最新杏吧原创

Matthew DeFranks: The Blues are about two weeks into training camp. There are two preseason games remaining. Let's get to some questions.

Blueliners Alumni: So, Bannister is baffled by the Blues' hapless play thus far. What's your take on why they haven't been able to get going?

Matthew DeFranks: I think it's a couple things: for the most part, veterans don't really care about the preseason, especially the first week when there's still a ton of junior and AHL players around. And then there hasn't been a lot of players that are on the bubble that have shown they deserve a spot in the NHL.

When you have those two things, you have games were it seems like guys are floating around out there.

Matt L: Went to the game last night and read your article this morning. I share Bannister鈥檚 disappointment about the performance last night. It was way too reminiscent of last year. CBJ didn鈥檛 have a ton of high danger chances (to my eye from section 112 at least) and the blues missed the net on a couple of breakaways, but being handily outshot at home with 75% or more of your expected opening night roster is very concerning. This team has to come out ready to play from opening night. I could see them getting better over the course of the year but they won鈥檛 be able to dig themselves out of a hole the way Edmonton did last year. There should be enough young guys trying to earn a long term contract and enough veterans tired of missing the playoffs to light a fire under this team, but it didn鈥檛 look like that last night and from Bannisters comments, it sounds like it鈥檚 been an ongoing problem in the preseason. Have you had the chance to talk with any of the players about this?

Matthew DeFranks: I think we also have to remember that this is preseason. Personally, I think it's probably a bit early for coaches to be pushing buttons, and grating players when the NHL lineup hasn't even played one game out there.

If this continues into the regular season, that's all fair game once we at least see a full lineup or see the starting goalie play a game or see both power play units. Until then, it's just not all that consequential.

For the guys that are on the bubble, this has been a bad camp and none have really argued for their spot except for Bolduc early on and Walker lately. That would be more of my concern than the veterans not (seemingly) giving a hoot about preseason.

Dave Lowry: I like the Blues lines in practice today. 18 and 25 can鈥檛 be on the same line, it simply doesn鈥檛 work. Is Bolduc looking more like a player destined to start in the AHL?

Matthew DeFranks: I don't know what to think of today's lines. For those that missed it, this is what it looked like.

Holloway-Thomas-Neighbours

Texier-Buchnevich-Kyrou

Joseph-Schenn-Kapanen

Toropchenko-Faksa-Walker

Saad-Dean-Bolduc

Leddy-Parayko

Broberg-Faulk

Suter-Kessel

Joseph-Perunovich

Schueneman-Tucker

Every forward line is different than it was before, and that's a pretty drastic change from just a few days ago when it looked like an NHL lineup in practice. I guess we'll find out more in the next week whether today was just fooling around with lines or whether the Blues coaching staff actually wants to look at these combinations moving forward.

If it's the latter, it's not good news for a guy like Zack Bolduc, and it's suddenly good news for ... Kasperi Kapanen?

Dave Lowry: PO Joseph has looked solid, has he done enough to claim the 7th defender role?

Matthew DeFranks: As of right now, I think Joseph is the 7th defenseman, though it's hard to tell whether the coaches view him in that role or Perunovich. Last night, he played on his off side, which he hadn't done a lot of in the past, and didn't look all that comfortable with it. But with so many left-handers on the roster now, you wonder if they'll have to play on the off side in order to get into the lineup throughout the season (maybe spelling Matt Kessel)

Matt L: Why are the Blues-Kraken opening the season with a 3:30 pm start on a Tuesday? I know the games on ESPN and that鈥檚 why but what genius at the World Wide Leader in Sports came up with this idea?

Matthew DeFranks: It's an odd time, but I look at it the same way I would look at Opening Day in baseball, which are almost always during the middle of the day in the middle of the week. The concept is no different.

Matt L: Bally鈥檚 parent co. Diamond Sports Group dropped a bombshell statement to the bankruptcy court this morning that they were cancelling all their cardinals contract and all their other MLB contracts for next year except one. Do you know if Ballys is locked in to carry the Blues all year or could they get out of that too?

Matthew DeFranks: I am under the impression that the Blues and Bally will be together throughout the season, but the longer that we have to wait for the Blues to announce the local broadcast schedule, the more I wonder if things have changed.

