Let's Go Blues

While it is juniors, Bolduc shoots more than Jack Hughes. Hopefully, he brings that to the Blues when he gets promoted to the NHL.

Also reading a lot of really great things about Snuggerud. From what I understand he's really improved his skating and has a deadly shot. We'll see how that translates to the NHL level eventually but if Bolduc can iron out the shit that got him sent back to juniors this year and Snuggerud continues to have a lot of positive growth that can accelerate the process. I'd not complain about seeing both of them next season when O'Reilly and Tarasenko are inevitably gone. If nothing else they get valuable NHL experience and it's a big money save to get out from against the cap wall.

Been reading the stuff about Snuggerud. Cautious optimism on my part. WJC he was playing top minutes on the 1st line and 1st PP with other 1st round picks. More optimistic about the stuff from the NCAA, but, again he's moved up to top minutes on the top line playing with Logan Cooley as his center. We shall see if he can make the jump any faster than Kyrou and Neighbours when he's forced into sheltered minutes on a 3rd/4th line without a high end center as a rookie.

Just before the holiday trade freeze, Blues D prospect Marc-Andre Gaudet was traded from Chicoutimi to Sherbrooke Pheonix (QMJHL) for 5 draft picks. Sherbrooke is fighting for 2nd overall in the league and is tied with 2 other teams for 1st in their conference. Gaudet started the season with a healthy 1.4+ pts/game through the 1st 2 months. That tailed off in December. Since the trade, he's back up to a 1.4+ pts/game pace with 3G 7A in 7GP. He has the potential to be the team's leading scorer among defenseman for the season without including his Chicoutimi statistics.

Meanwhile, Bolduc's Remparts are 7 points clear in 1st place overall in the Q. The 2 team's they struggled with in the playoffs last season aren't even in the mix, so they have a good shot at winning the Q and contending for the Memorial Cup.

Don't be surprised if the Blues include any of these LD prospects in a trade if they move any of their UFAs: Buchinger, Gaudet, Galloway, or Beck. I'd find a way to keep Buchinger and Gaudet. Those two have solid potential to be an excellent 1A/1B LD in 2-3 years. Yes, I know that doesn't leave room for both Tucker and Mikkola, but if they can get either to be effective defensively on the right side, it creates that space. (Yes, this presumes the Blues move Krug, which I believe needs to happen).

I didn’t know a whole lot about Gaudet early on but he’s definitely developing like a keeper.

It would be amazing if they could trade Krug. Getting rid of him plus O’Reilly and Tarasenko before losing the latter two for nothing would go a long way towards paving a path for the handful of youngsters who should get a shot. The guard is changing, Kyrou and Thomas are the new core, Toropchenko and Alexandrov are the foundation of a solid bottom 6 and guys like Tucker, Kessel, Bolduc, Snuggerud, Hofer and then some time later on maybe Gaudet or Buchinger should really help wrap up the shift to the next Cup window.

This won’t be your 2019 Blues but they have the potential to be damn good.

glen a richter wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 14, 2023 7:23 am

I didn’t know a whole lot about Gaudet early on but he’s definitely developing like a keeper.

Immediately after Gaudet was traded, the Blues signed him to a 3-year contract - which won't start until he plays 10 games in the NHL. Currently, he's the only signed D prospect not in the AHL. They locked him up early.

glen a richter wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 14, 2023 7:23 am

I didn’t know a whole lot about Gaudet early on but he’s definitely developing like a keeper.

It would be amazing if they could trade Krug. Getting rid of him plus O’Reilly and Tarasenko before losing the latter two for nothing would go a long way towards paving a path for the handful of youngsters who should get a shot. The guard is changing, Kyrou and Thomas are the new core, Toropchenko and Alexandrov are the foundation of a solid bottom 6 and guys like Tucker, Kessel, Bolduc, Snuggerud, Hofer and then some time later on maybe Gaudet or Buchinger should really help wrap up the shift to the next Cup window.

