A positive sign for this team is there seems to be a lot of room for improvement once norms start evening out. The Blues have gotten a bit "unlucky" so far.

They aren't finishing as much as they should be and are giving up more than they should be. Most of that is the Hawks debacle.

Blues have also barely gotten anything from Kyrou, Thomas, and Holloway would most would agree should be their best 3 forwards. Once they get going, LOOK OUT

Down on the AHL farm. All of the kids at Springfield have scored at least a goal in their first 3 games. Dvorsky, Stancl, Stenberg, Pekarcik.

Theo Lindstein just looks so good on the blueline too. Has chipped in a goal and 2 assist in the 3 games as well.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Mon Oct 20, 2025 9:29 am A positive sign for this team is there seems to be a lot of room for improvement once norms start evening out. The Blues have gotten a bit "unlucky" so far.

They aren't finishing as much as they should be and are giving up more than they should be. Most of that is the Hawks debacle.

Blues have also barely gotten anything from Kyrou, Thomas, and Holloway would most would agree should be their best 3 forwards. Once they get going, LOOK OUT

I'm not booking any time on any bridges to jump off of like some people I've seen online.

There are going to be periods of inconsistency but that's to be expected with a team in transition like this.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Mon Oct 20, 2025 9:51 am Down on the AHL farm. All of the kids at Springfield have scored at least a goal in their first 3 games. Dvorsky, Stancl, Stenberg, Pekarcik.

Theo Lindstein just looks so good on the blueline too. Has chipped in a goal and 2 assist in the 3 games as well.

I think Lindstein is our most NHL ready prospect.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Mon Oct 20, 2025 9:29 am A positive sign for this team is there seems to be a lot of room for improvement once norms start evening out. The Blues have gotten a bit "unlucky" so far.

They aren't finishing as much as they should be and are giving up more than they should be. Most of that is the Hawks debacle.

Blues have also barely gotten anything from Kyrou, Thomas, and Holloway would most would agree should be their best 3 forwards. Once they get going, LOOK OUT

A lot of that is definitely from Hofer dodging pucks against the Hawks, but Binnington also had a bad game in the opener. While it's easy to dismiss, it's probably noteworthy that your goalies have had duds in 33% of your games so far.

There's no reason for panic for the reasons you brought up. They've gotta figure out the Mailloux situation, but your 6th defenseman having some holes in his game isn't exactly the end of the world. They've been inconsistent, but have 6 out of 10 possible points. Pretty solid for a playoff bubble team. Should be interesting to see what the lineup looks like on Tuesday.

Carbonneau getting some recognition.

BluesSK wrote: Mon Oct 20, 2025 6:48 pm

Carbonneau getting some recognition.

He's too good to be in that league but thats fine, let him dominate there for the year and I'd expect him to make his AHL or maybe NHL debut when that season is done with

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Mon Oct 20, 2025 7:31 pm

BluesSK wrote: Mon Oct 20, 2025 6:48 pm

Carbonneau getting some recognition.

He's too good to be in that league but thats fine, let him dominate there for the year and I'd expect him to make his AHL or maybe NHL debut when that season is done with

I assume he's going to be on the Canadian WJC team if he stays healthy. That would be a nice little bit of experience as well.

Dave's a mess wrote: Tue Oct 21, 2025 8:32 am

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Mon Oct 20, 2025 7:31 pm

BluesSK wrote: Mon Oct 20, 2025 6:48 pm

Carbonneau getting some recognition.

He's too good to be in that league but thats fine, let him dominate there for the year and I'd expect him to make his AHL or maybe NHL debut when that season is done with

I assume he's going to be on the Canadian WJC team if he stays healthy. That would be a nice little bit of experience as well.

It's his year to shine.

This team is giving me flashbacks to the Bannister Blues that started last year. I'd watch that team night in and out and never have a clue what their identity was. I feel like that is our current team. We aren't an offensive force, we definitely aren't a lock down defense, and we've lost that physicality to be the bigger stronger team.

We were so reliant on having borderline Vezina quality goaltending and when that has slipped, where are just seeing a team flailing out there.

A lot of season left, but I hope it's not going to take another historic win streak to squeeze into the playoff picture.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Fri Oct 24, 2025 8:44 am This team is giving me flashbacks to the Bannister Blues that started last year. I'd watch that team night in and out and never have a clue what their identity was. I feel like that is our current team. We aren't an offensive force, we definitely aren't a lock down defense, and we've lost that physicality to be the bigger stronger team.

