St. Louis Blues 21-22

Tom Timmermann
Colorado defenseman Josh Manson knew he had an instant to get in position to make what may well have been the most important save of Game 6.
In the second period, Jordan Kyrou had the puck and Colorado goalie Darcy Kuemper was out of his net and not getting back. As Kyrou moved into position to get a clean shot, Manson slid in and blocked the shot, saving a sure goal. If it goes in, the Blues are up 3-1 and Colorado has a deeper hole to dig out of to get back.
“Well, there was a bit of a panic, to be honest with you, because they made a good play,” Manson said. “Once it went to Kyrou, I knew he was a really patient player and I had a feeling he was gonna hold on to that thing and once I saw him take the step, I just was hoping that it hit me and I think if that one goes in, we're still a resilient team and are still gonna bounce back, but it was nice to get that one.”


“They threw it back down and he showed good patience,” Kuemper said. “I tried to get over there as quick as I could but he held on to it. Manse came up with a heroic block there and the puck found its way back to me.”
“You look back on it now,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said, “and you see how tight the game is. Their power play is scary. Give the Blues credit. I look at that team and playing against them, they’re a really good team and they start zipping that thing around, they’ve got some skill and all of a sudden, the net is open, they’re going side to side and (Manson) comes sliding through there and makes a huge save. One of the biggest of the game and keeps us within striking distance. That is the type of desperation and sacrifice that you need from your guys to win at this time of the year. It’s sort of fitting that we were able to get a play like that.”

Ben Frederickson
They made the Avalanche earn it, and considering the circumstances, that is admirable, but earn it the Avalanche did in the end.
The Blues’ magic from their unforgettable Game 5 comeback in this second-round series against Colorado officially expired Friday night during the final six ticks of the clock.
A game-winner from Darren Helm — as no one but Helm's family and close friends could have predicted — made it 3-2, sent Blues fans grumbling toward the exits and rewarded the Avalanche for all of that ice they tilted toward the Blues for so much of this series.
The wackiness of overtime didn't get a chance to intervene this time. That cold, hard math finally added up. The lesson: When you give a team this dangerous so many chances over a best-of-seven series, a team this dangerous is going to beat you.

The Avalanche, predicted by many to lift the Stanley Cup since before the puck dropped on the regular season, move forward no longer carrying that heavy baggage about their second-round flops of the past. If future Colorado opponents don't do a better job of attacking beatable goalie Darcy Kuemper, don't be surprised if there is a parade in Denver. Usually, that would make Blues fans feel a little better. Considering the Avalanche's ownership, probably not.
The Blues will stay home, where they will fairly wonder about what could have been. But they have more to ponder than a controversial injury to their postseason MVP goalie and the absence of defenseman Torey Krug. Blues boss Doug Armstrong has to get to work figuring out how to close the gap with the Avalanche a little bit more. This series was a step in the right direction, after last season's first-round sweep. But another step is needed, and Colorado, unlike Minnesota, is built to last, for one more season at least.

Tom Timmermann
Jordan Binnington’s collision with Nazem Kadri, which ended Binnington’s season, may have been a turning point in the Blues-Avalanche series, and it took on a new dimension after the game when Binnington threw an empty plastic water bottle at Kadri while he did a postgame interview.
On Tuesday, Binnington gave his explanation as to what happened.
“So I went to get my knee checked out in-game,” he said, “I was coming back to the rink, the game just ended, walking down the hallway, couldn’t find a recycling bin on my way down the hallway and right before I walked into the locker room I see him kind of doing the interview there, smiling, laughing and I’m there in a knee brace limping down the hallway.

“I felt like it was a God-given opportunity. I don’t know, I could stay silent and go in the room or I could say something and have him look me in the eye and understand what’s going on, something to think about. I threw the water bottle, an empty water bottle, it landed like two feet from him. It is what it is there.
“I mean, but it is what it is, it’s hockey, it’s a competitive game.”

Health update​

While Binnington wouldn’t say whether or not he would have been playing in the conference finals had the Blues gotten that far, coach Craig Berube said if there was a Game 7 with Colorado, Torey Krug would have played and he almost played in Game 6.

