I am getting Hockey fever so I'm sitting here at work not working and trying to come up with the best line-up as the roster sits today.

If Hitch can ever get his arms uncrossed to write a line-up, this is what I'd like to see.

Jaskin - Lehtera - Tarasenko - Size and Chemistry

Schwartz - Stastny - Fabbri - Fabbri in the line-up and playing with other top guys, it was said Schwartz preferred Stastny

Steen - Brouwer - Backes - Two-way line that's physical and can go up against other teams top lines as well as can score

Berglund - Brodziak -Reaves - Typical big physical 4th line but all have some offensive upside. Berglund brings more than Ott.

13/14 - Ott and Caron

The one thing I realized as I was filling out the forwards is the Blues have an abnormal amount of left handed shots. 8 of the 12.

Bouwmeester - Petro - Hopefully they can regain what they had 2 years ago

Lindbohm - Shattenkirk - I prefer Bohms over Gunnarsson

Gunnarsson - Bortuzzo - Bortuzzo can bring the boom and Gunnar can...well I don't know what he can do

7/8 - Butler - Benoit


Agree, Disagree?

My only concern is that Hitchcock will use Ott, the guy brings very little to the table but Hitchcock loves him. Other than that the season can't start soon enough, and your lines would be awesome.

I do like the look of that. I'll give two lineups. What I expect to happen:

Steen-Stasnty-Backes
Schwartz-Lehtera-Tarasenko
Jaskin-Berglund-Brouwer
Ott-Brodziak-Reaves
Rattie, Porter

JBo-Petro
Gunnar-Shatty
Lindbohm-Bortuzzo
Butler

What I (realistically) hope happens. Putting realistically because what I really hope would involve moving more players.

Steen-Stastny-Fabbri
Schwartz-Lehtera-Tarasenko
Jaskin-Backes-Brouwer
Ott-Brodziak-Reaves
Rattie, Porter

Same defense as above.

Berglund gets traded, giving us some extra cap space as well as freeing up a right wing spot for one of Fabbri/Rattie. Backes, who was in that RW spot, moves back to center in more of a defensive role with less minutes.

Fred Garvin wrote: Agree, Disagree?

Looks solid to me!

BlueinNy wrote:My only concern is that Hitchcock will use Ott, the guy brings very little to the table but Hitchcock loves him. Other than that the season can't start soon enough, and your lines would be awesome.

I feel like Army will have to pull an Allen Craig deal to keep Hitch from using Ott over a more talented player.

I feel as though we are going to see several different line combos throughout the year, but at this point I will guess our opening lineup will be:

Schwartz / Stastny / Jaskin
Speed, size (for possession), and two-way ability makes this our first line. I think a lot of people will be impressed with Jaskin's improvement this year playing with a healthy Statsny and Schwartz and getting more minutes.

Steen / Lehtera / Tarasenko
Goal scoring line with speed and two way ability.

Fabbri / Backes / Brouwer
Bergy will probably take the bulk of the minutes in close, defensive situations, but Fabbri will add a speed and scoring oppurtunity to this line.

Berglund / Ott / Reaves
Eh, don't see either Ott or Berglund being dealt because they are "Hitch guys". Oh well changes will most likely be made throughout the season and injuries will happen

Bouwmeester / Pietrangelo
Lindbohm / Shattenkirk
Gunnarson / Bortuzzo

Allen - Opening Night Starter
Elliott


Extras: Brodziak, Paajarvi, Butler

I'd only swap Jaskin and Steen. Very solid lines, just wish Ott sitting was a reality.

Looks good Fred. The only change I would make would be to swap Jaskin and Steen.

I'd also look at Lindbohm and Petro. It might be too much for Lindbohm, but he really impressed me last season.

I'll only note that if Backes and Brouwer are on the same line, I would expect Backes to center that line...although both can play both C and RW so maybe Hitch tries both and eventually decides that he lines Brouwer at C more. Who knows.

There are lots of combo options. To me, the true unknowns are, what is Fabbri capable of and which line would he makes sense on? What do we do with Bergy if Fabbri pushes him out of the top-9? What do we do with Ott if he's pushed out of the starting lineup?

Camp should be interesting. I look forward to the internal competition.

Can we trade Ott to the WWF/WWE for an autographed Jake the Snake poster?

Fred Garvin wrote:I am getting Hockey fever so I'm sitting here at work not working and trying to come up with the best line-up as the roster sits today.

If Hitch can ever get his arms uncrossed to write a line-up, this is what I'd like to see.

Jaskin - Lehtera - Tarasenko - Size and Chemistry

Schwartz - Stastny - Fabbri - Fabbri in the line-up and playing with other top guys, it was said Schwartz preferred Stastny

Steen - Brouwer - Backes - Two-way line that's physical and can go up against other teams top lines as well as can score

Berglund - Brodziak -Reaves - Typical big physical 4th line but all have some offensive upside. Berglund brings more than Ott.

13/14 - Ott and Caron

The one thing I realized as I was filling out the forwards is the Blues have an abnormal amount of left handed shots. 8 of the 12.

Bouwmeester - Petro - Hopefully they can regain what they had 2 years ago

Lindbohm - Shattenkirk - I prefer Bohms over Gunnarsson

Gunnarsson - Bortuzzo - Bortuzzo can bring the boom and Gunnar can...well I don't know what he can do

7/8 - Butler - Benoit


Agree, Disagree?

Only real issue is I thought Rattie proved himself enough to earn consideration over Jordan Caron. The Avs brought Caron in and put him on their top line because of his scoring touch but he finished the season in a limited 4th line role with zero points in 19 games. In fact, I'd rather give speed demon Paajarvi ice time before Caron. I saw Caron as pure Wolves material.

