You got rumors? Let's throw them in here.

You got trades? Post here if you like!

You got firings? Let the pink slips fly!

I'm sure there will be separate threads for the big news, and rightfully so, but to help keep all speculation in one place, here we go:

Korac on Elliott: @lkorac10 · 8h 8 hours ago
Last tweet: Got to talk to Brian Elliott. Felt like it was last time. No way I see him wanting to stay here. I believe he'll ask for trade.

Not a big surprise. I think we'll see a new backup for Allen, and you ride him out. Every single goalie gives up a couple clunkers, even Dubnyk did (Tarasenko's goal in game two I believe was at a similar angle) Allen is our future goalie and deserves the start. Binnington is not ready to come up yet, so I see us trade Allen for someone a bit more older but who will still push and educate w/ Allen.

This article by Gordo on STLToday.com offers much similar speculation on Hitch and core players being moved this offseason as well. No mention of DA on hot seat, but I personally feel this may be his last summer if his changes don't pan out. No way Stillman keeps letting him spend his and the other owners' $$$$ w/o accountability. Tipsheet: Let the Blues speculation beginhttp://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... b2cb3.html

I thought from the above article, this one said a lot: "Kevin Allen, USA Today: "It would be easy for general manager Doug Armstrong to move in a new direction because Hitchcock’s contract expires this summer. Plus, several quality candidates are available, including Todd McLellan, Dan Bylsma and Randy Carlyle. Claude Julien’s status also seems to be up in the air in Boston and Mike Babcock’s contract is expiring in Detroit."

Not all think letting Hitch ride is a good idea though: ‏@martinkilcoyne2 9h9 hours ago
EZ thing to do is for @StLouisBlues to dump Hitch. Big mistake. Not the problem. IMHO. Roster filled with playoff no shows.

So, let the speculation sources and rumors fly. I feel better now that I got my first offseason hit in...ahhhhhhh,"we've been dancing with, mr. Bluesstone, they've been knocking, they won't leave me alone...no, no, no...won't leave me alone"

I saw some NBCSN analyst tweet that he's heard we are expecting to part ways with Hitch this week. He got the Blues twitter handle wrong in the tweet though so I'm not sure how reliable of a source he is.

http://www.stlouisgametime.com/2015/4/2 ... eek-report

Well I completely agree with Martin Kilcoyne that this roster is full of no show players, it's best to just clear house on and off the ice.

All the replacements are former coaches.

Is there a hot young coach around the league that will be a hot commodity or will it likely be a retread(I don't mean that negatively)?

Additionally, I would love to see the Blues move Oshie to Edmonton for the 16th pick in the draft.

wizard pork sword wrote:Well I completely agree with Martin Kilcoyne that this roster is full of no show players, it's best to just clear house on and off the ice.

All the replacements are former coaches.

Is there a hot young coach around the league that will be a hot commodity or will it likely be a retread(I don't mean that negatively)?

I believe former Blue Dave Lowry was an up and coming coaching name in juniors, however I haven't heard his name connected to any of the coaching openings or anything, so that might have changed.

wizard pork sword wrote:Well I completely agree with Martin Kilcoyne that this roster is full of no show players, it's best to just clear house on and off the ice.

All the replacements are former coaches.

Is there a hot young coach around the league that will be a hot commodity or will it likely be a retread(I don't mean that negatively)?

Additionally, I would love to see the Blues move Oshie to Edmonton for the 16th pick in the draft.

Bylsma is the first one that comes to mind. He did get fired from Pittsburgh, but the guy has had remarkable success right off the bat in his coaching career.

I go back and forth on whether we need to move on from Hitchcock daily. Yesterday I was done with him. Today I'm having second thoughts.

Anton Chigurh wrote:

wizard pork sword wrote:Well I completely agree with Martin Kilcoyne that this roster is full of no show players, it's best to just clear house on and off the ice.

All the replacements are former coaches.

Is there a hot young coach around the league that will be a hot commodity or will it likely be a retread(I don't mean that negatively)?

Additionally, I would love to see the Blues move Oshie to Edmonton for the 16th pick in the draft.

Bylsma is the first one that comes to mind. He did get fired from Pittsburgh, but the guy has had remarkable success right off the bat in his coaching career.

