involved in trade talks<\/a>, he wanted to remain in St. Louis. Could that change this summer if the Blues re-engage teams about a trade? Certainly. But he believes the Blues are closer to competing than many others think. He sees the talent coming into the locker room month after month. He wants to be part of that and, in fact, be a leader for that group. I can\u2019t speak for the Blues, but you have to think he\u2019s opened their eyes with his play the past two months.<\/p>\nThe top line of Thomas, Snuggerud and Holloway were all dealing with some sort of injury in the first half of the season. Do you think the surge after the Olympics has more to do with a mental or physical reset? \u2014 Matt M.<\/p>\n
As I mentioned with Thomas, the injuries are part of it. Holloway was coming back from the torn oblique and then had a high-ankle sprain. Snuggerud suffered a wrist injury that required surgery. If they don\u2019t get healthy, plain and simple, the Blues aren\u2019t still in the hunt with six games to play.<\/p>\n
But there are a few more factors in the surge: 1) Joel Hofer has been incredible. 2) With the departure of veterans Brayden Schenn and Justin Faulk, there\u2019s a newfound element within the young core that\u2019s half about the bond they\u2019re developing with each other and half about the pressure they\u2019re putting on each other to perform well, and they\u2019ve been better than expected.<\/p>\n
What will it take for Snuggerud to be in Calder consideration? \u2014 Peter S.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve liked Snuggerud a lot, but he might not finish in the top five. New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer will be the hands-down winner, and the Montreal Canadiens\u2019 Ivan Demidov, Anaheim Ducks\u2019 Beckett Sennecke, Canadiens\u2019 Jakub Dobes, Minnesota Wild\u2019s Jesper Wallstedt and Carolina Hurricanes\u2019 Alexander Nikishin are the betting odds behind him.<\/p>\n
Snuggerud would\u2019ve needed nearly a full season of playing like he is now and that likely still wouldn\u2019t have been enough to displace Schaefer.<\/p>\n
What would have a more positive long-term impact on the organization: a top-5 pick in this year\u2019s draft or playoff experience for the young core? \u2014 Chris R.<\/p>\n
As much as I believe in the benefits of playoff experience, the bigger impact this season would be a higher pick. I realize that Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg may not be generational players, but the Blues don\u2019t want to be back this close to the bottom five again, so give me the top pick when I can get it.<\/p>\n
The Blues have a lot of good, young talent, but they need a forward who has star potential. Snuggerud might be that \u2014 you don\u2019t know. But again, if I can get one of the top two picks or even be in the top five, I\u2019d take that for one year over the playoff experience, believing you can be back in the postseason soon.<\/p>\n
If Colton Parayko had waived his no-trade clause for a move to the Buffalo Sabres, would general manager Doug Armstrong still have traded Justin Faulk to the Detroit Red Wings? \u2014 Aaron R.<\/p>\n
Yes, I believe they still would have dealt Faulk. The plan was to move the veterans. The Blues would\u2019ve somehow had to replace both in the lineup.<\/p>\n
How do you rate Jack Finley\u2019s game since he\u2019s been here? Where do you see him fit in down the road? \u2014 Rhonda S.<\/p>\n
Finley has been phenomenal on faceoffs, to the point where Blues coach Jim Montgomery is using him to open overtime so the Blues can start with the puck. Other than that, he\u2019s been OK. In 18 games, he\u2019s been on the ice for three five-on-five goals against and none for. He\u2019s 23 and has two years left on his contract, so it looks like the Blues are going to give him a chance. But the fourth line, where Finley has played, isn\u2019t doing much for the team right now, especially offensively, and they\u2019re going to need more from them.<\/p>\n
Otto Stenberg has really impressed with his defensive instincts and stick play. What\u2019s he missing from being a legit third-line shutdown center instead of a winger? \u2014 Casey S.<\/p>\n
I agree with you on Stenberg\u2019s stick and like your question. Everyone I talk to connected with the team says winger, but he\u2019s really responsible and always well-positioned, so I don\u2019t think center is completely out of the question. Maybe he doesn\u2019t drive offense, but he can make plays. He\u2019s only 20, so perhaps we\u2019ll see him in the middle at some point, but the evaluators and decision-makers believe he\u2019s a winger.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Breggren has looked like a capable forward. Any chance he\u2019s created an opportunity for himself on next season\u2019s roster? \u2014 Larry S.<\/p>\n
I like him. I know he\u2019s a skilled guy, and you\u2019re going to question his willingness to win one-on-one battles at times, but he makes so many high-end plays that I don\u2019t know how you can look the other way. If he can be responsible enough, I don\u2019t see why there can\u2019t be a spot on your third line for him.<\/p>\n
Which of these players do you see on the Blues\u2019 2026-27 roster: Berggren, Finley, Jonathan Drouin, Justin Holl, Matthew Kessel, Oskar Sundqvist, Alexey Toropchenko, Tyler Tucker and Nathan Walker? \u2014 Scott F.<\/p>\n
On the roster: Berggren, Finley, Toropchenko, Tucker and perhaps Walker. The Blues could move Toropchenko, but I think they still like his forechecking. They like Tucker\u2019s physicality. Walker won\u2019t be a regular, but he can be a depth player.<\/p>\n
Not on the roster: Drouin, Holl, Kessel, Sundqvist. Drouin is a mystery to me because he\u2019s got another season left on his deal ($4 million AAV), but the Blues have no problem making him a healthy scratch. They could keep Kessel, who will be a restricted free agent, as depth. Sundqvist\u2019s time will likely come to an end.<\/p>\n
It feels like a lot of pucks are bouncing off Logan Mailloux\u2019s skates, body or stick and going in our net. Could that be corrected with tweaks, or is it just being unlucky? \u2014 Matt M.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve seen the ones you\u2019re referring to, and I\u2019d chalk it up to bad luck. He\u2019s playing a lot more minutes, so the chances are greater that it\u2019s going to happen, and when it rains, it seems to pour.<\/p>\n
Are the Blues going to regret the Mailloux-Zack Bolduc trade? I say no. \u2014 Patrick O.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think they do or should. Mailloux\u2019s development has been right on track. I know Bolduc has struggled, going long stretches without producing, but he\u2019s only 23, and I still think he\u2019s going to be a good player.<\/p>\n
After talking about needing more grit when they brought in Milan Lucic, the Blues traded one of their most physical forwards in Schenn. Do you think they try to add some toughness up front in the offseason? \u2014 Matt M.<\/p>\n
Yes, I think more toughness will be a priority for incoming GM Alexander Steen.<\/p>\n
What do you think the Blues\u2019 plan would be to help Steen adjust to his new role as GM should Armstrong end up going to Toronto? Do you know of any \u201cout\u201d in Armstrong\u2019s contract? \u2014 Dave K.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think the Blues would grant the Maple Leafs permission to talk to Armstrong unless there was an honest conversation where it was clear that he didn\u2019t want to be in St. Louis. He does not have an out in his contract.<\/p>\n
Can the Blues receive compensation (i.e. draft picks) if they grant Toronto permission to speak to Armstrong and then ultimately hire him? \u2014 Michael C.<\/p>\n
No, as colleague Pierre LeBrun wrote recently<\/a>, there would be no compensation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. LOUIS \u2014 First, it was Jimmy Snuggerud being named the NHL\u2019s third star of the week and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5120],"tags":[71,5,4,534,84,5285,5284],"class_list":{"0":"post-545701","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-louis-blues","8":"tag-blues","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-st-louis","12":"tag-st-louis-blues","13":"tag-stlouis","14":"tag-stlouisblues"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116364053282337924","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=545701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}