St. Louis Blues Busy Summer Still Leaves Questions In Net
Despite their impressive offseason, the St. Louis Blues goaltending is still questionable at best.
The St. Louis Blues missed the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons a year ago and spent the summer attempting to ensure it wouldn’t become a trend.
The Blues were one of the busiest teams in the offseason overhauling the club’s forward roster in a significant way. Gone are the likes of Patrik Berglund, Kyle Brodziak, Scottie Upshall, and Vladimir Sobotka. While players brought in over the summer include Ryan O’Reilly, Tyler Bozak, Patrick Maroon, and David Perron who returns to St. Louis for a third stint with the Blues.
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There’s no question the names brought in are an upgrade over the names departed as St. Louis has managed to add great depth to their forward group. Blues management deserves a ton of credit for adding on additional talent to the club’s core of Vladimir Tarasenko, Alex Steen, Jaden Schwartz, and Brayden Schenn.
Another forward hoping to make an impact this season is Robby Fabbri. At only 22-years old, Fabbri hopes to play in his third season after missing all of the 2017-18 season. The once promising prospect hasn’t seen regular season action since Feb. 2017 after a knee injury cut his 2016-17 season short, followed by a second knee injury in preseason a year ago ended his entire year before it ever got started.
If Fabbri is able to return to the level he was at prior to his injury, the Blues may have another top-six on their hands they also didn’t have a year ago.
Another player who’d like to forget last year due a different reason would be goaltender Jake Allen. For what has become a yearly occurrence Allen once again lost his starter’s job but for whatever reason the Blues are trusting him to find his game again this season. As the saying goes, those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Last year despite injuries to key players and the puzzling Paul Stastny trade, the biggest issue behind the Blues missing the playoffs was unquestionably Allen’s play. Between Nov. 11 and Mar. 10, Allen recorded only three victories in 20 games. He also lost his final five starts of the season, giving up a combined 23 goals.
For all the marvelous work Blues management have done reshaping the forward group, not addressing the glaring issue between the pipes could be the team’s downfall. St. Louis signed career backup Chad Johnson in the offseason, letting Carter Hutton walk despite his strong play with the club just like Brian Elliott before him.
Signing Johnson is a bit curious given he’s never been good over long stretches which is exactly what he’ll need to be when Allen inevitably struggles at some point. With other options on the market such as Steve Mason or Kari Lehtonen, it might have made more sense to sign a one-time fringe starter over a career backup. Both Mason and Lehtonen would even be familiar with the Central Division given their former teams.
The one area that allows every goaltender not named Allen to excel is no doubt the Blue’s blue line. Captain Alex Pietrangelo can be a fourth forward or a shutdown defender on any given night as he leads by example. Colton Parayko continues to cement his status as a top-four defender in the league. Vince Dunn looks to build off a promising rookie season a year ago while avoiding the sophomore jjinx
If St. Louis receives any sort of luck and the health holds up of steady veterans Carl Gunnarsson and Jay Bouwmeester then the Blues can be just as stingy as ever on defense.
Still, all eyes will be on Allen as St. Louis’ chances of returning to the playoffs rely solely on him. Management has added major upgrades at forward while choosing to ignore the club’s biggest issue. However, just because a team wins the offseason doesn’t mean they are guaranteed a playoff berth.
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Just look at the Dallas Stars from a year ago who many predicted where headed to the postseason after a summer of adding Alex Radulov, Martin Hanzal, Ben Bishop, and Marc Methot. The Blues are certainly hoping their season doesn’t turn out like Dallas’ did a year ago.