CarterHud

 

       The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired RHP Sam Coonrod from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for RHP Carson Ragsdale. 

       The Phillies might have had the worst bullpen in MLB history last year, so it is new president Dave Dombrowski and new GM Sam Fuld to fix that. Coonrod debuted in 2019, and he was effective, with a 3.58 ERA. He had a great slider, but that pitch crashed in 2020, with an average exit velocity of 99.7 mph. Coonrod throws a fastball and a sinker that averages in the high-90s. Coonrod was terrible in 2020, but he did have his first three career saves. The Giants get Ragsdale back, a 2020 4th round pick out of the University of Southern Florida. Ragsdale was ranked 30th in the Phillies system by MLB Pipeline. Because of how Coonrod\’s 2020 went, this seems like an overpay from the Phillies.

        Coonrod, 28, had a 9.82 ERA with a 4.76 FIP, a 1.636 WHIP and 15 strikeouts in 14.2 innings for the Giants last year. In his MLB career, Coonrod has a 5.74 ERA with a 5.07 FIP, a 1.370 WHIP with 35 strikeouts in 42.1 innings.

        Ragsdale, 22, had a 2.84 ERA with a 1.000 WHIP and 37 strikeouts in 19 innings at college in 2020. In his collegiate career, Ragsdale had a 3.75 ERA with a 1.391 WHIP plus 77 strikeouts in 50.1 innings. 

 

From Getty Images

       The 2019-20 was the season of the kids for the Canucks. Elias Pettersson repeated his Calder winning season, and Quinn Hughes finished 2nd this year. In net, Thatcher Demko went off in the playoffs. However, things did get worse for Vancouver in the offseason, as GM Jim Benning made a series of questionable moves. Even though the North Division doesn\’t have any super teams, they have a bunch of just good teams, and the Canucks are one of them.

Additions: D Nate Schmidt, G Braden Holtby.

Subtractions: G Jacob Markstrom, F Tyler Toffoli, D Chris Tanev, F Josh Leivo, D Troy Stecher, D Oscar Fantenberg.

Best Move: Acquiring Nate Schmidt from Vegas for a third round pick.

Worst Move: Replacing Jacob Markstrom with Braden Holtby.

One Move I\’d Make: Trade away Brandon Sutter (if possible)

Best Contract: Bo Horvat, three years remaining with a $5.5 million cap hit.

Worst Contract: Loui Eriksson, two years remaining with a $6 million cap hit. 

New Division Rivals: Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg.

Pending UFAs: Tanner Pearson, Alex Edler, Brandon Sutter, Jordie Benn, Sven Baertschi.

Pending RFAs: Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, Adam Gaudette, Thatcher Demko, Olli Juolevi. 