The plan beyond Bally is pretty clear. The Blues have partnered with Victory+ for free streaming direct to consumer. They have had some programming on channel 32 over the air. So it would make sense if the Blues did like the Ducks and had free options both for streaming and over the air.

Easy Ed - fan since 1967: Hey Matt, enjoying to insightful coverage. On the Blues defense, they have some real decisions to make. Who has to pass through waivers if the sent down of all the bubble players? who does not? It looks like they have to keep Perunovich up in case their PP goes flat. How's he been doing. He could be a generational offensive defenseman possibly, but they criticized Krug so much, how will they be on Peru? How's he look so far? That third pair, you have to give Suter a spot. So who joins him to begin the season: it was looking like Kessel, but P-O Joseph is very intriguing. The two brothers on ice will probably add something special to the team, especially spiritwise, like the Plager Bros (minus Billy, of course). Your thoughts, please. Be well.

Matthew DeFranks: Joseph, Tucker and Perunovich all have to pass through waivers, as do Walker and Kapanen.

Let's go easy on the generational tag. That's Erik Karlsson. Scott Perunovich is nowhere close to that.

So far, I haven't seen anything from Perunovich that would suggest he's ready to become a full-time NHL player. The power play hasn't done much with him out there. He still doesn't shoot the puck enough. I have noticed him having more effort in the defensive zone, but still, overall hasn't been enough to wow me.

As far as Joseph goes, he's a guy that played 52 NHL games last year, and a good chunk of them alongside Kris Letang. So he's got some experience, and I think he'll push Kessel to get into the lineup on a somewhat regular basis.

Eric: Looks like from the lines posted today for practice that Bolduc has been moved to the extra skaters line and Holloway and Texier have been elevated. Have the coaches said anything that is missing from Bolduc's game that they need to see? I'd say based on these lines he may start the season in Springfield. Thanks!

Matthew DeFranks: That's what it looks like, but I still don't know what to make of these. It feels awfully premature to scrap the lines of two days ago when those lines haven't even played a preseason game together yet.

Whenever we've talked to Bannister about Bolduc, hasn't been anything negative to pull out. I do wonder if they would like to see more production from a guy in that situation.

Matt L: I hate to call Bannister into question before the season even starts but in all honesty I haven鈥檛 been a big fan of his hiring from the get go. I thought the Blues could really benefit from a new voice. Obviously he鈥檚 not Berube so he鈥檚 new in a sense but he鈥檚 not new to the org and the teams underlying numbers didn鈥檛 really get any better after he took over. Their special teams numbers just recovered to the mean from terrible starts. Did Army ever address whether they thought a fresh voice would be beneficial?

Matthew DeFranks: Yeah, down the stretch of the season, it was basically the elite goaltending and a hot power play that led them to the record they had. The underlying possession numbers were still down there with the Sharks and the Blackhawks.

It wasn't asked explicitly, as far as I can remember, of Armstrong. But the question of "why Bannister?" was answered basically with "We kept coming back to him with the way he coached the rest of the season."

The two-year contract, to me, also feels like this is a transitional period until Steen takes over in 2026. So many different coaching contracts line up at that point.

Dave Lowry: Faska seems like a better fit on the 4th line at this stage of his career, agree?

Matthew DeFranks: Yeah, he hasn't produced as a third-line guy in a few years now. Still a very effective piece doing what he does: playing defensively, winning faceoffs, killing penalties, etc. But you're not counting on building a third scoring line around him.

Matt L: I completely appreciate what you鈥檙e saying about not overreacting to the preseason. But obviously Bannisters not happy about it either. The Blues aren鈥檛 good enough to simply throw the switch on opening night. They have to have better puck management habits. They really need to find a second pp unit that works. Lots of new pieces on the pk that need to come together. If the veterans don鈥檛 see that and the tone they鈥檙e setting is 鈥淎hh, it鈥檚 the preseason, big whup,鈥� that sounds like a recipe for disaster and potentially a big problem in their leadership group. Is that the impression you get from the vets? (So much for me not overreacting to the preseason.)

