Dave's a mess wrote: Wed Jan 23, 2019 12:41 pm
SpacemanSpiff wrote: Wed Jan 23, 2019 12:25 pm
NHLTIM wrote: Wed Jan 23, 2019 12:20 pm
Sure he's been great but he's also doing it with the defense that it's front of him. The statement back in the day used to be "Your goalie is only as good as the defense in front him". That might not be as accurate of a statement today but it was at one time.
As for Petro...It use to be "well we can't trade Petro....who would replace his minutes....we don't have anybody in the organization that can replace him". Vegas found an entire defense in a day or two.
It's just my opinion and i've never been the biggest Petro fan....we all know that. I just don't think he's needed and i've felt that way for quite a few years.
I would agree to a point - but let's face it -
if Vegas had a chance to trade any of their defencemen for Pietrangelo, they'd do it in a heartbeat.
Some teams spend on scoring, some spend on goaltending, some on defence. You need all of the pieces working together to have success - right now, none of the pieces are working for the Blues.
Well it won't be 1 for 1, but they might have that chance. Vegas is one of the rumored destinations for Schenn. I wonder if Petro would waive his NTC to go there.
I don't see Petro waiving his NTC for Vegas. Not with triplets at home who are still pretty young. I know they could afford a nanny to help the wife, but man, that's a lot to put on his wife. I don't see it. I also don't think Armstrong moves Schenn. Yes, he's struggled. Yes, he's the easiest to move, but that doesn't mean he should be the one to move. Army needs to try and get out from Maroon and Steen before he worries about another forward. Hopefully Stastny could convince McPhee to want Steen and take him away finally. Sorry, Steen rant over.
If Pietrangelo needs to be traded, I really do think McPhee would trade Schmidt for him. I get what you're saying Tim in wanting to see more passion and drive out of Pietrangelo, but I guess, I look at him like Lidstrom was (not saying Petro is anywhere near as good, I'm just speaking personality/attitude on the ice). Lidstrom was never overly emotional when I watched him play. He always seemed even keel, steady, and stalwart. He wouldn't let too much bother him, he just kept playing. Even if he made a gaff, which was rare, he seemed to brush it off and move on. Petro is having a down year, and you could want more offensively from him, but I think you could say the same about Parayko and Dunn as well. Petro is the #1D here because of that steadiness, at least in my opinion. Parayko exerts a lot of that same steadiness. He never seems to get too high, too low, or over react.
I'm not disagreeing with anyone that says we could use some improved Pietrangelo play, I am 100% on board with that. As the captain, he's needed to be MUCH better. What I disagree with is just moving him off this team because you think Parayko is ready to take over. You need to get a top 4 RHD back for him if that's what you do. Someone to backup Parayko because after those two, the cupboard is real thin. The only other thing I disagree with is saying he was only OK during those playoff runs. There were a lot of players on the Blues who were only OK during those playoff runs. I can remember most of the games being 1 goal games too where it was mostly the goaltending or lack of scoring that let the Blues down.
If it comes down to Petro being moved, I'm fine with that as long as the return includes a top 4 RHD. You need a backup to Parayko. But I will get back on my Steen soapbox for a second and say, Steen had better be traded first.
To TC, yes, that argument works for and against Petro. You're right on that, but I wonder what a completely different style of coach, i.e. not defensive first kind of thinking, would do for Petro. I think growing his game under Hitch has made him more hesitant on the offensive side of the puck. Because he was relied upon so much by Hitch, then Yeo and Berube for defense, I wonder if his offensive skills took a bit of a dive during his early years and he never regained it. Plus, he had Shattenkirk to provide a lot of offense for all those years. Then Parayko's rookie year happened as well. I don't know, I'm spit-balling guesses but I truthfully feel that the leadership group should be Petro and Tarasenko with Schenn, Schwartz, and O'Reilly, and you need to remove Steen from this team.