Forwards

Elias Pettersson\’s 2018-19 and 2019-20 weren\’t really different. In 2019-20, he scored 27 goals with 39 assists, with one less goal and one more assist in three less games than in his rookie season. Pettersson had a 55.2 CF%, over 9% higher than the team average. Pettersson wasn\’t actually the team leader in points. When the Canucks traded a 1st and 3rd round pick for JT Miller, people thought the price was way too high. But, Miller scored 27 goals with a team leading 72 points, both career highs, in 69 games. Brock Boeser scored 16 goals, a career low, with 45 points in 57 games. Miller, Pettersson and Boeser made up an effective first line nicknamed the \”lotto line\”. In his first season as captain of the Canucks, Bo Horvat scored 22 goals with 53 points. Horvat has scored at least 20 goals in each of the past four seasons, and has crosses the 50 point mark in three of the four seasons. Plus, he is still only 25 years old. The Canucks got Tanner Pearson in 2018-19 when his value was at an all-time low. Last year, he scored 21 goals, hitting the 20 mark for the second time in his career. His 45 points were a career high. Former 6th overall pick Jake Virtanen broke out last, with career highs in goals (18), assists (18) and points (36). He also eclipsed 100 hits for the third consecutive season. Adam Gaudette had an encouraging second season, and he has a great chance at being the third line center. He scored 12 goals with 33 points in 59 games. 2019 second round pick Nils Hoglander has a good shot at the roster. He had 14 points in 23 games in Sweden last year. In last year\’s World Juniors, Hoglander had five goals with six assists in seven games. Antoine Roussel scored seven goals in 41 games, with 43 penalty minutes. It broke a streak of six consecutive 100+ penalty minute seasons. Jay Beagle was a consistent bottom-six center in Washington, but has fallen off with the Canucks. Last year, Beagle had eight points in 55 games, with a -5.4 GAR. Still, he appears to be the favorite for the fourth line center role. That could go to Brandon Sutter, who was more value than Beagle but can play the wing. Sutter had eight goals with nine assists and a 4 GAR in 44 games last year. Both Beagle and Sutter kill penalties. The last spot on the fourth line is between Tyler Motte and Loui Eriksson. Both can play on the penalty kill. Motte had four goals in 34 games, but matched that in 17 playoff games. The Canucks may try to bury Eriksson\’s contract. He had 13 points in 49 games last year. The Canucks signed Michael Ferland to a four year deal before 2019-20, but he missed most of the season with concussion issues. He had five points in 14 games. Ferland is expected to start the season on LTIR. Sven Baertschi has had success in the NHL in the past, but spent most of last year in the AHL. He had two assists in six NHL games, but he excelled with the Utica Comets, with 46 points in 43 games. Undrafted forward Zack MacEwen had 11 points in 20 AHL games, and scored five goals in 17 NHL games. 

Defensemen

Quinn Hughes became the star of the Vancouver defense last year, as he finished 2nd in Calder voting and 15th in Norris voting. Hughes had 53 points, 45 of them assists, in 68 game. I don\’t think anyone saw Hughes more than doubling the point total of his brother Jack, a forward. Dealing with cap issues, the Golden Knights traded energetic defenseman Nate Schmidt to the Canucks. Schmidt was a key part of the first three seasons of Golden Knights hockey. He had 31 points in 59 games last year, with 91 blocked shots. Alex Edler returns for his 15th, and potentially final season as a Canuck. Edler had 33 points in 59 games last year, and he hits the 100 mark in blocked shots for the seventh consecutive season and in hits for the fourth year. However, Edler did see his average ice time hit its lowest point since 2008-09. The Canucks gave Tyler Myers a five year deal last year, and everyone immediately hated it. It makes sense, as Myers had a -1.6 GAR in his first season in Vancouver. The big defenseman had 21 points with 108 blocked shots and 99 hits last year. The Canucks recently signed former rival Travis Hamonic to a PTO. Hamonic opted-out of the playoffs after a 50 game campaign for the Flames. He was productive in 2018-19, with 19 points, a +21 rating and an 8.5 GAR in 69 games. Olli Juolevi, who the Canucks picked over Matthew Tkachuk in 2016, should become a regular after debuting in the postseason. In 45 AHL games, Juolevi had 25 points. After a great 2018-19, Jordie Benn came to Vancouver and regressed. He had seven points in 44 games, with a -3.4 GAR. 

Goalies

Former Vezina winner Braden Holtby has regressed over the past few years. 2019-20 was easily his worst season. As Ilya Samsonov came for his job, Holtby had an .897 SV% with a 3.11 GAA and a -16.76 GSAA. Surprisingly, Holtby is only 31 years old. Thatcher Demko was ineffective in his first year as a backup, with a .905 SV%. But, when Markstrom went down in the postseason, the Golden Knights could not score on Demko. He allowed two goals on 130 shots, for a .985 SV% and a .64 GAA. 

Projected Lines

JT Miller – Elias Pettersson – Brock Boeser

Tanner Pearson – Bo Horvat – Jake Virtanen

Nils Hoglander – Adam Gaudette – Antoine Roussel

Tyler Motte – Jay Beagle – Brandon Sutter

Extras: Loui Eriksson, Sven Baertschi, Michael Ferland, Zack MacEwen.

