David Rogers
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@lizardkingjl Good question. I think it comes down to two key factors, both of which we unfortunately don't know very much about. Injuries. The team and staff knows a lot more about Halak's health than we do. They know if his past injuries were flukes or the start of something worse. Attitude. We heard Halak and Hitchcock's comments, but we don't really know what the dynamic is behind the scenes on a regular basis. Halak appeared to check out for the playoffs. If this same sort of attitude is seen regularly, the team might look past his somewhat strong numbers and move him if they feel he takes away from the team chemistry and approach.
I do think there's a market for Halak. Granted, he won't fetch a massive return, but I'd bet there are numerous teams out there that would love to bring him in either to compete for the top job or to split time as we saw with Elliott and Halak last season. A team could trade for him, hoping he bounces back in the final year of his deal and then they can sign him to a new deal. No one is going to give up any prized assets for Halak, but the way I look at it is the Blues could consider either making multiple minor deals (deal a G, deal a current F) to address their offense or they could try to package a couple guys together to bring in a bigger name.
Love the "gently rocking boat that is Halak" comment. Hilarious.
@miendiem I'm planning on writing something about the goaltending situation in the next couple of days.
@miendiem I also tend to feel Stewart is being treated a bit unfairly by most fans. He certainly had playoff games where he looked pretty absent or lackadaisical. However, he still generated 17 shots and was pretty unlucky to not find the back of the net on at least two that come to mind.
Playoff performance aside, I feel like a lot of fans are overlooking or forgetting about his effort during the regular season. His effort wasn't perfect, but he did lead the Blues in goals with 18. I think this is especially noteworthy considering how dreadful other players were offensively this season. The service wasn't always there, making his team-leading total more impressive. Overall, 36 points in 48 games isn't too shabby. If we use the silly idea of forecasting his performance over a full 82-game schedule you end up with a 60-point, 30-goal season. Would we able to find a better option, using those rough approximations, through free agency or a typical, fair trade? Probably not.
That being said, I wouldn't mind seeing the Blues deal him, but I would be expecting a much larger return from him than I would from Berglund.
@miendiem I think it also comes down to this idea: If you bring in offensive help, which player will benefit the most, Stewart or Berglund? For me it's Stewart. I think if he polishes his game up some more and is surrounded by talent that plays more to his style, Stewart can be a big weapon. For Berglund, I struggle picturing him being able to take his game much higher than it already is.
@PaulSwaney That's a good point, though it's still quite odd that they chose the summary that they did.
@lizardkingjl It's pretty difficult to make a guess as to what the Blues will do, especially when it comes to those two. I can envision scenarios where the Blues keep both, keep one or elect to let both go in one fashion or another.
Personally, I give the offensive edge to Stewart and as a result he's the one I'd pick if someone forced me to pick one over the other.
I wouldn't mind seeing Leopold come back assuming the price is reasonable. It'll take more $ to keep him than it would to keep either Cole or Russell, so that's a pretty big knock against him.
I think a trade is pretty likely. The Blues have given this group several chances and here we stand with similar results. The team needs to improve up front and they have several ways they could go about doing it, either by moving defensemen, moving forwards, moving a goalie or some combination of the three previously mentioned options.
@lizardkingjl You make a lot of good points. A trade is certainly possible and even seems likely in certain situations. The Blues have 3 goaltenders and could easily part with one to try and address their scoring woes.
There's also the possibility the Blues qualify a guy like Chris Stewart to keep him under their control, but then they deal him to a new team to get some value out of their asset.
Realistically, a trade of some sort seems pretty likely. I don't imagine the Blues will overhaul the roster, but there are areas where someone could be moved for the greater good of the team.
@TennisNewz I thought the exact same thing. Florida's numbers seemed to be the most peculiar.
@miendiem At the very least, the Blues having Cole and Russell as potentially expendable (depending on Leopold) seventh or eighth options makes me feel a whole lot better about the whole "Jeff Woywitka might have to play" nightmare scenario.
@gspaulding21 That's a great addition to the list. Thanks!
Woooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!
@ReedMiller Thanks for catching that. We corrected it.
@miendiem The 4th line is playing out of its mind. The ability to throw a hit without losing your positioning one the ice is incredible. That must take an insane amount of coordination, communication and familiarity with your teammates. Arguably, they're the best 4th group in the NHL. For my money, easily playing the best 4th line of hockey of any team in the playoffs.
That shooting percentage...yikes. Especially in the high % areas, the Blues seem to be targeting the logo or the boards.
@nsimon93 Yikes. Meant to write that he played well against Washington, but somehow it came out as with. Thanks for pointing that out!
@PeterSwett I haven't found that exact one, but I have found similar ones.
http://www.redbubble.com/people/alsvisions/works/10234549-boston-strong?p=sticker
http://www.chowdaheadz.com/boston-strong-sticker.html
Also offered here: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20130419-NEWS-130419665
@NikkiFields Well said!