I've noticed some people are downplaying the Blues off-season (can you believe it?) and part of their reasoning is that O'Reilly isn't much of a difference than what the Blues had with Stastny.

I disagree with this.

First off, O'Reilly shoots the puck a whole lot more than Stastny does. Which helps explain why O'Reilly has 31 PP goals his last 3 years whereas Stastny has 30 PP goals his last 7 years.

To me, its a definite upgrade and not a lateral move.

I always liked Stasny, but this is an obvious improvement, imo.

I don't think comparing Stastny to O'Reilly is entirely fair. Army traded Stastny at the trade deadline because the Blues were not contenders at the time. They acquired O'Reilly in the summer to upgrade the CURRENT roster during the off-season. The Blues did not trade Stastny for O'Reilly.

With this summer's upgrades, I can't remember the last time I was this excited about this team in July. I can't wait for the season to start.

It's a pretty good upgrade as far as I'm concerned. O'Reilly will be much more involved and I think this change of scenery will be very good for him.

NHLTIM wrote:It's a pretty good upgrade as far as I'm concerned. O'Reilly will be much more involved and I think this change of scenery will be very good for him.

The list is pretty long IMHO of why ROR is better than Stastny, some specific to the Blues, and I liked Stastny:

1. Faceoffs
2. Right Handed shot
3. More PPG over the last few years
4. Better passer
5. better shooter
6. Better beard
7. Cooler initials
8. Younger
9. Same cost as Stastny basically
10. Doesn't have a brother named Yan who teased us when we were in our most desperate hour.
Who knew: Yan made his NHL debut on March 1, 2006 with the Edmonton Oilers against the St. Louis Blues, the last team for which his father played. Eight days later, he was traded by the Oilers back to the Boston Bruins along with Marty Reasoner and a 2006 second round pick (Milan Lucic) for Sergei Samsonov as part of an NHL trade deadline deal. On January 16, 2007, the Boston Bruins traded him to the St. Louis Blues for a 2007 fifth round draft pick. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yan_Stastny

The blues turned our center depth from poor to one of the best. Doing that in one off-season is impressive.

barcthespark wrote: With this summer's upgrades, I can't remember the last time I was this excited about this team in July. I can't wait for the season to start.

How bout when the Blues signed Mike Keenan? Were you pumped about that at the time? I was. I really thought we were headed for the Cup when we got Iron Mike.

Anybody else want to share their thoughts at the time when Keenan got hired? I won't lie, I was pumped at the time and expected big things.

bradleygt89 wrote:
The list is pretty long IMHO of why ROR is better than Stastny, some specific to the Blues, and I liked Stastny:

1. Faceoffs
2. Right Handed shot
3. More PPG over the last few years
4. Better passer
5. better shooter
6. Better beard
7. Cooler initials
8. Younger
9. Same cost as Stastny basically
10. Doesn't have a brother named Yan who teased us when we were in our most desperate hour.

You're going to be a bit shocked about one of these when you see him out there for the first time.

BillP wrote:

barcthespark wrote: With this summer's upgrades, I can't remember the last time I was this excited about this team in July. I can't wait for the season to start.

How bout when the Blues signed Mike Keenan? Were you pumped about that at the time? I was. I really thought we were headed for the Cup when we got Iron Mike.

Anybody else want to share their thoughts at the time when Keenan got hired? I won't lie, I was pumped at the time and expected big things.

You bet. I've always said that Keenan changed the fans outlook on the Blues. Keenan was the first one to openly state that winning the Cup was the goal - the only goal.
He's obviously a first class jerk, and goofy in some ways, but he had some good ideas. Had not ownership caved in, and refused to let him do it, we would have got something of value for Hull instead of letting him walk in free agency a few years later.
He turned Pronger from a lazy young prospect into the best defensive dman of his time.
One thing I admired about Keenan was when he traded Shanny, and the fans and media were boiling his hide, Keenan took all the flak and never told the real reason behind the trade. Had he told about Shanny and Mrs. Janney, it would have taken a lot of heat off him, but he didn't, and I thought that was classy, especially since Shanny was publicly ripping the hell out of Keenan, which considering the circumstances, was pretty pathetic.