Quinn Hughes – Nate Schmidt

Alex Edler – Tyler Myers

Olli Juolevi – Travis Hamonic

Extras: Jordie Benn

Braden Holtby

Thatcher Demko

Projection

The Canucks have a very talented core. After that, it is a bunch of aging veterans who have fallen off. Goaltending is an issue, unless Demko found something in the playoffs. The Canucks have a lot of competition in the North Division, but besides maybe Toronto, their isn\’t a team that is obviously better than them. The Canucks will finish in third place, with a playoff spot in hand. 

 

       While the overall record was not great for the Maple Leafs last year, you could argue that it was a matter of who was behind the bench that was stopping Toronto. They were 9-10-4 when Mike Babcock got fired, and when AHL Head Coach Sheldon Keefe was promoted, the team went 27-15-5. However, the only things that people remember about Keefe\’s tenure so far is the embarrassing game 5 loss to Columbus to knock them out of the playoffs, and losing to THEIR OWN ZAMBONI DRIVER. It\’s still funny to think about. Now, the Leafs have no coaching issues, no more cap issues (for now), and no more Lightning or Bruins to worry about. The 2020-21 season will define who the Toronto Maple Leafs are. 

Additions: D TJ Brodie, F Joe Thornton, F Wayne Simmonds, D Zach Bogosian, F Jimmy Vesey, G Aaron Dell, F Travis Boyd, G Michael Hutchinson, F Joey Anderson.

Subtractions: D Tyson Barrie, F Kasperi Kapanen, F Andreas Johnsson, F Frederik Gauthier, D Cody Ceci, F Kyle Clifford.

Best Move: Acquiring a first round pick in a package for Kasperi Kapanen.

Worst Move: Trading Andreas Johnsson to New Jersey for Joey Anderson.

One Move I\’d Make: Trade Michael Hutchinson to either the Sharks or Capitals.

Best Contract: Morgan Rielly, two years remaining with a $5 million cap hit.

Worst Contract: John Tavares, five years remaining with an $11 million cap hit. 

New Division Rivals: Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Winnipeg.

Pending UFAs: Frederik Andersen, Zach Hyman, Wayne Simmonds, Joe Thornton, Jason Spezza, Jimmy Vesey, Zach Bogosian, Travis Boyd, Mikko Lehtonen, Aaron Dell, Martin Marincin.

Pending RFAs: Travis Dermott, Nic Petan, Denis Malgin.

