The St. Louis Blues fell two wins short of reaching the Western Conference Finals. With their core players locked in for at least one more year, the Blues hope they can take another step forward in 2017-18. A midseason coaching change helped St. Louis turn things around en route to finishing third in the Central division. Mike Yeo will have a full offseason as the head coach of the Blues and his attention to detail won’t change. Yeo will continue to stress defense and a transition game that starts with being responsible in their own end. St. Louis won’t have much wiggle room in free agency. However, management could get creative in an effort to push the Blues roster closer to contending for a Stanley Cup. Here is a look at the offseason plan for St. Louis.
3 Things The Blues Have To Work On
1. Find Scoring Depth
One of the biggest issues for the Blues this season was a lack of secondary scoring. Vladimir Tarasenko led the way with 39 goals and 75 points. No other player on the roster finished with more than 55 points. Injuries were certainly a factor as Alex Steen, Robby Fabbri and Paul Stastny all missed substantial time. However, players like Nail Yakupov and David Perron weren’t nearly good enough at the offensive end of the ice over the course of the season. St. Louis won’t have much cap room to work with to address its scoring concerns. The Blues might need to get creative in order to address openings on the second and third lines. Tarasenko will once again lead the way up front for St. Louis in 2017-18. However, he can’t do it alone so the Blues definitely need to find some affordable secondary scoring.
2. Opportunities For Prospects
Magnus Paajarvi had 13 points in 32 games for St. Louis this season. However, the 10th-overall pick from the 2010 NHL Draft hasn’t scored more than nine goals in a season since his rookie year so the Blues might not have much patience for him. Nail Yakupov will turn 24-years-old but the first-overall pick from the 2012 NHL Draft still hasn’t put it all together at the highest level. The best bet for St. Louis might very well be to turn the page and give some of its young prospects an opportunity to make an impact in the NHL. Ivan Barbeshev and Ty Rattie are both waiting on an opportunity and could be ready to take that next step. The Blues don’t have much cap space to work with so their best bet might very well be giving some of their top prospects a chance to prove they can contribute next season.
3. Work With Allen
Jake Allen played some of his best hockey after Yeo took over behind the bench. Allen credited Yeo with providing much better communication with the goaltenders and helping their confidence. Martin Brodeur also deserves credit for working closely with Allen as the goaltending coach in St. Louis. That mentoring needs to continue this offseason with the Blues working closely with Allen. After the All-Star break, Allen went 16-7-2 with a 1.85 goals against average and a .938 save percentage. If he can produce similar numbers over the course of a full season then it will go a long way towards St. Louis making it back to the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2017-18.
Key Free Agents
Yakupov and Scottie Upshall will be free agents this summer but the Blues shouldn’t have to worry about locking up either one. The Blues took a flier on Yakupov – the former No. 1 overall pick – but he produced just nine points this season. He’s still just 23 years old, though, and if he wants to come back on the cheap, he might be worth developing.
The reality is that St. Louis is better off using that money to help shore up its secondary scoring and neither Yakupov nor Upshall fit the bill of what they should want on their second and third lines next season. The Blues should address their secondary scoring in free agency in order to provide their core players with some support and solidify their status as playoff contenders moving forward to next season.
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