I haven't had much of a chance to see him play, so I don't know his style, but if Zach Sanford can put on like 15-20 lbs of solid muscle (Is that likely?), could he be a good replacement for the kind of play that Troy Brouwer brought us last season? A big guy with decent hands who can score moderately (20-ish goals, similar assists), but also play a 'big' game, opening up the ice for smaller, more skilled players (A la Robby Fabbri) and providing a net-front presence for some years to come?

I don't think he has it in him to be a Keith Tkachuk-like 35-50 goal scoring, top-line power forward, but if he can replace not only the production, but the physical presence and other aspects that Brouwer brought (or a guy like Scott Mellanby, back in the day), he could be a bigger part of this team going forward than just his goals/assists.

What kind of player does everyone think Sanford is likely to be, and what kinds of contributions on and off of the scoreboard will he make?

I think he will need to put on 15-20 pounds just to be an effective NHL player. He was too easily knocked off the puck for a big guy even in the regular season, and that really limited him in the playoffs. The kid does have some real soft hands, but until he gains a lot of strength I wouldn't consider him a power forward at all. We'll just have to wait and see how he develops.

He's a 20 goal scorer for sure. Probably a 40 point player as long as he gets ice time.

NHLTIM wrote:He's a 20 goal scorer for sure. Probably a 40 point player as long as he gets ice time.

What kind of game is he likely to bring, aside from points, do you think?

I was really impressed with him this year. Obviously needs some maturing / growing / beefing up to occur in his game, but he showed some real impressive flashes. I'd agree with Tim in that there's zero reason he shouldn't be a 20 goal scorer - 45/50 point guy. His playmaking / puck decisions were the biggest surprise for me.

He needs to add some beef and confidence. I don't think a little more seasoning in the AHL would be the worst thing for him next year.

Zach is 22, that's the big part for me. The Blues turned the asset of Shattenkirk into 6 years of this kid under contract. Plus at least one other first rounder, and possibly a second. For all the folks who didn't like 22 going to the Caps, that is really good asset management.

Yeah he has to get stronger. But not 15 pounds stronger, that takes away too much speed. More like 5 to 7 pounds.

20 goals seems lofty for next season, how about 12 goals 25 assists.

Point being, he's 22, and has lots of room / time to improve and make the Blues better.

Beatoni12 wrote:I was really impressed with him this year. Obviously needs some maturing / growing / beefing up to occur in his game, but he showed some real impressive flashes. I'd agree with Tim in that there's zero reason he shouldn't be a 20 goal scorer - 45/50 point guy. His playmaking / puck decisions were the biggest surprise for me.

biggest surprise to me was his feistiness, for lack of a better word. He wasn't afraid to stand up for himself in the faceoff circle or after the whistle blew. Not an agitator or enforcer by any means, but compared to some of our young but 'big' guys like Jaskin and MPS, the kid wasn't afraid to punch back or jam his stick into a face

bradleygt89 wrote:

Beatoni12 wrote:I was really impressed with him this year. Obviously needs some maturing / growing / beefing up to occur in his game, but he showed some real impressive flashes. I'd agree with Tim in that there's zero reason he shouldn't be a 20 goal scorer - 45/50 point guy. His playmaking / puck decisions were the biggest surprise for me.

biggest surprise to me was his feistiness, for lack of a better word. He wasn't afraid to stand up for himself in the faceoff circle or after the whistle blew. Not an agitator or enforcer by any means, but compared to some of our young but 'big' guys like Jaskin and MPS, the kid wasn't afraid to punch back or jam his stick into a face

That's the kind of thing I'm wondering about. A big player who 'plays' big, like a Brouwer or Scott Mellanby (as opposed to a Berglund), and has the skills to be a 20 goal/45 point scorer would probably be worth FAR more than just his points on a line with a guy like Robby Fabbri and a center who's a good defensive conscience and puck-distributer (which sounds like Barbashev's kind of play/upside).

Would a line of Fabbri-Barbashev-Sanford be able to work the way Fabbri-Stastny-Brouwer did in the playoffs last year? If the same synergy is there, that could be an amazing second line to Schwartz-???(Stastny/Steen/Whomever)-Tarasenko, locked up for years to come. At least, that's what I'm hoping...

Interesting in the presser that Yeo wants to try him out at center in training camp. Seeing how they have Stastny, Berglund, and Brodziak pretty much locked in the 1,3,and 4 pivots, and with Barbashev as a very capable backup, I can't help but wonder if they've hoping to slot Sanford into Lehtera's spot. If nothing else they're creating that competition, which can't hurt.

blueslifer wrote:Interesting in the presser that Yeo wants to try him out at center in training camp. Seeing how they have Stastny, Berglund, and Brodziak pretty much locked in the 1,3,and 4 pivots, and with Barbashev as a very capable backup, I can't help but wonder if they've hoping to slot Sanford into Lehtera's spot. If nothing else they're creating that competition, which can't hurt.

You can never have enough 3rd line centers.

BluesSK wrote:

blueslifer wrote:Interesting in the presser that Yeo wants to try him out at center in training camp. Seeing how they have Stastny, Berglund, and Brodziak pretty much locked in the 1,3,and 4 pivots, and with Barbashev as a very capable backup, I can't help but wonder if they've hoping to slot Sanford into Lehtera's spot. If nothing else they're creating that competition, which can't hurt.

You can never have enough 3rd line centers.

...said every blues GM ever, apparently.

My hope for next season (If we have no major external adds, and these kids (Barbs, Dunn, Schmaltz, and Sanford) earn it)

Schwartz/Stastny/Tarasenko
Fabbri/Barbs/Berglund
Steen/Sanford/Sobi
Jaskin/MPS/Brodz/Reaves

Edmundson/Petro
Dunn/Parayko
JayBo/Bortz/Schmaltz

DP, Gunner, Yaks, & Lehtera go bye bye somehow, someway.

Thompson/Kyrou as youngun call ups
Jaskin and MPS battle for 4th line, other sits, plus a UFA pickup for depth.

blueslifer wrote:I think he will need to put on 15-20 pounds just to be an effective NHL player. He was too easily knocked off the puck for a big guy even in the regular season, and that really limited him in the playoffs. The kid does have some real soft hands, but until he gains a lot of strength I wouldn't consider him a power forward at all. We'll just have to wait and see how he develops.

Adding 15-20 pounds of muscle and doing nothing else won't really help him getting knocked off the puck so easily. He'll need to work on other things like his positioning and his skating, but some of that is purely heart. If he doesn't improve on that an want an NHL career badly enough, he could just end up being an over-sized Rattie.

/peptalkover