Forwards

Auston Matthews just doesn\’t get enough credit as a goal scorer as he should. Matthews scored 47 goals with 33 assists for 80 points in 70 games last year, and his 35 even strength goals led the league. He finished 10th in Hart voting and 2nd in Lady Byng voting, as he took just four minor penalties all season. In his four year career, Matthews is averaging 46 goals per 82 games, and his lowest goals per game season was his rookie year, when he scored 40 goals. On the flip side, Mitch Marner mostly racks up assists. He scored 16 goals in 57 games last year, which isn\’t bad, but it looks minuscule next to his 51 assists. Marner has 291 points, with 208 of them being assists in 300 career games. Interestingly, the lineman for Matthews and Marner looks to be Joe Thornton to start the year. Thornton is also a playmaker, so Matthews will just rack up goals with those wingers. The future Hall-of-Famer is 41 years old, and is coming off of his worst year since he was 18. Thornton had seven goals with 31 points in 70 games in his 15th and probably final season in San Jose. Putting him on the top line means that Keefe believes that Thornton can skate with Marner and Matthews. I can confirm that John Tavares was not toiling away on Long Island. Tavares didn\’t have the year he had in 2018-19 last year, but he still played well, with 26 goals and 60 points in 63 games. For the seventh season in a row, Tavares had negative defensive value. People were right to be concerned with William Nylander after he was terrible when coming back from holding out in 2018-19. But, he proved the haters wrong last year, with a career high 31 goals with 59 points in 68 games, for a career best .87 points per game. The Leafs like Zach Hyman a lot, but they might not have the cap space to bring him back after this season. Despite playing in a career low 51 games, Hyman matched his career high of 21 goals, and he had 37 points with a 52.8 CF%. Alex Kerfoot is the favorite for the third line center role, although he has some competition. After posted 40+ points in his first two season, Kerfoot had just 28 last year, with nine goals, six less than he scored with Colorado in 2018-19. Ilya Mikheyev only played in 39 games in his rookie year due to an injury, but he was productive. Mikheyev had 23 points with a 54.1 CF%, and only Marner spent more time on the penalty kill among Leafs forward than him. Nick Robertson seems like a steal from the second round in 2019 right now. He scored 55 goals with 86 points in 46 OHL games, and made his NHL debut in the playoffs against Columbus. He scored a goal in four games. Robertson has a good chance to make the third line this year. Wayne Simmonds was once a big-time goal scorer, but last year he had just eight goals in 68 games. What he mostly brings is physicality, as he had 66 penalty minutes with 145 hits last year. With the way that things ended last year, you could tell that Jason Spezza was devastated. He came back for another year, and he just wants to win his first Stanley Cup. He was a really good fourth line center last year, with 25 points and a 7.2 GAR. The last wing spot is up for grabs. Former Hobey Baker winner Jimmy Vesey had 20 points in 64 games last year, and has averaged 15 goals with 28 points a season over his four year career. He was skating on the second line in practice, so that\’s a good sign for his hopes. 2014 7th rounder Pierre Engvall scored eight goals with seven assists in a 48 game rookie season. He had good AHL numbers, with 16 points in 15 games. Travis Boyd had 10 points in 24 games as a bottom-six player for the Capitals last year. He can play center and the wing, and he scored a goal in four playoff games. 26 year old Alexander Barabanov comes from St. Petersburg of the KHL. He scored 11 goals with 20 points in 43 games for them last year. Both Denis Malgin and Nic Petan were recently waived by Toronto. They both have some NHL experience, and are only 23 and 25 years old, respectively. 

Defensemen

Morgan Rielly remains the star of the defense, and he has some help this year. After a 20 goal, 72 point 2018-19 season, Rielly was doomed to regress in 2019-20. He did, with three goals and 24 assists in 47 games. Rielly\’s average ice time of 24 minutes and 12 seconds was a career high. TJ Brodie seems like the perfect fit for the Leafs. He shoots left handed, but plays on the right side, which is an area of need for Toronto. He grew up a fan of the team, and posted nice numbers over a decade in Calgary. His scoring took a dip last year, as he had 19 points in 64 games, dropping below 30 points for the first time since 2012-13. Brodie did have a GAR of nine, so it wasn\’t all bad. Jake Muzzin was a great fit after the Leafs got him in 2018-19. He had 23 points in 53 games last year, with a 52.9 CF%. Justin Holl finally became a regular at age 28 last year, and he played well, with 18 points in 68 games, and a 2.8 GAR. The third pairing is where things can get messy. Travis Dermott has been a regular for the past few years. He had 11 points in 56 games in 2019-20, but he had a career high 10.3 GAR. Mikko Lehtonen has showed a lot of offensive potential in the KHL, as he scored 17 goals with 49 points in 60 games last year. In their 2020-21 season, Lehtonen had 17 points in 17 games. Zach Bogosian played in 20 of the Lightning\’s 25 playoff games en route to a Stanley Cup victory. He\’s just a big meany on the blue line and not much else. 2018 1st rounder Rasmus Sandin has a shot at the roster after he posted eight points in 28 games last year. In the AHL, Sandin had 15 points in 21 games. Martin Marincin played in 26 games last year. He has played in 142 games for Toronto over the past five years. 2017 1st rounder Timothy Liljegren is also an option. He played in 11 NHL games last year, and he had 30 points in 40 AHL games. 

