Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2019 11:42 am

Rivermanfan wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2019 11:35 am RT has tons of talent and potential, but he is definitely lacking in confidence right now as far as shooting the puck goes. Vladi is a scorer, thus far RT is an pass first, assist guy. This does not mean he won't become a scorer, but we need someone who can put pucks in the net right now. That said, I don't see the need to panic and bring anyone up immediately and there is definitely no need to make any kind of trade move that effects our draft picks or top prospects.

Is it a confidence thing though? Hasn't he always been thought of more as a playmaker/passer than a finisher? His problems to me seem to be a durability issue more than anything.

Thomas should be a future 15 goal and 45 assist type of guy and should flirt with 70pts a few times when he gets older. He’s only 20.....and a young 20 at that.

This teams scoring issues will be masked as long as Schenn stays as hot as he is. Once he cools off, someone else is going to need to step up and that's when we will really feel the impact of this loss because the hope was it would be Vlad.

1 or 2 key injuries could really cripple team. Army will need to do some maneuvering if the kids (namely Kostin) from within can't step up.

Rivermanfan wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2019 11:56 am

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2019 11:42 am

Rivermanfan wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2019 11:35 am RT has tons of talent and potential, but he is definitely lacking in confidence right now as far as shooting the puck goes. Vladi is a scorer, thus far RT is an pass first, assist guy. This does not mean he won't become a scorer, but we need someone who can put pucks in the net right now. That said, I don't see the need to panic and bring anyone up immediately and there is definitely no need to make any kind of trade move that effects our draft picks or top prospects.

Is it a confidence thing though? Hasn't he always been thought of more as a playmaker/passer than a finisher? His problems to me seem to be a durability issue more than anything.

I don't disagree with that, but it seems like many want to slot him into Vladi's spot and I'm not sure how that solves the loss of goal production from the position. I know everyone needs to step up as a team, but that is a given. 30 goals are hard to replace.

"Paging Brad Boyes, Brad Boyes could you please call Doug Armstrong at your earliest convenience"

BlueinNy wrote: Mon Oct 28, 2019 7:32 pm Who wants to bet Steen goes up to fill in for Tank? Hate the thought but that seems to be the way it has went in the past , whenever someone gets hurt.

I'm glad I was wrong.

11. Mikko Rantanen's injury will have a bigger impact on the Central race than Vladimir Tarasenko's injury.
Kaplan: Buy. Aside from Thursday's onslaught, it sure has looked that way. The Blues have been scraping together wins without Tarasenko. The Colorado Avalanche have struggled without Rantanen (but are also missing Gabriel Landeskog off the top line). St. Louis simply has more depth.

Peters: Buy. I think the Blues have a deeper forward lineup than the Avs. I still like Colorado to make a lot of noise, but seeing what has happened to the Avs as injuries compound is impossible to ignore.

Filipovic: Buy. The Avalanche rely so much on their top line to do the heavy lifting offensively, and the Rantanen injury in conjunction with Landeskog's absence is a mammoth loss. Tarasenko is the best goal scorer and most dangerous offensive threat in St. Louis, but the Blues' depth and defensive structure at least give them something to fall back on in the meantime.

DiPietro: Buy. The Blues haven't skipped a beat in the six games without Tarasenko, going 5-1. The Avalanche are 2-5 without Rantanen. Nathan MacKinnon is great, but with Rantanen, he's an MVP candidate. If this team wants to have a chance to win the Central, that's who they need MacKinnon to be.


Matiash: Buy. In comparison to the top-heavy Avalanche, the Blues have the greater depth up front to compensate for the loss of Tarasenko.

Arledge: Absolutely buy. Consider that MacKinnon has an expected goals-for percentage of 71.2 with Rantanen on his wing and just 45.4 without him, per Natural Stat Trick.

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/280 ... s-buy-sell