because he plays such an electrifying brand of hockey. As previously mentioned, Neighbours leads by example on the ice as one who is not afraid to throw around hits and play physical on the puck, and he is not a forward who often loses puck battles.
The return of Neighbours cannot be overstated. Before his injury on October 25th, the Blues were 3-3-1, a mark above .500 points %. Since he went down, however, the Blues have hosted a 3-6-4 record, well below their previous mark.
The loss of their top goalscorer clearly had a severe impact on this team and could be the reason for some of their mental struggles so far. With Neighbours back in the lineup and now with guys like Dalibor Dvorsky to supplement the playmaking, I expect the Blues to make a serious leap forward.