Goalies

It will be interesting to see how the Leafs deal with Frederik Andersen, who will be a free agent after the season. He was a solid goalie in his first three years with the Maple Leafs, but last year was the worst year of his career. Andersen had a .909 SV% with a negative GSAA and a 2.85 GAA. Andersen didn\’t really have a backup to start out the season, so the Leafs went out and traded for Jack Campbell. Campbell was successful in his six games after the trade, with a .915 SV%. To make sure that the Leafs don\’t have backup trouble, they signed Aaron Dell. Dell had a .907 SV% in 33 games as the Sharks\’ backup last year. Michael Hutchinson was the struggling backup last year, and he returns after going to Colorado and succeeding in the playoffs as an emergency third goalie. 

Projected Lines

Joe Thornton – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner

Zach Hyman – John Tavares – William Nylander

Nicholas Robertson – Alex Kerfoot – Ilya Mikheyev

Jimmy Vesey – Jason Spezza – Wayne Simmonds

Extras: Pierre Engvall, Travis Boyd, Alexander Barabanov, Denis Malgin, Nic Petan

Morgan Rielly – TJ Brodie

Jake Muzzin – Justin Holl

Mikko Lehtonen – Travis Dermott

Extras: Zach Bogosian, Rasmus Sandin, Martin Marincin, Timothy Liljegren

Frederik Andersen

Jack Campbell

Extras: Aaron Dell, Michael Hutchinson

Projection

The Maple Leafs have a team that should compete in the playoffs. But, they haven\’t been able to come through in the playoffs, or win a playoff series at the very least. They have been helped out by the division realignment, and now they are the best team in their division by far. If they don\’t win a playoff series, 2020-21 will be a massive disappointment. 

 

        When fully healthy, the Lightning have arguably three top-10 players in the league, a Stanley Cup, and a lot of cap issues. Directly after winning the cup, the Lightning were able to participate in the tradition of the Stanley Cup winner barely doing anything in the offseason. Tampa Bay re-signing a lot of their players, and cut some loose. Besides that, it wasn\’t an eventful few months, besides the celebrations, of course.

Additions: G Chris Gibson.

Subtractions: D Kevin Shattenkirk, F Cedric Paquette, F Carter Verhaeghe, D Braydon Coburn, D Zach Bogosian.

Best Move: Signing F Anthony Cirelli to a three year deal. 

Worst Move: Trading Cedric Paquette, Braydon Coburn and a 2nd round pick to Ottawa for Marian Gaborik and Anders Nilsson.

One Move I\’d Make: Raise the salary cap by $10 million.

Best Contract: Victor Hedman, five years remaining with a $7.875 million cap hit.

Worst Contract: Ryan McDonagh, seven years remaining with a $6.75 million cap hit.

New Division Rivals: Carolina, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Florida, Nashville.

Pending UFAs: Blake Coleman, Barclay Goodrow, Luke Schenn, Curtis McElhinney.

Pending RFAs: Alex Volkov.