We were so reliant on having borderline Vezina quality goaltending and when that has slipped, where are just seeing a team flailing out there.

A lot of season left, but I hope it's not going to take another historic win streak to squeeze into the playoff picture.

without a change, somewhere, I'm not expecting playoffs...

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Fri Oct 24, 2025 8:44 am This team is giving me flashbacks to the Bannister Blues that started last year. I'd watch that team night in and out and never have a clue what their identity was. I feel like that is our current team. We aren't an offensive force, we definitely aren't a lock down defense, and we've lost that physicality to be the bigger stronger team.

We were so reliant on having borderline Vezina quality goaltending and when that has slipped, where are just seeing a team flailing out there.

A lot of season left, but I hope it's not going to take another historic win streak to squeeze into the playoff picture.

I'm hoping that this road trip helps them regain their focus on hockey. But if it doesn't there will be adjustments.

I had written this up in the GDT last night but a 2 sentence reply turned into a much bigger post and it probably makes more sense here.

I'm on board with the send Mailloux down to Springfield plan, but not the suggestion that Ryan Suter is part of the answer. There's a reason 32 teams passed on him this summer. Having said that, he's probably more useful than an unplayable Mailloux. I think everyone, fans, coaches, front office, all knew there'd be growing pains with Mailloux, but unfortunately, there's no actual growth. I understand that he's only played a handful of games and some of this takes a looooooong time if it happens at all, but how has his game so far this season compared with the scouting report we were given over the summer? I'll condense a few reports from right after the trade into bullet points:

-Carries puck up ice well...haven't really seen it much if at all.
-Great shot and PP QB...He has 2 SOG, 1 of which was 88.9 mph, which is the hardest non-Parayko shot on the roster this year. He hasn't seen any PP time. He doesn't seem to spend enough time in the O-zone to have many shooting opportunities.
-Mean streak...honestly don't recall seeing that at all so far. Maybe he tried to start a fight after getting roasted repeatedly against the Hawks, but that's it, and not really an effective bit of toughness anyway. At least he's stayed out of the box?
-Big right shot D...it's true, he does shoot right handed and is 6'2".
-Bad hockey sense/defensive reads...nailed it.

So all of that is bad. I will say while checking this out I was absolutely shocked to see that he starts 60% of his shifts in the D-zone. That's the highest rate of any of the regular D this year, which seems like a bizarre choice, but maybe there's a big outlier game or something. He's clearly not playable at the NHL level, so the big question is, "now what?" Option 1 is to just keep running him out there for 9 minutes a night until he figures it out. I think we can all agree that's probably the worst choice for him and the team. Option 2 is putting him in the press box and have him put in extra work with the Mike Webber until he figures it out. Also doesn't seem ideal. Option 3, send him down to AHL where he can play big minutes. Okay, that's good but also brings up a few other issues. First, he's already sort of proven that he can do it at the AHL level, but maybe what he was working on at Laval isn't the same thing as what he needs to work at in the Blues system. Second is, who do you bring up. Lindstein is playing well enough to deserve a call up, but do you want to disrupt that development? If you keep him down there with Mailloux who gets the PP1 role? If you want Mailloux to play big minutes down there, do you pair those two together? What happens when Lindstein gets hit with the Mailloux effect that has happened to every single partner he's had in St. Louis? I think you've got to keep them separated, but now you're putting Mailloux in a smaller role in a league he's already proven he can handle.

In conclusion, it all sucks. It was always going to take a long time with him, but I didn't realize it'd be this bad. The only way through to the other side is for Mailloux to put in the work. I think he must have confidence issues at this point too, because he's not showing any of his strengths so far, but showing every single one of his weaknesses.

Are we confident the reason Suter isn't on a team right now is because every team passed on him? I'd find that hard to believe. I just assumed it was his own doing being 40 he may not want to do the full season grind and is more looking to see how things shake out and be a 2nd half addition for a team.

Dave's a mess wrote: Fri Oct 24, 2025 9:20 am I had written this up in the GDT last night but a 2 sentence reply turned into a much bigger post and it probably makes more sense here.

