St. Louis Blues preview: Vladimir Tarasenko leads rebuilt forward core

After melting down in 2017-18, Vladimir Tarasenko and the St. Louis Blues look ready to contend for a Stanley Cup.

The St. Louis Blues had a huge meltdown last season. They went 0-5-1 down the stretch, narrowly missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the Colorado Avalanche wound up passing them. Vladimir Tarasenko and company had a very long summer for all the wrong reasons.

Usually, the Blues are a very quiet team during the offseason. They usually don’t dive into free agency. But this summer, the Blues were extremely active. They overhauled their forward group, adding two centers and a playmaking wing.

More from Puck Prose

• Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
• This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
• 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
• 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
• This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings

The Blues, on paper, went from being a team that relied heavily on their top forward line to one that could have three very good ones. Though they still have a huge, glaring weakness, they are unquestionably a better team as the 2018-19 season begins.

Led by Tarasenko and an underrated defense, the Blues have done a lot to try to ensure another meltdown doesn’t happen. Despite their meltdown, they actually overperformed a little bit last season. So even if the Blues experience some regression, their additions should help alleviate them.

Offseason Recap

Additions: F Ryan O’Reilly, F Tyler Bozak, F David Perron, G Chad Johnson, F Patrick Maroon, F Jordan Nolan

Departures: G Carter Hutton, F Beau Bennett, F Kyle Brodziak, F Scottie Upshall, F Tage Thompson, F Patrik Berglund, F Vladimir Sobotka

The biggest move of the Blues summer netted them a familiar foe in O’Reilly. Despite his struggles in Buffalo, he’s still one of the best two-way centers in the NHL. O’Reilly should help solidify the Blues center depth. The addition of Bozak should as well. Though he requires sheltered minutes, he can certainly produce in the right situations.

Their biggest loss was Hutton. Usually, that’s not a bad thing for a team to lose their backup goalie. However, Hutton was extremely reliable for them last season. Johnson is a pretty clear downgrade there.

Projected Lineup

The St. Louis Blues have an underrated skater group. Arguably one of the better ones in the league, especially if you’re one who thinks fourth lines and third pairings are a bit overrated.

Forwards

Patrick Maroon – Ryan O’Reilly – Vladimir Tarasenko

Jaden Schwartz – Brayden Schenn – David Perron

Robby Fabbri – Tyler Bozak – Alex Steen

Ivan Barbashev – Robert Thomas – Dmitrij Jaskin

Extra forward: Samuel Blais

On the rise: Jordan Kyrou, Klim Kostin

It appears the Blues are going to break up their top line trio from last year, which featured Tarasenko, Schwartz, and Schenn. But it’s a good thing because now, the Blues have the talent necessary to have three really good forward lines.

O’Reilly has struggled on offense, especially last season. He had the 22nd-worst five-on-five points per hour rate among all forwards with at least 800 minutes played. However, this was partially related to his teammates. Maroon and Tarasenko should be significant upgrades.

Replacing Tarasenko will be Perron, who’s a pretty reliable and steady forward. He’s not outstanding, but if he’s healthy, you can pencil him in for at least 40 points. Perron is an underrated passer and playmaker, which should complement the skills of Schwartz and Schenn.

Fabbri’s injured (shocker, I know) but it doesn’t seem to be significant. He’s an extremely talented forward who could make that third line a very good one. Steen is declining, but in a sheltered role, I think he could still be a productive player.

Defensemen

Joel Edmundson – Alex Pietrangelo

Vince Dunn – Colton Parayko

Jay Bouwmeester – Robert Bortuzzo

Extra defenseman: Jordan Schmaltz

The best thing that happened to the Blues last season was an injury to Bouwmeester. This opened up opportunities for Edmundson and Dunn, who flourished in larger roles. Edmundson is a mobile defenseman who should complement Pietrangelo well. Dunn and Parayko were very solid together last year as well.

Goaltending

Jake Allen

Chad Johnson

The Blues goaltending is going to determine how far they go. They have the skater talent to contend, but their goaltending was a huge issue last season.

Strengths

The Right Side

Edmundson and Dunn are perfectly capable top four defensemen. But the Blues real strength lies in the right side of their blueline. Pietrangelo and Parayko stand out as top pairing caliber defensemen.

The former gets more credit. Pietrangelo has been a recent staple on Team Canada internationally. He put up a career-high 15 goals and 54 points last season. Without Bouwmeester, he broke even as far as shot attempts. And the Blues have consistently outscored their opponents with him on the ice.

Parayko might be even better than Pietrangelo. Only Dunn posted better relative shot attempt numbers than him last season among Blues defensemen (minimum 1,000 minutes). Poor goaltending and bad puck luck caused him to have a negative relative goals for percentage.

Down The Middle

Last year, the Blues didn’t have very good center depth. Especially after they traded Paul Stastny to the Winnipeg Jets. The Blues addressed this during the summer, adding O’Reilly and Bozak to an already talented group.

Additionally, they refused to part ways with top prospect Robert Thomas, who should have a full-time role this season. He’s a bit of an odd fit as a fourth line center, but it could let the Blues ice four skilled lines. So even though the Blues lost Stastny and Brodziak, they’re in darn good shape down the middle.

Season Prediction

The St. Louis Blues have a darn good team on paper. Their forward group ranks in the top 10 and their blueline ranks in the top seven. That should be enough to be a serious Stanley Cup contender, right?

Wrong. Their goaltending is going to determine just how far the Blues go this season. They have the talent up front to be a darkhorse contender for the Stanley Cup. The Blues could easily be this year’s version of the Washington Capitals, winning their first title in franchise history.

Even in what should be an extremely competitive Central Division, St. Louis has what it takes to be one of the top three teams in the division. Obviously, the Nashville Predators and the Winnipeg Jets are the two favorites to win the Central. They’ll likely finish first and second. But that third place spot is wide open. With even league-average goaltending, the Blues could be the team that grabs that spot.

While they did lose some depth in the O’Reilly trade, I think they’ve done more than enough to make up for it. The Blues are one of those teams who will need a few things to go right to win a Stanley Cup. But there are not too many teams who can say that.