Forwards

The main move to make Tampa Bay cap compliant was easily the hardest one. Nikita Kucherov will miss the entire regular season. Kucherov had 85 points in 68 games last year but wasn\’t even in the top-10 in Hart voting. Boohoo for them, they still have an amazing team. Brayden Point scored 25 goals with 64 points in 66 games, but things only got better in the postseason, as he scored 14 goals with 19 assists for 33 points in 23 games. Plus, he\’s only 24. Steven Stamkos was mostly healthy in the regular season, and he scored 29 goals with 66 points in the 57 games he played in. He only got into one playoff game. He\’s a goal scorer at heart, and he\’s moving to the wing, which suits goal scorers more. Ondrej Palat has always had amazing line mates, but has only scored 20 goals once, in 2013-14. He scored 17 goals with 41 points in 69 games last year. He isn\’t a full-time penalty killer, but he does often play on the power play. Anthony Cirelli had an amazing season, and probably could and should have finished higher than in third place in Selke voting. Cirelli scored 16 goals with 44 points in 66 games, with a 15.7 GAR, with a good portion of that coming from his defensive value. He also scored the goal that got the Lightning to the Cup Finals. Alex Killorn, who had hit 15 goals in five of the past six years entering 2019-20, finally broke the 20 goal barrier, with 26. His 49 points were also a career high. Killorn\’s 59 hits were the lowest of his career since the shortened 2012-13 season. Tyler Johnson was waived in the offseason, and while he is still a productive player, he\’s on a contract that the Lightning will want to get rid of. Johnson scored 14 goals with a career low 31 points in 65 games last year. While he paid a fortune for them, GM Julien BriseBois made some great moves when he got Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow at the trade deadline. Coleman scored 21 goals last year, although none of them came in his nine regular games with Tampa Bay. He was huge in the playoffs, with 13 points in 25 games. Goodrow only had six points in the playoff run, but he had 103 hits. He\’s not exactly a goal scorer, as his eight goals in San Jose before the trade was a career high. Yanni Gourde scored 47 goals over his first two seasons, but he had just 10 in 70 games last year. In the postseason, he netted seven in 25 games, getting back to his 20+ goal pace. Patrick Maroon was brought in for his physicality, and he showed that in the playoff run, with 56 hits and 32 penalty minutes. He scored nine goals with 23 points in the regular season. Mitchell Stephens finally got his shot at the NHL after a few years in the AHL. Stephens scored three goals with three assists in 38 games, and he had 10 points in 24 AHL games. He\’s primed for a 4th line center role with Cedric Paquette and Carter Verhaeghe gone. The final spot will be a big competition between Mathieu Joseph and Alex Volkov. Joseph scored 13 goals in 2018-19, but had just four in 37 games in 2019-20. Joseph spent 29 games in the AHL, and had 21 points. Volkov had one assist in nine games, and got into one playoff game. In the AHL, he had 30 points in 46 games.

Defensemen

Victor Hedman ascended to a new level last year. His regular season went pretty normal for him, as he scored 11 goals with 55 points in 66 games, and finished 3rd in Norris voting. But in the playoffs, Hedman scored 10 goals with 12 assists in 25 games. He was third all-time for goals by a defenseman in a single postseason. He was doing that playing with Kevin Shattenkirk and Zach Bogosian. The best possible partner for Hedman would be Erik Cernak. Cernak had 12 points in 67 games, with 172 hits and 97 blocked shots. A Hedman – Cernak pairing would be polarizing, with them standing six-foot-six and six-foot-three respectively. The Lightning will keep their second pairing of Mikhail Sergachev and Ryan McDonagh together. Sergachev set a career high with 10 goals last year, and he had 34 points in 70 games. He blocked 99 shots with 106 hits. McDonagh was limited to 50 regular season games, and missed three in the postseason. He had 12 points, with the lowest points per game since his rookie season of 2010-11. The Lightning recently brought back Jan Rutta, who is an option to play with Hedman. Rutta had seven points in 33 games last year, and got into five playoff games. Rutta has an average GAR of 3.9 in his three NHL seasons. Former 5th overall pick Luke Schenn played in 25 regular season games, and 11 more in the playoffs. He had 83 hits in the regular season. The Lightning were Schenn\’s 7th team. The competition is definitely lacking, with Luke Witkowski, who had three points in 12 games last year, being the 7th defenseman.

Goalies

Andrei Vasilevskiy led the league in goaltender wins for the third consecutive season. He had a .917 SV% with a 2.56 GAA and a 12.13 GSAA in 52 games. Vasilevskiy finished third in Vezina voting, and he has been a finalist for the award in each of the past three seasons. He had a .927 SV% in the postseason. After a below average 18 games as a backup, Curtis McElhinney didn\’t get any appearances in the playoffs. He had a .906 SV% with a 2.89 GAA. Chris Gibson has 14 games of NHL experience as the third goalie for the Islanders. He has a .904 SV% in those games.

Projected Lines

Ondrej Palat – Brayden Point – Steven Stamkos

Alex Killorn – Anthony Cirelli – Tyler Johnson 

Blake Coleman – Yanni Gourde – Barclay Goodrow

Patrick Maroon – Mitchell Stephens – Mathieu Joseph

Extras: Alex Volkov.

