Throughout the month of August, PHT will be dedicating a day to all 30 NHL clubs. Today’s team? The St. Louis Blues day.
Another strong regular season followed by an early playoff exit. Business as usual for the St. Louis Blues, right?
Well, maybe. You get the sense that the 2015-16 season is an ultimatum, with the T.J. Oshie trade being a warning: this might be the last shot for many, perhaps including head coach Ken Hitchcock.
On paper, there’s still a lot of promise in St. Louis.
Vladimir Tarasenko tore onto the scene as a true elite sniper in 2015-16, and he was paid handsomely for it. Jaden Schwartz lacks some of the sizzle, but he’s a blue chip of his own. There’s some uncertainty for the likes of David Backes, but let’s not forget that St. Louis scored 248 goals last season, more than any other Western Conference playoff squad.
Of course, a Hitch-helmed team is expected to be stout defensively, and the Blues boast two fantastic blueliners in Kevin Shattenkirk and Alex Pietrangelo.
The two-headed dragon setup remains in net with Brian Elliott and Jake Allen, but hey, at least they like each other.
New viewing coming in October....#OurBlues @StLouisBlues @34jallen
— Brian Elliott (@KidElls1) July 3, 2015
Congrats Jake. #iloveyouman pic.twitter.com/rNWX89htHx
Off-season recap
As mentioned above, the Blues re-upped with expected cornerstones Allen and Tarasenko. They also parted ways with Oshie and Barret Jackman.
St. Louis actually looks pretty similar heading into 2015-16, but young players could up the ante quite a bit. Could someone like Robby Fabbri and/or Ty Rattie become difference-makers for the Blues? Training camp might help decide that, but their development is one of the more important aspects of this off-season.
If fear isn’t enough of a motivator, there’s also avoiding sights like these in the future:
Tough to stare at this for two hours. pic.twitter.com/IySb6LLPjI
— Steve Ott (@otterN9NE) August 16, 2015