BillP wrote:

barcthespark wrote: With this summer's upgrades, I can't remember the last time I was this excited about this team in July. I can't wait for the season to start.

How bout when the Blues signed Mike Keenan? Were you pumped about that at the time? I was. I really thought we were headed for the Cup when we got Iron Mike.

Anybody else want to share their thoughts at the time when Keenan got hired? I won't lie, I was pumped at the time and expected big things.

Air guitar excited

The only knock I had on Stastny is he seemed to get knocked off the puck too easily for a top-line player. If ROR is better in that area, all other things being equal, I will consider it an upgrade. But as mentioned I do expect O'Reilly to be a better all-around player than Stas. And I liked Stastny on the Blues. He improved the roster a lot when he came here, and I wouldn't have minded if he came back if he would have taken a discount. But even happier we got Ryan instead.

barnburner wrote:

BillP wrote:

barcthespark wrote: With this summer's upgrades, I can't remember the last time I was this excited about this team in July. I can't wait for the season to start.

How bout when the Blues signed Mike Keenan? Were you pumped about that at the time? I was. I really thought we were headed for the Cup when we got Iron Mike.

Anybody else want to share their thoughts at the time when Keenan got hired? I won't lie, I was pumped at the time and expected big things.

You bet. I've always said that Keenan changed the fans outlook on the Blues. Keenan was the first one to openly state that winning the Cup was the goal - the only goal.
He's obviously a first class jerk, and goofy in some ways, but he had some good ideas. Had not ownership caved in, and refused to let him do it, we would have got something of value for Hull instead of letting him walk in free agency a few years later.
He turned Pronger from a lazy young prospect into the best defensive dman of his time.
One thing I admired about Keenan was when he traded Shanny, and the fans and media were boiling his hide, Keenan took all the flak and never told the real reason behind the trade. Had he told about Shanny and Mrs. Janney, it would have taken a lot of heat off him, but he didn't, and I thought that was classy, especially since Shanny was publicly ripping the hell out of Keenan, which considering the circumstances, was pretty pathetic.

As a somewhat younger Blues fan (early 30s), those days were when I was pretty young, so I didn't really have too much emotion about hiring Keenan. I have been involved in some hockey circles since then and have worked for an NHL team, and I've heard several people from several different groups say that Keenan was the best talent evaluator they had ever seen. Say what you will about his leadership and coaching "style", but I think it's well known that he could spot talent from a mile away - with Pronger being a perfect example. There were also rumors that he had a trade of Hull worked out for "2 future hall of fame players" that were before their prime, but ownership put the kibosh on it and Hull walked for nothing a year or two later.

I think anyone whose watched the two players know that they play a different style.

Stastny was fine as a player, but he never really seemed to develop much chemistry with Tarasenko or Schwartz. This was a problem until Brouwer came in and Fabbri came up, as his style just didn't seem to gel much with our top wingers. He was dynamite with Brouwer and Fabbri though. When Brower left and Fabbri got hurt it seemed like the same issue--the only guy he seemed to have chemistry with was a declining Steen.

ROR plays a different game, and we have a lot of different guys who can play in the top 6. I think its much more likely his style will gel with someone here and his production will be a lot better than Stastny's was here. I really like the idea of him with Maroon and Tarasenko...Maroon should create space and be able to do the dirty work on that line. Then you have two guys who can make plays and score.

Not only is ROR a better player than Staz, I think he is going to be out to prove something this year. After the end of the season "drama" in Buffalo and getting moved to a retooled team, I bet he comes out blazing. I actually expect the entire team to play like they have something to prove this year. It can't be fun for guys like Petro, Schwartz, Tank, etc to miss the playoffs when they have been annual contenders for a while now.