Jim Thomas
With the offseason suddenly here, Blue general manager Doug Armstrong sees a team that needs to improve. That’s always the case when you fall short of the Stanley Cup.
But he also sees a team that’s not far away from being a serious Cup contender, and a team that does not need anything resembling an offseason overhaul.
“It doesn’t need major tweaking,” Armstrong said Tuesday at the team’s season wrapup media availability. “In a cap system, we’re in a really good spot for next season. We have so many returning players under contract.”
It’s basically a three-player offseason for the Blues in terms of free agents: forward David Perron, defenseman Nick Leddy and goaltender Ville Husso. All are scheduled for unrestricted free agency on July 13. With about $10 million in projected salary cap space for next season according to CapFriendly.com, it seems unlikely that the Blues will be able to sign all three.

At least without clearing some cap room elsewhere.
“I wouldn’t say no,” Armstrong said with a laugh. “We’re going to go to work. That’s our job is to try and find a way to bring as many good players into the organization, whether they’re here, whether they’re from the outside.

Vladimir Tarasenko
A year ago he produced just four goals and 10 assists in 24 games while struggling with chronic shoulder injuries. His camp made a trade request last summer, but GM Doug Armstrong did not honor it. Tarasenko set aside the issue by reporting in great shape physically and mentally. His latest surgical repair finally fixed his shoulder and he roared back to his old form: 34 goals, 48 assists in 75 games for a 90-point pace. He followed that by scoring six times in the playoffs.
Grade: A

Justin Faulk
Blues GM Doug Armstrong acquired him as protection against a potential Alex Pietangelo exodus via free agency. Sure enough, Pietrangelo left and Faulk replaced him as the team’s cornerstone defender. He upgraded his offense this season, scoring at a 51-point pace after scoring at a 37-point clip last season. More power-play usage and offensive zone starts helped that process. Faulk still played the body (149 hits) and blocked shots (101) at the other end. His strength 5-on-5 was reflected in his plus-41 rating, and he played nearly 26 minutes per game in the playoffs.
Grade: A+

Charlie Lindgren
Ville Husso
Jordan Binnington
Joel Hofer

Doug Armstrong, general manager

Craig Berube, head coach

Jim Montgomery, assistant coach

Steve Ott, assistant coach

Mike Van Ryn, assistant coach

Blues traded Ville Husso to the Red Wings for a 3rd round pick. Husso signed a 3-year deal with Detroit with an AAV of $4.75 million.

Jim Thomas
Before the 2022 free agency period had even begun, the Blues got a head start on 2023.
Center Robert Thomas, fresh off a career year has signed a record-setting eight-year, $65 million contract - the team announced Wednesday.
It's the richest contract in Blues history.

Thomas, still only 23, had a 77 points (in 72 regular-season games) on 20 goals and 57 assists. The extension kicks in for the 2023-24 season and expires in 2031 or just before Thomas’ 32nd-birthday.
Thomas would have been a restricted free agent after this coming season. Having his contract taken care of takes one thing off a very full plate prior to the 2023-24 season. That’s when Ryan O’Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko and Ivan Barbashev are scheduled for unrestricted free agency, and when Jordan Kyrou is scheduled for restricted free agency.


As the free agency period started at 11 a.m. Central there were uncomirmed reports that the Blues were zeroing in on deals with defenseman Nick Leddy and goalie Thomas Greiss.

Leddy re-signed for 4 years.

Blues have signed Thomas Greiss to a one-year, $1.25 million deal to serve as Binnington's back-up.

Charlie Lindgren heading to the Capitals on a 3 year, $3.3 million deal. Blues not bringing him back makes me think that Joel Hofer must be close to being in St. Louis soon.

Blues also signed Noel Acciari to a one-year, $1.25 million deal.

Perron signed a 2-year deal with the Red Wings.

Honestly Huberdeau for Tkachuk straight up would probably have been a fair trade.

IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1550679892467015680

Honestly Huberdeau for Tkachuk straight up would probably have been a fair trade.

Click to expand...

Tkachuk is really good but I agree with you that's an awful lot going the other way. LOL Panthers don't have a first until 2026 now. They hand out first round picks like a Pez dispenser.

SnakePlissken said:

Tkachuk is really good but I agree with you that's an awful lot going the other way. LOL Panthers don't have a first until 2026 now. They hand out first round picks like a Pez dispenser.

Click to expand...

Trading away all your early round draft capital has worked for the Rams to this point.