This won’t be your 2019 Blues but they have the potential to be damn good.

I hope so but I don't see anyone taking on that contract. The Blues would definitely be selling low on him. Army hasn't eaten any of the contracts he's ever dealt on retained salary so we can't expect that happens. I think we're just stuck with him. He's been "fine" but overall Army's miscalculations on Petro, Faulk and Krug have cost this franchise mightily.

I think what's happened with Krug is the 30+ hockey player has lost just enough of a step he can't rely on speed to make up for his lack of size. This is a bigger problem for d-men than forwards.

When the QMJHL playoffs get going - assuming the top teams advance - the conference finals between Halifax and Quebec should be a heckuva series. Halifax has the top scorers - 3 of them - in the league. Quebec has Bolduc (4th in points and top 5 in goals) along with Rochette who is top 5 in assists. Defensively (while +/- is flawed it's the only "defensive" stat available), Halifax has 5 of the top 20 in +/-, while Quebec has 4 of the top 20.
Goaltending is interesting. Quebec's 2 netminders are 1-2 in GAA and 9-10 in SV%. Halifax starting goalie is #7 in SV% and #9 in GAA. The backup is way down the rankings (23rd in GAA, 35th in SV%). I'm going to try to find a way to watch this series if it happens, because it's 2 offensive power houses vs 2 teams with good defense and top end goaltending. The 2 are tied in points for the regular season conference title and overall QMJHL title with Quebec holding a 2 game lead in Regulation wins. Which prevails?

In the AHL, even with the Blues having had to use so many players over the past 3 months from Springfield, the T-Birds are 7-3 in their last 10 (13-5 in February and March, 18-5 following their 4 game losing streak in January) and should easily make the playoffs. While they had a rough start to the season with considerable roster turnover along with the challenges of the numerous call-ups this season, Bannister got their ship righted. Zherenko and Hofer have a .922 and .920 SV% respectively. The cool thing about Hofer, he's a puck-handling goalie - like Binnington. Actually has 4 assists this season.

Quebec is still tied with Halifax for first overall in the Q. Both have 105 points. If they both win out, Quebec wins on the tie-breaker since they have 5 more non-shootout wins. If Halifax loses one game and Quebec wins one game - Quebec clinches 1st overall. We'll see how Bolduc and the Remparts do with home ice throughout the Q playoffs - which they should get.

Sounds like Bolduc worked on what he had to work on. I’m looking forward to seeing him on the big club next season.

Snuggerud, yeah another season in college is probably a good idea especially if his line mates make the jump to the nhl and see how he does without them. No point in rushing.

I’ve been looking all over creation for an update on Dickinson. I know he had a setback somewhere along the way obviously and hasn’t played at all this season. A shame because that will just push him down the depth chart when he was looking like mid round steal.

As far as next season goes and guys coming up and over to play in the AHL hopefully Loof and Robertsson, I’m very curious to see where they stand playing over in America.

Loof is one player I'm not sold on going anywhere beyond the AHL or staying in Europe. He just didn't stand out in any of the similar age competitions other than doing the wrong things, mostly. He seems to be doing alright in the Finnish men's league (Liiga) playing for 2nd place Ilves, so maybe I'm wrong. 55gp 4g 16a +22 only 28 pim which surprises me given his penchant for taking penalties anytime I saw him play in any of the Jr competitions.

Only news I could find on Dickinson is he's expected to play in the AHL in the 23-24 season - which isn't surprising to me given the injury he's had to recover from. I was shocked he was skating at all when the preseason rolled around.

Quebec won the Jean-Rougeau Trophy, being crowned regular season champion for the 2nd season in a row. Bolduc is 4th in goals and points which is where he will likely finish the season with one more game remaining. He's also 3rd overall in shots on goal - not shot attempts - actual shots on goal - which is better then he finished last season - although missed several games being with Team Canada for the abbreviated WJC.