Does ROR no longer sport a beard? Or, does he have brother named Yan?

bradleygt89 wrote:Does ROR no longer sport a beard? Or, does he have brother named Yan?

Can't speak to those, but he's not right-handed.

The only reason that jumped out at me is cause I use to think the exact same thing about him.

O'Reilly is an upgrade for sure. I like Stastny a lot as a player, but it never clicked. He played a great 2 way game, but he's just not the playmaker they needed him to be. I was open to bringing him back, but not for what he ended up getting. If he would've taken Bozak's contract I'd have been all for it, but I'm not sure he'd be keen on taking a $1.5 million pay cut per year to play third line. Hope he has a nice year in Vegas.

BillP wrote:

barcthespark wrote: With this summer's upgrades, I can't remember the last time I was this excited about this team in July. I can't wait for the season to start.

How bout when the Blues signed Mike Keenan? Were you pumped about that at the time? I was. I really thought we were headed for the Cup when we got Iron Mike.

Anybody else want to share their thoughts at the time when Keenan got hired? I won't lie, I was pumped at the time and expected big things.

Oh yeah, I was definitely excited when Keenan signed. I had visions of Lord Stanley's Cup dancing in my head. I also agree with those here saying he did some things very well. It's just hard to remember that sometimes because of the things he did so badly.

Stastny's stats (Say that 5 times fast) for his time with the Blues:

267 games - 56 goals/119 assists; plus 7; 116 PIM; 17 PPG/30 PPA; 0 SHG/1 SHA; 15 GWG; 493 shots @ 11.3 %; 18:37 ATOI; 56.2% FOW.

Prorated for 82 games, that's:

17 G/37 A; plus 2; 5 PPG/9 PPA; 36 PIM; 0 SHG/0 SHA; 5 GWG; 151 shots @ 11.3%; 18:37 ATOI; 56.2% FOW.

I think ROR is going to have better linemates this year than Stastny did at several points in his time here (Didn't Stastny center Jaskin and Sobotka for a time last season?). I also don't think he'll get as much ice time with our center depth this year (This may be the deepest we've been at center that I can remember). Conversely, I think he shoots more with a similar shot %.

I expect ROR to hit ABOUT (Over 82 games):

20 goals; 40 assists; 10 PPG/20 PPA; 8 PIM; 180 shots @ 11.3%; 17:55 ATOI; 57.5% FOW.

I think that's realistic. Anyone else?

RAFritchey wrote:Stastny's stats (Say that 5 times fast) for his time with the Blues:

267 games - 56 goals/119 assists; plus 7; 116 PIM; 17 PPG/30 PPA; 0 SHG/1 SHA; 15 GWG; 493 shots @ 11.3 %; 18:37 ATOI; 56.2% FOW.

Prorated for 82 games, that's:

17 G/37 A; plus 2; 5 PPG/9 PPA; 36 PIM; 0 SHG/0 SHA; 5 GWG; 151 shots @ 11.3%; 18:37 ATOI; 56.2% FOW.

I think ROR is going to have better linemates this year than Stastny did at several points in his time here (Didn't Stastny center Jaskin and Sobotka for a time last season?). I also don't think he'll get as much ice time with our center depth this year (This may be the deepest we've been at center that I can remember). Conversely, I think he shoots more with a similar shot %.

I expect ROR to hit ABOUT (Over 82 games):

20 goals; 40 assists; 10 PPG/20 PPA; 8 PIM; 180 shots @ 11.3%; 17:55 ATOI; 57.5% FOW.

I think that's realistic. Anyone else?

60 points for sure, but I'd be a little disappointed if he didn't get 70 plus. You figure he'll either get Tarasenko on 1 line or he'll get Schenn or Schwartz on the other. And if the PP takes off this year, he definitely should get 70 plus IMO.

BillP wrote:

RAFritchey wrote:Stastny's stats (Say that 5 times fast) for his time with the Blues:

267 games - 56 goals/119 assists; plus 7; 116 PIM; 17 PPG/30 PPA; 0 SHG/1 SHA; 15 GWG; 493 shots @ 11.3 %; 18:37 ATOI; 56.2% FOW.