Matthew DeFranks: It's not a vibe I've gotten specifically talking about the Blues and their leadership group. But it's a generally overarching feeling across NHL veterans around the league, so I don't think it's a unique attitude for guys that know they'll be on the roster.

Also: I still have no idea what the second unit it going to look like, because the Blues haven't practiced once with it.

As far as camps go, this has been the most regular-season practice-y one that I've covered. The Stars used to have marathon camps where they would flood the ice midpractice and go for about 1 1/2 hours, and then do it for three groups. Berube was big into scrimmages during camp, and there hasn't been one scrimmage and probably won't be any.

For the most part, the Blues have stayed to on-ice sessions that have lasted about an hour. Outside of morning skates, they haven't practiced the power play at all.

Easy Ed - fan since 1967: Matt, I actually liked the top 4 lines from today's practice you put up. The Joseph-Schenn-Kappy line looks a bit wierd, by Kappy has played will in the bit I've watched on the intractable Victory+ network, and the line has speed on the wings and Schenner, so good D for a third line. Also, line 2, splitting up 18-25, giving the top 3 so far with 18, and giving Buchy some O with 2-way Texier, who's played well, and 25, who's dangerous. Good 2/3 D on that line.

Matthew DeFranks: It was a line blender practice for sure. A bit early for blending season, but here we are.

Dave Lowry: Do you view Texier, Halloway, and Joseph as top 9 players? If so, I can鈥檛 see how Bolduc makes this lineup. Army has been pretty adamant that Bolduc has to be in the top 6 at the NHL level to play here. I鈥檇 prefer Saad and Schenn on the third line. That leaves Buch, Jake, Kyrou, and Thomas locked in the top 4. 2 spots open.

Matthew DeFranks: I think all of Texier, Holloway, Joseph, Toropchenko and Kapanen will be moving all over the lineup through different parts of the season. There are differences among them, sure, but for the most part, a lot of their core skills are similar: speed, forechecking, touch of skill.

I also think that if the Blues are going to eventually return to contention, building three scoring lines will be a big help, and we can stop thinking of guys being limited to just being labeled "top-six" guys.

AL: I'm not sure who said it, but I would agree that Kyrou and Thomas should be split up. Both players become way too deferential when they play together and both are much more effective when they are aggresive.

Matthew DeFranks: I am of the camp that the Blues should at least look at loading up the top line with Buchnevich-Thomas-Kyrou. When they're on, they are as dynamic as can be. Given what the Blues think they added below them, why wouldn't they want to at least give that a shot and see if the depth can hold up even a little bit?

AL: How likely do you think it is that Pavel starts the season at C? Have we seen Texier at C at all so far? I thought he was a C in Columbus?

Matthew DeFranks: He hasn't been at wing for a single practice or game, so the Blues will start Buchnevich at center.

Texier was a wing in Columbus with the ability to also play center. I don't think we'll see much of that this year in 最新杏吧原创.

Matt L: Any updates on Sundqvist鈥檚 timeline recently?

Matthew DeFranks: He's been on the ice every day during training camp, but he has stayed out of contact drills. He's still not expected to play in the preseason, and Bannister basically said "we have to wait for the doctors to give the OK," and I think that's based on a certain date.

It looks like the Blues have been planning like he's not going to be playing in Seattle, but we know things can change there. Sundqvist himself wants to wait until he's fully back to talk about his recovery process.

Easy Ed - fan since 1967: Well, Matt, I've lost you on the Post's high-tech masterpiece here. The paper didn't have Doonesbury, the best cartoon of all, for many decades, they finally get it, and they changed all the comics and dump it for kiddie stuff. Probably a money thing. There was a good single toon for adults in the old group, and that's gone, too. Any chance of your passing along this complaint? Thanks. Go Blues!

Matthew DeFranks: I had no idea. I'll try to figure out who to alert.

Blueliners Alumni: Lots of good discussion on here today about how this season goes. Seems like a good start will be crucial, so the pre-season woes is worrisome.

Matthew DeFranks: Something to note, sure, but it's not always an even correlation between preseason results and regular season success.