I go back and forth on whether we need to move on from Hitchcock daily. Yesterday I was done with him. Today I'm having second thoughts.

I mentioned him in the 'who will be behind the bench' thread, so not to be repetitive, but what about the Wolves current coach, John Anderson? While he didn't have much success w/ the Thrashers, they were the Thrashers

He has won multiple minor league championships, and is obviously very familiar with many of our young players. Is he more of a Andy Murray type coach best suited for developing players/minor leagues, or is he a viable replacement?

Thanks.

Not an official rumor, but I am starting my own TJ Oshie for Brent Burns rumors.

bradleygt89 wrote:
I mentioned him in the 'who will be behind the bench' thread, so not to be repetitive, but what about the Wolves current coach, John Anderson? While he didn't have much success w/ the Thrashers, they were the Thrashers

He has won multiple minor league championships, and is obviously very familiar with many of our young players. Is he more of a Andy Murray type coach best suited for developing players/minor leagues, or is he a viable replacement?

Thanks.

If Stillman wants to save a few bucks I'd imagine Anderson would be his cost effective guy.

wizard pork sword wrote:

bradleygt89 wrote:
I mentioned him in the 'who will be behind the bench' thread, so not to be repetitive, but what about the Wolves current coach, John Anderson? While he didn't have much success w/ the Thrashers, they were the Thrashers

He has won multiple minor league championships, and is obviously very familiar with many of our young players. Is he more of a Andy Murray type coach best suited for developing players/minor leagues, or is he a viable replacement?

Thanks.

If Stillman wants to save a few bucks I'd imagine Anderson would be his cost effective guy.

True, he'd probably cost a small % of a Babcock or even Mclellan, but I'm also curious if he'd be effective with this team, or at least the team we will be (i'm assuming 2-3 parts of the core and some late additions like Goc, ZM, Gunner will be gone).

Anyone have insights on his coaching style? Players coach, hard nosed, etc?

Just going back and pulling quotes from when the Thrashers hired him.

"One thing that came from watching the games was how he adapted on the fly," the GM said. "If something wasn't working, John would change the system. John would react and get the team to change immediately and play that new style. You can't do that unless you've got them prepared to play that way."

After the Thrashers balked at Hartley's harsh style, Waddell also wanted someone who could maintain more harmony in the locker room.

"One thing that kept coming back up was how much the players loved playing for John," Waddell said. "He treats them like men. They look forward to coming to the rink. That's a big factor for the players. You want them to have fun."


And then there was this following his firing..

Anderson served only two years as the Thrashers' coach after being promoted from the same job with the team's top minor-league affiliate in Chicago. He was 70-75-19 and had a nasty falling-out with one of the team's leading offensive players, Slava Kozlov, who said the team had the talent to make the playoffs but was poorly coached.

Dudley did little to contradict that assessment, saying he felt the team didn't put enough emphasis on defence and had trouble breaking out of slumps under Anderson. Also, there were questions about how well he developed players such as the 22-year-old Little, who slumped to 13 goals this season after scoring 31 the previous year.'

I do not recall that specific nasty falling out.

TY WPS, good insight. Who knows. J Ponder just tweeted back about this (and correction on Salary Cap from your info WPS):

@jponder94 2m2 minutes ago Manchester, MO
@bradleygt89 good call- I'll retract. Thanks. Anderson is a heck of a coach, but I see management wanting someone with more NHL experience.

I'm sure we'll see someone like that brought in; I wonder how long they wait to 'not renew' Hitch's contract.

In the meantime, we probably won't see any player movement until draft day, so it may be a long May.

I would love to pry one of those good young centers out of Long Island. They have a plethora of them. Strome would be my target.

bradleygt89 wrote:

Anton Chigurh wrote:

wizard pork sword wrote:Well I completely agree with Martin Kilcoyne that this roster is full of no show players, it's best to just clear house on and off the ice.

All the replacements are former coaches.

Is there a hot young coach around the league that will be a hot commodity or will it likely be a retread(I don't mean that negatively)?

Additionally, I would love to see the Blues move Oshie to Edmonton for the 16th pick in the draft.

Bylsma is the first one that comes to mind. He did get fired from Pittsburgh, but the guy has had remarkable success right off the bat in his coaching career.