Prorated for 82 games, that's:

17 G/37 A; plus 2; 5 PPG/9 PPA; 36 PIM; 0 SHG/0 SHA; 5 GWG; 151 shots @ 11.3%; 18:37 ATOI; 56.2% FOW.

I think ROR is going to have better linemates this year than Stastny did at several points in his time here (Didn't Stastny center Jaskin and Sobotka for a time last season?). I also don't think he'll get as much ice time with our center depth this year (This may be the deepest we've been at center that I can remember). Conversely, I think he shoots more with a similar shot %.

I expect ROR to hit ABOUT (Over 82 games):

20 goals; 40 assists; 10 PPG/20 PPA; 8 PIM; 180 shots @ 11.3%; 17:55 ATOI; 57.5% FOW.

I think that's realistic. Anyone else?

60 points for sure, but I'd be a little disappointed if he didn't get 70 plus. You figure he'll either get Tarasenko on 1 line or he'll get Schenn or Schwartz on the other. And if the PP takes off this year, he definitely should get 70 plus IMO.

well the power play can't get any worse

Doug Glatt wrote:

BillP wrote:

RAFritchey wrote:Stastny's stats (Say that 5 times fast) for his time with the Blues:

267 games - 56 goals/119 assists; plus 7; 116 PIM; 17 PPG/30 PPA; 0 SHG/1 SHA; 15 GWG; 493 shots @ 11.3 %; 18:37 ATOI; 56.2% FOW.

Prorated for 82 games, that's:

17 G/37 A; plus 2; 5 PPG/9 PPA; 36 PIM; 0 SHG/0 SHA; 5 GWG; 151 shots @ 11.3%; 18:37 ATOI; 56.2% FOW.

I think ROR is going to have better linemates this year than Stastny did at several points in his time here (Didn't Stastny center Jaskin and Sobotka for a time last season?). I also don't think he'll get as much ice time with our center depth this year (This may be the deepest we've been at center that I can remember). Conversely, I think he shoots more with a similar shot %.

I expect ROR to hit ABOUT (Over 82 games):

20 goals; 40 assists; 10 PPG/20 PPA; 8 PIM; 180 shots @ 11.3%; 17:55 ATOI; 57.5% FOW.

I think that's realistic. Anyone else?

60 points for sure, but I'd be a little disappointed if he didn't get 70 plus. You figure he'll either get Tarasenko on 1 line or he'll get Schenn or Schwartz on the other. And if the PP takes off this year, he definitely should get 70 plus IMO.

well the power play can't get any worse

I don't care what any fandom says about this situation. All I care about is that O'Reilly does more to produce than Statsny did with less.

Then I'm happy.

It felt like Statsny got the star treatment when he signed here, then I routinely forgot about him in games.

BillP wrote:

RAFritchey wrote:Stastny's stats (Say that 5 times fast) for his time with the Blues:

267 games - 56 goals/119 assists; plus 7; 116 PIM; 17 PPG/30 PPA; 0 SHG/1 SHA; 15 GWG; 493 shots @ 11.3 %; 18:37 ATOI; 56.2% FOW.

Prorated for 82 games, that's:

17 G/37 A; plus 2; 5 PPG/9 PPA; 36 PIM; 0 SHG/0 SHA; 5 GWG; 151 shots @ 11.3%; 18:37 ATOI; 56.2% FOW.

I think ROR is going to have better linemates this year than Stastny did at several points in his time here (Didn't Stastny center Jaskin and Sobotka for a time last season?). I also don't think he'll get as much ice time with our center depth this year (This may be the deepest we've been at center that I can remember). Conversely, I think he shoots more with a similar shot %.

I expect ROR to hit ABOUT (Over 82 games):

20 goals; 40 assists; 10 PPG/20 PPA; 8 PIM; 180 shots @ 11.3%; 17:55 ATOI; 57.5% FOW.

I think that's realistic. Anyone else?