Sctdog: If you can help by adding some perspective to some of the comments I have heard from Blues connected media. Each year going into a new season there always seems to be a bit of hype and then the real games are played. I have heard this is a tough roster for a forward or D to make, but you have two guys who were bought out and had been pushed down the line up at their previous teams. You have a guy traded for a 4th on a modest contract from bottom dwelling Columbus who is now a candidate for the top 6, and a few perpetual prospects fighting for the team, is this really a tough line up to make if you鈥檙e a legit playoff team?

Matthew DeFranks: There were a lot of bodies that were going to make it difficult to wade through, and rise up. But I've mentioned before that it wasn't like a prospect was truly being blocked. If they couldn't beat out Kapanen or Walker or Sundqvist for a job, they didn't deserve it. If they couldn't push Schenn or Saad down to the third line, they didn't deserve a spot in the top two lines.

The Blues also thought this would breed competition, and that hasn't really happened consistently. No one is grabbing a job.

Sctdog: Are there any prospects still with the team or recently sent down that look like potential top 6 F or top 4 D? I know Dvorsky and Bolduc are expected to be in the top 6 but I am thinking more about a surprise like a Robertsson, or someone on D. Many of these guys are 2-4 rounders and it鈥檚 a real gem if they move higher up the lineup. I鈥檓 not asking about the Snuggy/Lidstein/etc who weren鈥檛 in the camp.

Matthew DeFranks: Maybe Buchinger if he progresses well. The Blues have given him the Vince Dunn comp, and would be overjoyed if he lives up to that. Robertsson, Kaskimaki, Peterson, Dean all strike me as middle-of-the-lineup players.

Eric: I know it is the preseason, but I did have some concerns after watching the game in person last night. Honestly, I hate to say it, but not much was different from last season. Forecheck was non-existent, puck possession wasn't there, lot of turnovers. I know the final NHL group wasn't there and it is a preseason game, but obviously Bannister is concerned and has expressed concern all preseason. Is this line-blender of a practice kind of a last ditch effort to get something else out of these group before the season starts?

Matthew DeFranks: Bannister has said he's been happy with the way that the Blues have practiced, so not sure if he really needed to do something like that to get better practice results. We'll just have to wait and see what it looks like in games.

Matt K: You mentioned earlier that the Blues have not practiced the power play at all yet. This seems odd, especially since special teams were a major issue last year. Knowing how important special teams are to winning, why would they not practice at all? Is that normal in pre-season until the bodies clear out?

Matthew DeFranks: It's usually around this time of camp, when it's around 30 bodies that you'll see full special teams practices. 5v4, 5v3, 4v3, 6v5

All situational stuff once you're down to one group and ready to give those units a chance to work together. I asked Bannister a couple days ago when we would see power play practices, and he mentioned it would come across the next few days. So far, it's just been yesterday's morning skate, and probably tomorrow's morning skate, too.

STCBluesFan: MD thanks for the chat. Really liked what I saw out of Texier Saturday night. Good vision, skates well, will shoot, and reminds me of O'Reilly with how well he keeps the puck on his stick. On the other end Faska showed me nothing. He looked slow, out place, uninvolved. Why waste a roster spot when we all know the game is faster on a slower vet who really does look like he wants to be here?

Matthew DeFranks: Faksa is an ideal fit on the fourth line, even if his cap figure is a little high. He did love being in Dallas, but I think he likes that he's wanted in 最新杏吧原创 and wanted in a role that he's familiar with. With the Stars, his ice time dwindled, he was scratched in the playoffs. Here, he'll probably be a key part of the penalty kill and will be counted on to win late-game draws.

Also, have you seen the rest of the Blues' centers? It's not a perfect option, but the alternatives aren't high-end either.

Texier has shown well in the two home games I've seen in person. I think he'll be bouncing up and down the lineup all year, so I'm sure we'll see a decent amount of him.

STCBluesFan: I'd rather a young hungry center who wants to stay up with the club over a over priced veteran who really doesn't seem like he wants to be here. SPEED. It is what the game is now. I mean look at Saad, he seemed to be struggling trying to keep up at times last year and didn't exactly have the afterburners ignited Saturday night.

Matthew DeFranks: I get your point. I'm just saying that it's not like he doesn't want to be here. He asked out of Dallas.

That'll be all for today. Thanks for stopping by. Have a good day and rest of the week. See you next week.

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