Playoffs being Sat 3/31 vs the Charlottetown Islanders.

Ended up picking up the CHL.tv playoff package...

Between Bolduc, Zac Dean, Buchinger, and Gaudet - that's enough prospects to watch and all of them have legitimate shots at winning their league and reaching the Memorial Cup. The only catch - 3 of them are on different teams in the QMJHL, so only one of them can win that league.

Watching the Remparts first round Game 1 vs Charlottetown...

If Bolduc carries over his style of play from what he's doing at Quebec and doesn't have a tentative camp like this past season, he should make an impact on the Blues style of play. One thing I've complained about all season is the Blues not hitting guys when they should. Bolduc, every time he can pressure a guy with a hit who is attempting to play the puck, he makes the hit first... worries about the puck 2nd...

1st shift he's F1 - hits his guy and forces direction of play. 15 seconds later he's the 3rd man high. 15 seconds after that, he's the net front presence.

Shortly after on a power play - he's the bumper, shifts down to net front, then winds up getting a solid one-timer off from the blueline. It'll also be interesting seeing how he performs in a more structured power play than being the roamer he seems to be for the Remparts.

The other thing he does - he one times moving pucks. When Kyrou was first trying to make the Blues he had a bad habit of trying to settle or put the puck where he wanted it before shooting (still does sometimes). Bolduc fires one-timers without any of that attempting to settle it crap.

Defensively, he's playing the 200' game. A couple times already he's been the first player back covering for the d who'd stepped up to try and force play.

The one weakness - we don't want to see him making stretch passes. So far, he's missed on the 3 he's attempted.

This style of play he's showing just needs to carry over when he moves up a level and if it does, Berube will love using him as an example of how to play.

Zachary Dean is a younger Barbashev. He's playing 3rd line center for Gatineau in the Q, plays on the 1st PP on the right halfwall, and is the #1 C for the PK. With the hat trick in his most recent game, he has 21 points in his last 10 games 12G 9A. In his last 5, 8G 6A.

Another prospect who doesn't shy from contact, plays a 200' game, and reads the play incredibly well. He's pointing out to teammates where the puck will go before it leaves opponents sticks if he's not the first one that can get to it. Makes smart plays that don't necessarily include him playing the puck. I know, sounds like a 1st line center, but Gatineau is using all his skills, not just his offensive instincts. He's 3rd on the team in scoring, but doesn't play with for their top 2 wingers. A defenseman leads their team in scoring.

Being a 6'0 C and the Blues having traded ROR and Barbashev, he'll get a shot in camp.

It's fun watching these CHL games instead of just the highlights which don't show slot of what these guys are doing.

As of now, Dean is tied for the lead in QMJHL playoff scoring after 2 games. Game 1: 3G 1A. Game 2: 1G 2A. His even strength ice time was increased in Game 2. If you combine all the CHL leagues, he's tied for 6th in overall scoring, 1 point behind Bedard. Tied for 2nd in Goals, 1G behind Bedard. I don't see that staying the case... but it is fun. It could continue through the first round, though, considering Gatineau (Dean's team) won 7-1 and 9-0 in the first two games of the playoffs.

On Bedard, Regina finished 6th in their conference and is up 2 game to none, almost entirely because of Bedard. Regina can get away with this maybe through 2 rounds, seeing as they've outscored all but the top 4 teams in the WHL, almost entirely because of Bedard. But he can't make up 50+ goals in offense which will be the case if they have to play Winnipeg, Seattle, or Kamloops. NHL Radio was comparing him to Crosby when Sidney almost single handedly got Rimouski in the Memorial Cup when Crosby was 16.

Vadim Zherenko up on emergency recall. Greiss is allegedly injured.

I’m cool if the kid gets a game or two, he’s probably the backup or a 1B in a few years. Let’s see what he can do.

Vs the Flyers, why not give Zherenko a start?