60 points for sure, but I'd be a little disappointed if he didn't get 70 plus. You figure he'll either get Tarasenko on 1 line or he'll get Schenn or Schwartz on the other. And if the PP takes off this year, he definitely should get 70 plus IMO.

At some point, one player's numbers don't really add to the team's total, they subtract from other player's. In Buffalo last season, ROR was playing 20:49 a night with 3:38 of PP time and had 24 goals, 37 assists, and 15 PPG. He, Eichel and Reinhart accounted for over 58 minutes a game in Buffalo last year. He's not going to get that kind of ice time here, nor should he, especially if we want him at his best for the playoffs. If he sees a 15% reduction in ice time, but puts up similar numbers, I'll be REALLY happy. ECSTATIC even!

We have Tarasenko, Schenn, and Schwartz who'll take a lot of offensive zone/PP time. We'll probably try to get Maroon, Fabbri, Perron, Steen, maybe even Bozak some PP time as well. If Thomas and/or Kyrou make the team, they'll probably see some offensive opportunities moreso than defensive zone starts. With Pietrangelo, Parayko, and Dunn, how often will we need a forward at the point?

The kind of depth we (hopefully) have may subtract from any given players' stats, but hopefully the overall sum is even greater and, the most important part, key to winning more games.

RAFritchey wrote:

BillP wrote:

RAFritchey wrote:Stastny's stats (Say that 5 times fast) for his time with the Blues:

267 games - 56 goals/119 assists; plus 7; 116 PIM; 17 PPG/30 PPA; 0 SHG/1 SHA; 15 GWG; 493 shots @ 11.3 %; 18:37 ATOI; 56.2% FOW.

Prorated for 82 games, that's:

17 G/37 A; plus 2; 5 PPG/9 PPA; 36 PIM; 0 SHG/0 SHA; 5 GWG; 151 shots @ 11.3%; 18:37 ATOI; 56.2% FOW.

I think ROR is going to have better linemates this year than Stastny did at several points in his time here (Didn't Stastny center Jaskin and Sobotka for a time last season?). I also don't think he'll get as much ice time with our center depth this year (This may be the deepest we've been at center that I can remember). Conversely, I think he shoots more with a similar shot %.

I expect ROR to hit ABOUT (Over 82 games):

20 goals; 40 assists; 10 PPG/20 PPA; 8 PIM; 180 shots @ 11.3%; 17:55 ATOI; 57.5% FOW.

I think that's realistic. Anyone else?

60 points for sure, but I'd be a little disappointed if he didn't get 70 plus. You figure he'll either get Tarasenko on 1 line or he'll get Schenn or Schwartz on the other. And if the PP takes off this year, he definitely should get 70 plus IMO.

At some point, one player's numbers don't really add to the team's total, they subtract from other player's. In Buffalo last season, ROR was playing 20:49 a night with 3:38 of PP time and had 24 goals, 37 assists, and 15 PPG. He, Eichel and Reinhart accounted for over 58 minutes a game in Buffalo last year. He's not going to get that kind of ice time here, nor should he, especially if we want him at his best for the playoffs. If he sees a 15% reduction in ice time, but puts up similar numbers, I'll be REALLY happy. ECSTATIC even!

We have Tarasenko, Schenn, and Schwartz who'll take a lot of offensive zone/PP time. We'll probably try to get Maroon, Fabbri, Perron, Steen, maybe even Bozak some PP time as well. If Thomas and/or Kyrou make the team, they'll probably see some offensive opportunities moreso than defensive zone starts. With Pietrangelo, Parayko, and Dunn, how often will we need a forward at the point?

The kind of depth we (hopefully) have may subtract from any given players' stats, but hopefully the overall sum is even greater and, the most important part, key to winning more games.

You make great points but keep in mind the Blues only had 226 goals last year so there should be a 40 to 50 goal increase this year given the expecations. How it all slices out is anyone's guess. Maybe Tarasenko puts up 40 plus and flirts with 90 points this year!