Western Conference: Assigning captains to the captain-less teams

St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues did not end their Playoff run with confidence. Their star netminder from a year prior in Jordan Binnington struggled mightily, hurting his team’s chances. Backup Jake Allen stepped up and played strong, leading to him being dealt to the Montreal Canadiens for a few draft picks in order to create more cap space.

This move was made to allow the team to re-sign their top free agents, particularly captain Alex Pietrangelo. After ongoing talks, both parties reached a standstill, as the team told their leader that he should test free agency.

While there was still a chance of him re-signing, that ended when UFA Torey Krug signed with St. Louis, a seven-year deal worth $45 million, as they knew the odds of bringing back their old captain was a long shot. Rather than wait for the inevitable, they jumped the gun to pick up a very strong defensive player.

Pietrangelo signed a seven-year, $61.6 million deal with the Vegas Golden Knights a couple of days later.

Filling the hole Pietrangelo leaves behind will not be an easy one. There are two players on this roster that came to mind when deciding which one the captaincy should be awarded too. Those two players are superstar winger Vladamir Tarasenko and two-way centerman Ryan O’Reilly.

The 28-year old Tarasenko has been playing for the Blues since his age 20 season. Over those eight years, he has been nothing but a dominant force offensively, scoring more than 30 goals and 30 assists in five of the last seven seasons.

This past year was a rough one for the team’s star, as he was only able to dress for 10 games. Shoulder injuries were the storyline and, even after returning, it seemed that his injury was still a problem. That led to his third shoulder surgery of his career.

Many are saying he may struggle to be the same player he once was, as things are not looking good to him being able to play once the regular season begins. He could miss significant time depending on when the season does start and if that is the case, it is very hard to reward him with a role like that, with him not being able to help his team out on the ice.

The safer bet is Ryan O’Reilly.

Being a leader is nothing new to the Ontario native. Back in 2009, O’Reilly captained Team Canada at the IIHF U18 Championships.

O’Reilly is one of those players that everyone should aspire to be. Back in 2019, in which the team took home the franchise’s first Stanley Cup, O’Reilly had a year to remember. Not only did he win the Selke Trophy and get elected to his third career All-Star Game, he also took home the Conn Smythe Trophy after recording 23 points (8G, 15A) in 26 playoff games.

All those awards are stellar and are well deserving. But I believe him coming in second place in the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy voting (10 PIM), something he is up for year after year, for a guy that goes to the dirty area, is even more impressive.

At the ESPY’s, Ryan O’Reilly spoke about his team and the magic of that season. He just sounds like a guy that is born to lead.

In a year in which the Blues found themselves in the basement of the Western Conference, the leaders of this locker room had to keep their teammates invested in the season and keep riding them to be the best players they can be. While O’Reilly did not hold any leadership role technically, if you think he did not play a major role in that team turning things around then maybe you took a Kevin Bieksa superman punch to the head. Jokes of course, but you get what I am saying.

This past season he found himself as an Alternate Captain once the news broke that fellow Alternate Captain Tarasenko would be out for five months. While wearing the “A” on his sweater was not a new role for him, a position he owned for all three seasons with the Buffalo Sabres prior, he put up 12 goals and 49 assists in 71 games. While it was a down year offensively in the goals department, he came in third place in both the Lady Byng vote and the Selke.

When play resumed for the expanded playoffs, O’Reilly stepped up his game, with four goals and seven assists in nine games. He was a superstar, winning 62.7% of his faceoffs, with zero trips to the penalty box, while shooting at a 17.4 perfect clip

He would be the perfect candidate to become the 20th captain in franchise history as the St. Louis Blues tries to shake off a weak ending in the bubble.