I go back and forth on whether we need to move on from Hitchcock daily. Yesterday I was done with him. Today I'm having second thoughts.

I mentioned him in the 'who will be behind the bench' thread, so not to be repetitive, but what about the Wolves current coach, John Anderson? While he didn't have much success w/ the Thrashers, they were the Thrashers

He has won multiple minor league championships, and is obviously very familiar with many of our young players. Is he more of a Andy Murray type coach best suited for developing players/minor leagues, or is he a viable replacement?

Thanks.

I've wondered about Anderson. He does have an impressive record, from what I've heard. I would think if a change is made, he would get consideration.

MIZDSP wrote:I would love to pry one of those good young centers out of Long Island. They have a plethora of them. Strome would be my target.

Are Fabbri and Barbs true NHL centers, or will they more suited to be moved to wing ala Oshie and Bergs? I think one of them could replace Backes as our 3rd line C, you?

bradleygt89 wrote:

MIZDSP wrote:I would love to pry one of those good young centers out of Long Island. They have a plethora of them. Strome would be my target.

Are Fabbri and Barbs true NHL centers, or will they more suited to be moved to wing ala Oshie and Bergs? I think one of them could replace Backes as our 3rd line C, you?

They project Fabbri as a winger. Barbashev as a center.

Anton Chigurh wrote:

wizard pork sword wrote:Well I completely agree with Martin Kilcoyne that this roster is full of no show players, it's best to just clear house on and off the ice.

All the replacements are former coaches.

Is there a hot young coach around the league that will be a hot commodity or will it likely be a retread(I don't mean that negatively)?

Additionally, I would love to see the Blues move Oshie to Edmonton for the 16th pick in the draft.

Bylsma is the first one that comes to mind. He did get fired from Pittsburgh, but the guy has had remarkable success right off the bat in his coaching career.

I go back and forth on whether we need to move on from Hitchcock daily. Yesterday I was done with him. Today I'm having second thoughts.

I'm having second thoughts, the other way. I've supported Hitch all year, but all things considered in this latest embarrassment, and especially after listening to Yake's assessment, maybe it is time for a coaching change, especially if this roster is going to be shaken up like I hope it is.

Fuck me

bradleygt89 wrote:

MIZDSP wrote:I would love to pry one of those good young centers out of Long Island. They have a plethora of them. Strome would be my target.

Are Fabbri and Barbs true NHL centers, or will they more suited to be moved to wing ala Oshie and Bergs? I think one of them could replace Backes as our 3rd line C, you?

Barbashev is probably an NHL center. Fabbri I believe most reports have him lined up to be an NHL winger.

wizard pork sword wrote:Fuck me

There's a part of me that will miss that. At least Hitch appeared to give a fuck or two.

MIZDSP wrote:Not an official rumor, but I am starting my own TJ Oshie for Brent Burns rumors.

Wait a minute...I started that rumor!

NHLTIM wrote:

MIZDSP wrote:Not an official rumor, but I am starting my own TJ Oshie for Brent Burns rumors.

Wait a minute...I started that rumor!

you didn't tweet it, so it don't count

STICKY this thread, already!

#LGB

If we decide to move on from Backes, what about something along the lines of Backes + Hakanpaa to CBJ for Artem Anisimov, Fedor Tyutin and the CBJ 2015 2nd (38th overall)?

MissouriMook wrote:If we decide to move on from Backes, what about something along the lines of Backes + Hakanpaa to CBJ for Artem Anisimov, Fedor Tyutin and the CBJ 2015 2nd (38th overall)?

If that's the best we can get for Backes, then I say we just keep him. I don't see that package as filling a need or improving the team. IMO.

Hitch to speak:

@jprutherford 11m
Confirmed: Hitchcock will speak at 11 a.m. Tuesday, along with Armstrong. #stlblues

also:

@allsmandrew 4m4 minutes ago
The Blues have assigned Ty Rattie and Niklas Lundstrom to the Chicago Wolves. #StlBlues

and

For those who follow Jeff, sad to hear, but his reasoning makes sense. Best of luck to him.


@jponder94 11m11 minutes ago
I will no longer be a member of Blues media. Read here: http://jponder94.blogspot.com/2015/04/t ... media.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; … #stlblues thanks to everyone for your loyalty!