Victor Hedman – Erik Cernak

Mikhail Sergachev – Ryan McDonagh

Luke Schenn – Jan Rutta

Extras: Luke Witkowski

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Curtis McElhinney

Extras: Chris Gibson

Projection

The Lightning showed in the playoffs that they are the league\’s best team. Isn\’t that what winning a Stanley Cup means? While they won\’t have Kucherov until the playoffs, they still have a lot of depth, and some stars like Point, Stamkos and Hedman. Anything besides a first place finish would be a disappointment. 

 

       The Blues entered the offseason in a position where they needed to do something big. Captain Alex Pietrangelo was due to be a free agent, and thanks to their salary cap situation, they likely didn\’t have the money to sign him. They pivoted, and instead went after the next best defenseman on the market. A recent signing made the Blues an even more intriguing team entering this season. 

Additions: D Torey Krug, F Mike Hoffman, F Kyle Clifford.

Subtractions: D Alex Pietrangelo, G Jake Allen, D Jay Bouwmeester, F Alex Steen.

Best Move: Signing Mike Hoffman to a PTO, and reportedly a one year deal between $3-4 million.

Worst Move: Trading away Jake Allen and not bringing in a backup goalie.

One Move I\’d Make: Sign Jimmy Howard to a PTO.

Best Contract: Colton Parayko, two years remaining with a $5.5 million cap hit. 

Worst Contract: Justin Faulk, seven years remaining with a $6.5 million cap hit.

New Division Rivals: Anaheim, Arizona, Colorado, Los Angeles, Minnesota, San Jose, Vegas.

Pending UFAs: Jaden Schwartz, Tyler Bozak, Jordan Binnington, Carl Gunnarsson.

Pending RFAs: Vince Dunn, Zach Sanford, Robert Thomas, Ivan Barbashev, Jacob De La Rose, Jordan Kyrou.

Forwards

The two most recognizable Blues over the past eight years will not be in the team\’s starting lineup on Opening Night. While Pietrangelo will be playing for the division rival Golden Knights, Vladimir Tarasenko will miss at least a month of the season after having offseason surgery. Tarasenko had 10 points in 10 regular season games, but went scoreless in four postseason appearances. Ryan O\’Reilly was recently named captain of the Blues. While he only scored 12 goals last year, O\’Reilly\’s 49 assists carried him to the team lead of 61 points. He won 56.6% of his face-offs, and finished third in both Byng and Selke voting. In year two of his third stint with the Blues, David Perron scored 25 goals, his most since 2013-14, with 60 points, the second highest total in his career. It was the fifth time in his 13 year career that he hit the 20 goal mark. Brayden Schenn also scored 25 goals, but had two less assists than Perron. Over three seasons in St. Louis, Schenn is averaging 66 points per 82 games. Jaden Schwartz scored 22 goals, hitting that mark for the fourth time. His 57 points were fourth on the Blues. Schwartz has had injury problems in the past, so entering free agency, it would be nice for him to play in two season in a row without missing time. Mike Hoffman is a pretty one dimensional player, but that one dimension is the best kind. He scored 29 goals in 69 games last year, and in his six full NHL seasons, Hoffman\’s lowest goal total is 22, and he has scored at least 26 goals in the other five seasons. Veteran center Tyler Bozak scored 13 goals, but his 29 points in 67 games made up the worst point per game ratio of his career since 2010-11. Robert Thomas had a nice second season, with 10 goals and 32 assists for 42 points in 66 games. Those numbers will give him the edge over Bozak for the second line center spot, but Bozak could end up passing Thomas. Zach Sanford scored 16 goals in 58 games, doubling his career high goal total. Sanford had 109 hits, which was fourth on the team. Former second rounder Jordan Kyrou spent the majority of his time in the NHL last year, with nine points in 28 games. In 16 AHL games, the 22 year old scored nine goals with six assists. He seems like the best breakout candidate on the roster. Fourth liners Ivan Barbashev and Oskar Sundqvist have their similarities. They are only a year a part in age, and both kill penalties. Barbashev is more physical, but their production was similar, with Sundqvist playing in 12 less games, but scoring one more goal with three less points than his counterpart. The Blues brought in physical forward Kyle Clifford on a two-year deal. Clifford had 17 points in 69 games for the Maple Leafs and Kings, with 68 penalty minutes and 133 hits. In his 10 year career, Clifford has had at least 100 hits in every season. Although he only played in 40 games, Sammy Blais led the team with 155 hits. Blais also scored six goals with seven assists. In 80 career NHL games, Mackenzie MacEachern has 10 career goals. Seven of them game in 51 games last year. Jacob De La Rose was acquired midseason in a trade for Robby Fabbri that hasn\’t worked out. De La Rose had five points in 34 games. He can kill penalties, but doesn\’t do anything else well.