Ben Frederickson
Well, it was fun while it lasted.
The thought of Matthew Tkachuk wearing The Note made our imaginations run wild.
Reality cross-checked the daydream late Friday night, when news broke that Tkachuk had been traded to Florida, where the St. Louis product, son of Blues alum Keith, signed an eight-year deal with the Panthers worth a reported $76 million.
The $9.5 million average annual value should not be a shocker. Tkachuk is that good, and the team on his preferred list of landing spots was going to get the best and first chance at locking up the 24-year-old phenom long-term. Florida capitalized on the same situation so many were hoping the Blues could and would. Tkachuk, unless he is traded again, is now a Panther through the 2029-30 season.

The stunner here was what the Panthers agreed to part with from a team that won the President’s Trophy last season. Let’s go line by line. Calgary got ...
• Jonathan Huberdeau, a 29-year-old star forward and two-time All-Star who is coming off a career-best 115-point season that included a career-high-tying 30 goals and a career-best 85 assists. Huberdeau was the No. 3 draft pick in 2011. Tkachuk was No. 6 in 2016.
• MacKenzie Weegar, a proven 28-year-old top-pairing defenseman who was a career-best plus-40 for the Panthers last season while producing career-highs in both goals (eight) and assists (36).

• Cole Schwindt, a 21-year-old rookie forward and former third-round pick who is three games into his NHL career.

• One lottery-protected first-round draft pick in the 2025 draft. Calgary sent a conditional fourth-round pick to Florida along with Tkachuk, and that’s it.

Diehard Blues fan is suing the team, saying that they sold him thousands in mislabled merchandise: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local...cle_a56319e1-02d9-5831-8f90-d74bc9caee02.html

Jeff Gordon
Top NHL teams launched into damage control again this summer.
Facing a nearly flat salary cap, most contenders couldn’t improve. Instead, they tried to mitigate the impact of personnel losses suffered through free agency and salary-cutting trades.
The Blues lost power-play triggerman David Perron and goaltender Ville Husso, but many Central Division rivals took big hits, too.
The Colorado Avalanche lost goaltender Darcy Kuemper, 61-point scorer Andre Burakovsky and, quite possibly, 87-point scorer Nazem Kadri. The Minnesota Wild lost 33-goal scorer Kevin Fiala, and the Dallas Stars could lose defenseman John Klingberg — a free agent who, like Kadri, remains unsigned.

Here’s the bottom line on this side of the league: The Avalanche loom as Stanley Cup favorites, the Blues retain a clear playoff path, the Nashville Predators displace the Wild as their immediate rival and the Pacific Division emerges with more balance.
Colorado hockey czar Joe Sakic is betting that incumbent Pavel Francouz and newly acquired Alexandar Georgiev can flourish in goal behind the team’s firepower.
Sakic re-signed power forward Valeri Nichushkin as well as excellent late-season acquisitions Artturi Lehkonen, an all-purpose winger, and Josh Manson, a rugged defender.
When the marketplace music stopped, Kadri still was standing, so he must lessen his demands while hoping a team creates cap space for him.

Jim Thomas
When Robert Thomas was signed to a franchise-record eight-year, $65 million contract extension on July 13, Blues general manager Doug Armstrong mentioned that teammate Jordan Kyrou was next in line.
“Moving forward, Robert and Jordan, they're becoming more and more the alpha males - and the game is trending towards that,” Armstrong said at the time. “I think Kyrou, you saw what he did last year, needs to be a top player for us to be a top franchise.
“The question might be well, why Robert before Jordan? Like the old analogy, how do you get the horses back in the barn?
“One at a time. So we got one horse back in the barn and now we'll go to work on some of the other guys.”


Well, exactly two months after signing Thomas, Armstrong got another horse in the barn. A thoroughbred actually, when Kyrou was signed to a contract extension Tuesday. It’s an eight-year, $65 million deal – with an average annual value of $8.125 million. It's the same deal as Thomas.
The latest move is another indication that Thomas and Kyrou are the future of Blues hockey.
At age 24, Kyrou is 14 months older than Thomas and was drafted one year earlier (in 2016). It has taken Kyrou slightly longer to develop, but both players basically have been joined at the hip as highly-touted prospects.

Both are making $2.8 million this season and were scheduled to be arbitration-eligible restricted free agents before their extensions this offseason. Now, they’re both budding stars, locked up until the start of the next decade.