Bergy/ott/reaves as a 4th line??

Holy expensive

This is what I'm hoping for:

Fabbri Lehtera Tarasenko
Schwartz Stastny Brouwer
Steen Backes Jaskin
Ott Brodziak Reaves
Rattie/Porter extras

Jbo Petro
Lindbohm Shatty
Gunnar Bort
Butler

Allen
Elliot

This is based on the hope that we can trade Berglund for prospect/pick/s to open up cap space. This allows the flexibility for a deadline deal in the event of injury or noticeable weaknesses in the lineup.

I vote that Fred gets hired by the Blues as their lineup filler-outer for the season. "Put yourself in Fred's hands. You deserve it!"

Seriously, though, I like the idea of pairing Schwartz and Stastny if we are pairing Lehtera and Tarasenko. I get the whole STL line appeal, but we can't waste another season of our best playmaker playing with 3rd line wingers. If Staz isn't going to be playing with 91 he should be playing with 17. Period.

I would hope they would play Berglund before Ott, but I am sure that won't happen. Especially now that they appear to be playing more 'reckless'.

I don't see Rattie as an extra. I would think he would play in Chicago and be the first offensive callup, assuming Fabbri and Jaskin beat him out.

I hope Benoit has a solid camp because I'd love him on that 3rd pairing with Bortuzzo. I expect Fabbri to be our 2nd line RW and I expect Backes to center Brouwer and Jaskin.
It would be nice to see Rattie make a statement but I'd much rather see Fabbri than Rattie. I still think a forward is going before the season opener.

Don't forget whoever gets invited to camp on a tryout basis. There might be a surprise or two that require more shuffling.

bluebloodkc wrote:Don't forget whoever gets invited to camp on a tryout basis. There might be a surprise or two that require more shuffling.

Chris Stewart for camp invite. You heard it here first.

I think assuming Fabbri makes the team as many expect, for your first three lines you gotta go:

Schwartz - Stastny - Fabbri
Steen - Lehtera - Tarasenko
Jaskin - Brouwer - Backes

Schwartz likes playing with Stastny. Steen plays well with Lehtera and Tarasenko as well. If it doesn't work well, swap him and Schwartz. Some good skill and decent speed on the top two lines. Third line, big power cycle game. I think that looks quite good. And I know that's a lot to expect of Fabbri on the "first line", but we are only calling it the first line to make ourselves feel better for paying Stastny 7 million. The top two lines will get very similar ice time with the third not too far off.

I still wish we had more speed on this team though.

NHLTIM wrote:I hope Benoit has a solid camp because I'd love him on that 3rd pairing with Bortuzzo. I expect Fabbri to be our 2nd line RW and I expect Backes to center Brouwer and Jaskin.
It would be nice to see Rattie make a statement but I'd much rather see Fabbri than Rattie. I still think a forward is going before the season opener.

If Benoit makes the team, presumably Lindbohm isn't playing then, right?

I think my head will explode if Gunnarsson plays and Lindbohm is in the minors....

UMSLBlues12 wrote:

NHLTIM wrote:I hope Benoit has a solid camp because I'd love him on that 3rd pairing with Bortuzzo. I expect Fabbri to be our 2nd line RW and I expect Backes to center Brouwer and Jaskin.
It would be nice to see Rattie make a statement but I'd much rather see Fabbri than Rattie. I still think a forward is going before the season opener.

If Benoit makes the team, presumably Lindbohm isn't playing then, right?

I think my head will explode if Gunnarsson plays and Lindbohm is in the minors....

no, I'd rather have Lindbohm with Shatty and see Benoit with Bort.

You've gotta think with all of the 2-way contracts DA has added they're anticipating some youth in the line-up this season. It also makes me think they'll move Gunnar and perhaps Bergie and Ott down the road. I heard Strickland state on 920 this am that Bergie and DA are to meet in person within the next few weeks. No clue what that means.

Here's what the lineup looks like opening night assuming there are no trades:

Steen-Lehtera-Tarasenko
Schwartz-Stastny-Backes
Jaskin-Berglund-Brouwer
Ott-Brodziak-Reaves

Bouw-Petro
Gunnar-Shatty
Lindbohm-Bortz

Allen

Personally I'd love to see Rattie get a crack at that third line, and I think Fabbri will at least get his 9 games in, but this is how Hitch sets it on opening night. I also expect Paajarvi to be the 13/14 guy given his new contract.

Assuming Fabbri makes it:

Steen Lehtera Tarasenko
Schwartz Stastny Fabbri
Jaskin Backes Brouwer
Berglund Brodziak Reaves
Extras: Ott, Paajarvi

Bouwmeester Petro
Gunnarsson Shatty
Lindbohm Bortuzzo
Extras: Edmundson/Butler

If Fabbri doesn't make it:

Schwartz Lehtera Tarasenko
Steen Stastny Backes
Jaskin Berglund Brouwer
Ott Brodziak Reaves
Extras: Paajarvi, Rattie

Steen-Lehtera-Tarasenko
Schwartz-Stastny-Jaskin
Fabbri-Backes-Brouwer
Berglund-Brodziak-Reeves
(Ott/Paajarvi)

Bouwmeester-Pietrangelo
Lindbolm-Shattenkirk
Gunnarsson-Bortuzzo
(Beniot)

Allen
Elliott

Prediction...after the 1st 10-15 games Gunarsson and Ott or Berglund will be moved for prospects/picks and depth players too get by until the play-offs and for the cap space to make a big move at the trade dead-line.