I'm on board with the send Mailloux down to Springfield plan, but not the suggestion that Ryan Suter is part of the answer. There's a reason 32 teams passed on him this summer. Having said that, he's probably more useful than an unplayable Mailloux. I think everyone, fans, coaches, front office, all knew there'd be growing pains with Mailloux, but unfortunately, there's no actual growth. I understand that he's only played a handful of games and some of this takes a looooooong time if it happens at all, but how has his game so far this season compared with the scouting report we were given over the summer? I'll condense a few reports from right after the trade into bullet points:

-Carries puck up ice well...haven't really seen it much if at all.
-Great shot and PP QB...He has 2 SOG, 1 of which was 88.9 mph, which is the hardest non-Parayko shot on the roster this year. He hasn't seen any PP time. He doesn't seem to spend enough time in the O-zone to have many shooting opportunities.
-Mean streak...honestly don't recall seeing that at all so far. Maybe he tried to start a fight after getting roasted repeatedly against the Hawks, but that's it, and not really an effective bit of toughness anyway. At least he's stayed out of the box?
-Big right shot D...it's true, he does shoot right handed and is 6'2".
-Bad hockey sense/defensive reads...nailed it.

So all of that is bad. I will say while checking this out I was absolutely shocked to see that he starts 60% of his shifts in the D-zone. That's the highest rate of any of the regular D this year, which seems like a bizarre choice, but maybe there's a big outlier game or something. He's clearly not playable at the NHL level, so the big question is, "now what?" Option 1 is to just keep running him out there for 9 minutes a night until he figures it out. I think we can all agree that's probably the worst choice for him and the team. Option 2 is putting him in the press box and have him put in extra work with the Mike Webber until he figures it out. Also doesn't seem ideal. Option 3, send him down to AHL where he can play big minutes. Okay, that's good but also brings up a few other issues. First, he's already sort of proven that he can do it at the AHL level, but maybe what he was working on at Laval isn't the same thing as what he needs to work at in the Blues system. Second is, who do you bring up. Lindstein is playing well enough to deserve a call up, but do you want to disrupt that development? If you keep him down there with Mailloux who gets the PP1 role? If you want Mailloux to play big minutes down there, do you pair those two together? What happens when Lindstein gets hit with the Mailloux effect that has happened to every single partner he's had in St. Louis? I think you've got to keep them separated, but now you're putting Mailloux in a smaller role in a league he's already proven he can handle.

In conclusion, it all sucks. It was always going to take a long time with him, but I didn't realize it'd be this bad. The only way through to the other side is for Mailloux to put in the work. I think he must have confidence issues at this point too, because he's not showing any of his strengths so far, but showing every single one of his weaknesses.

I go back to a response I had about him when the trade was made. Good hockey skills, bad hockey player.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Tue Jul 01, 2025 4:53 pm

NHLTIM wrote: Tue Jul 01, 2025 4:19 pm Mailloux was a need...Bolduc was not. You have to give to get...Mailloux has a lot of potential and he's produced everywhere he has been, including the NHL. There is a lot to like about his game and we just added an amazing weapon on the PP. Snuggerud and now Mailloux teeing up howitzers...a full year of that.
Get ready bitches.....Doug did good today!

He got sent right back to the AHL because he was a liability on defense.

He's a classic good skills, bad hockey player right now.

Hope he can be coached up by Monty but skills generally are coachable, hockey sense isn't. Players that lack anticipation and play reading generally don't suddenly figure it out. You either have it or don't.

All of that said on Mailloux, I do think they're not putting him in the best position to succeed with all the D-zone starts and no PP2 time. I know it's the NHL not mites, but it'd be good to see him have a chance to put his strengths to use.

RIP

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Tue Oct 28, 2025 12:32 pm RIP

Hot take: this injury is bad news.

Forget about replacing the production of the only guy playing well this year, I'm just curious how they fill his roster slot. Dvorsky time? Lucic time? Alexandrov time?

The one guy that was actually playing good hockey. What a start to the season this team is having in all the wrong ways.

That's a far cry from day to day.

On to the draft...

Ozzies09tc wrote: Tue Oct 28, 2025 5:54 pm On to the draft...

Need to figure out a catchy rhyme for Gavin McKenna.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Tue Oct 28, 2025 5:55 pm

Ozzies09tc wrote: Tue Oct 28, 2025 5:54 pm On to the draft...

Need to figure out a catchy rhyme for Gavin McKenna.

We dont wanna winna to draft gavin mckenna?

Ozzies09tc wrote: Tue Oct 28, 2025 5:59 pm

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Tue Oct 28, 2025 5:55 pm

Ozzies09tc wrote: Tue Oct 28, 2025 5:54 pm On to the draft...

Need to figure out a catchy rhyme for Gavin McKenna.

We dont wanna winna to draft gavin mckenna?

lol no winna for mckenna is the early leader.