Defensemen

The Blues countered with Pietrangelo leaving by bringing in Torey Krug, who isn\’t special defensively, but he\’s a great offensive defenseman who will be on the first power play unit. Krug scored nine goals with 49 points in 61 games for the Bruins last year, and received Norris votes. Krug has averaged 61.6 points per 82 games over the past four years. Colton Parayko scored exactly 10 goals with 18 assists for the second consecutive season, but in 2019-20 he did it in 16 less games than in 2018-19. In his five NHL seasons, Parayko has an average GAR of 13.5, although his 6.7 number in 2019-20 was a career low. The Blues traded for Justin Faulk right before the season then extended him for a questionable seven years, when the money should have gone to Pietrangelo instead. Faulk proceeded to have a career worst season in his age 27 year. Faulk had 16 points in 69 games, for .23 points per game, his lowest ever by .10. He wasn\’t better analytically, with a career low GAR of -3.7. The Blues signed Vince Dunn to a cheap bridge deal, but he\’ll be an RFA again next year. Dunn had 23 points, which was the lowest of his three NHL seasons. But, he had his greatest analytical season, with a GAR of 12.1. Marco Scandella was traded twice last year, and the Blues liked him enough in his 11 regular season games and nine playoff games to give him a four year extension. Scandella averaged over 20 minutes a night with St. Louis. Robert Bortuzzo is back for his seventh season with the Blues. He had six points with a +12 rating in 42 games last year, with 66 hits and 43 blocked shots. Carl Gunnarsson is also entering season number seven in St. Louis. He had seven points in 36 games last year, but he had a low 47 CF%. 

Goalies

Goaltending is a big question for the Blues entering 2020-21 after Jake Allen was traded and wasn\’t replaced. Jordan Binnington will always have his legendary 2018-19 to remember, but he regressed last year. Binnington had a .912 SV% with a 2.56 GAA and a 3.30 GSAA. He finished 7th in Vezina voting, but wasn\’t the seventh best goalie in the league. He was terrible in the playoffs, with a 4.72 GAA in five games. His backup will be Ville Husso, a 25 year old who was a 4th rounder in 2014. Husso has no NHL experience, and wasn\’t great in the AHL last year, with a 2.56 GAA and a .909 SV% in 42 games. The Blues should be impatient with Husso. If he struggles, one possible acquisition is either Aaron Dell or Michael Hutchinson on Toronto, who are both experienced and are 3rd and 4th goalies with the Maple Leafs.

Projected Lines

Brayden Schenn – Ryan O\’Reilly – David Perron

Jaden Schwartz – Robert Thomas – Mike Hoffman

Zach Sanford – Tyler Bozak – Jordan Kyrou

Kyle Clifford – Ivan Barbashev – Oskar Sundqvist

Extras: Sammy Blais, Mackenzie MacEachern, Jacob De La Rose

Torey Krug – Colton Parayko

Vince Dunn – Justin Faulk

Marco Scandella – Robert Bortuzzo

Extras: Carl Gunnarsson

Jordan Binnington

Ville Husso

Projection

The Blues do have their issues. Goaltending and the back half of their defense isn\’t great. But, the West Division is really weak. The Blues will have fun rivaling the Avalanche and Golden Knights, but the rest of their matchups will be too easy for them. They\’ll coast to a third place finish, and a playoff spot.