Don't sleep on the Blues and Preds out of the Central this year

[Automattic]

The Phenom Killer:

Monster energy drinks burn when coming out ones nose.

 

[Northeast_Blue15]

I can see St.Louis spending some cash, though.

I'm not sure where the Blues stand. If the Blues are to upgrade their top 6, I see them having to part ways with either Perron or Berglund in order to get something back. It's not the form and function of wanting to give away talent, but rather we'll have to shed some money in order to pick up some money. The reason here is that the leading investor wants out and during this time I can see them willing to keep the status-quo. It's not going to be anything like the time the Lauries left and basically stripped the team down in order to make it more lucrative for potential buyers, but then again you're not going to see someone who wants out to sink even more money into the team.

The Blues all ready have their work cut out for them as they need to resign EJ, Halak, Perron, Steen, and then decide on whether or not to bring back Colaiacovo, Weaver, Winchester, and either Janssen or King.

I think the Blues will shell out north of $5M for Halak for a 3/4 year deal. EJ and Perron might just accept arbitration and then cash in after their arb year concludes {per Andy Strickland}. Steen is looking at a 3 year offer at around $3M/per {again, per Andy Strickland}.

There was talk that the Blues were leading candidates for Paul Martin, but now it looks as if Buffalo is his desired destination. The Blues are apparently also in the mix for Anton Volchenkov now which completely baffles me as we don't need anymore defense....mind you another defensive defenseman type guy. Don't get me wrong, Volchenkov would be a welcome addition to any team, but when you figure the Blues all ready have bloated contracts with Brewer and Jackman and possess a young bulldog in Polak....there really isn't a need for Anton's services in da 'lou considering that either Pietrangelo and/or Cole will be part of the makeup of the d-pairings.

I'm thinking the Blues forward lines will look like such this coming year:

McDonald - Backes - Oshie
Boyes - Bergy - Perron
Steen - McClement - Hensick
Crombeen/Dags - Sobotka - Janssen/King

 

[Northeast_Blue15]

"Nashville Predators franchise record for shutouts.
Nashville Predators franchise record for longest shutout streak.
Nashville Predators franchise record for saves and shots faced in a single game"

I don't care how little Nashville has been a franchise. The guy deserves to be starting in the NHL.

Does this open the door for Chris Mason to come back to Nash-Vegas?

 

[Northeast_Blue15]

St. Louis is a sleeping giant. Johnson, Berglund, Perron, Oshie, and Backes are dying to have a Chicago Blackhawks style coming out party. The only difference is the Blues seem to be built in a more cap-friendly manner.

Backes, Oshie, Perron, McDonald, and especially Boyes and Bergy need to step it up a ton this coming year. A lot rides on how well these guys gel and how they produce. This past season for Boyes was a complete abortion. As a Blues fan I'm a bit concerned that other teams have figured him out and have denied the time and space he needs to get his shot off. I hope he can figure it out though b/c I had a few coronaries yelling at my TV as he shanked a wide open back-door tap in from < 5ft from the net this past season.