Forwards
The St. Louis Blues were one of the teams that arguably got hit hardest in the expansion draft. Vegas snagged winger David Perron, the Blue’s fifth leading scorer during the 2016-2017 season. This loss led to the team trading top line center Jori Lehtera to Philadelphia for Brayden Schenn. Schenn finished third on the Flyers in scoring last season, and should be capable of replacing the offense provided by Perron. While Lehtera had been somewhat a disappointment in terms of providing offensive output, this means St. Louis will need to move Paul Stastny up to the first line to play along Tarasenko and Schwartz. While Stastny is certainly capable of filling this role, the depth at center will suffer down on the third and fourth lines.
Defense
St.Louis’ second pairing of Joel Edmundson and Colton Parayko looks to be primed for a solid season. Both born in 1993, the two young defensemen will be entering their third seasons in the NHL. Parayko’s resume is slightly stronger than Edmundson’s. The 6’6’’ defenseman had a great rookie campaign during the 2015-2016 season posting 33 pints in 79 games. Last year he had similar numbers (35 points in 81 games), while averaging 21:11 in TOI. Edmundson only had 15 points last year, but the second round pick from 2011 looks to be coming into his own in the NHL. He played strongly for the Blues, and his development seems to be trending in the right direction.
Goaltending
The Blue’s crease will look identical to last season. Jake Allen will start with Carter Hutton serving as his backup. Jake Allen had a good regular season last year. The New Brunswick native compiled a .915 save percentage and 2.42 GAA. While these numbers were fairly average among league netminders, Allen really shined in the playoffs. The Blues were eliminated in the second round, but Allen played outstanding with a .925 save percentage and a 1.96 GAA in his 11 games. He is still young and appears to be on improving year to year. Allen should be expected to play well in his fifth NHL season.
Behind Allen on the depth chart, Carter Hutton has shown his competency as a backup in the NHL. Hutton posted similar numbers to the team’s starter last year, managing a .913 save percentage and a 2.39 GAA in 30 games played. His workload will likely be similar to last season. Hutton should give his team a chance to win while in the cage, but won’t be expected to steal games for the Blues.
St. Louis Blues 2017-2018 Season Preview: Overall Outlook
The St. Louis Blues’ Defense and Goaltending will look similar in the 2017-2018 season compared to last year’s squad. The biggest offseason changes were made on the team’s top two lines. Brayden Schenn is expected to fill the void left by the departures of David Perron and Jori Lehtera. With these changes the team will look to find new ways to provide supplemental offense to that of Vladimir Tarasenko. It will be interesting to see how the chemistry of the top two lines will develop over the course of the 2017-2018 seasons. While the Blues look like a playoff team on paper, the strength of the Central Division may make it difficult for them to clinch a playoff spot this year.
Key Takeaways
- St. Louis’ group of defensemen and goaltenders looks similar to pervious season’s and should be capable of holding down the fort
- The team’s offense will be led by Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz. Shake ups in the offseason will result in the top two lines trying to form new chemistry
- St. Louis is in a very tough division and while the still look like a playoff caliber team, they will compete with at least four other teams for a ticket to the postseason.
