Dobber’s offseason fantasy hockey grades – St. Louis Blues

For the last 17 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 18th annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the ~~summer~~…er, winter. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what I take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

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Gone – Alex Pietrangelo, Jake Allen, Jay Bouwmeester, Troy Brouwer

Incoming – Kyle Clifford, Torey Krug, Steven Santini, Curtis McKenzie

Impact of changes – It may actually be a little rocky in the beginning. Because the Blues lost one of the best two-way defenders in the league and replaced him with Krug, who is an elite offensive rearguard but not known for his defense. Does this mean the other defensemen have to tighten up? It does, if the Blues want to give Krug the zone starts he had in Boston. That means no more sheltering for Vince Dunn. And don't look to Justin Faulk for defense either – he needs protected minutes more than anybody.

This may lead to Colton Parayko actually getting a sniff of power-play time though. He's a right-shot defenseman (and what a shot!). Pietrangelo was a righty as well, and was blocking Parayko on the depth chart. If Parayko partners with Krug he'll be the defensive conscience, but you can probably expect a few extra secondary assists at even strength.

And now that Jake Allen is gone, Ville Husso stands to gain. He's almost a lock to become the backup goaltender and my confidence in Jordan Binnington (no longer Winnington) is not exactly 100%. He's the starter and will get thrown out there many, many times no matter how poorly he performs. But there is a limit to that. He was average last season with a 0.912 SV% and 56% QS, but the year prior he was at 0.927 and 65.6%. And he was horrible in the playoffs. The Blues feel that part of his decline was due to confidence, and you can always solve confidence issues by removing any goaltending controversy, right? Right? So they get rid of Allen and bring in Husso, he of zero career NHL games. Keep your trigger finger poised over Husso's name on the waiver wire all season long.

Ready for full-time – Husso bounced back from a terrible 2018-19 with solid, though unspectacular numbers last season with San Antonio. He could probably have used at least another half season in the AHL, but he's 25 now and would have to clear waivers to be sent down. Besides that, the Blues need him. There's nobody else even close to him in the system, so for better or for worse – he's their backup. With Binnington shaky at times, Husso could wind up having some value in the year ahead. Let me put it this way – Husso has more value now and more potential to steal some starts in 2020-21…than Binnington did at the start of 2018-19!

Jordan Kyrou, the 35^th overall pick in 2016, tallied 203 points in his last 122 OHL games, plus 10 points in seven games for Team Canada at the 2018 WJC. He entered the AHL and was immediately productive, something you don't often see when a junior player makes the jump. But Kyrou has been a near-point-per-game guy down there right from the get-go. With the Blues he hasn't looked out of place. All he needs is a chance. He may not start the year (again) with the big club, but he won't be in the minors for much longer.

Scott Perunovich Is a diminutive defenseman with tons of offensive upside not unlike Krug. Both defenseman are 5-9, Krug left college after tallying 62 points and 110 PIM in his last 76 games there. Perunovich tallied 69 points and 96 PIM in his last 73 games there. Krug did play most of a season in the AHL first before making the jump. Perunovich may do the same, but I have him up for half a year. Do not expect him to be thrown straight into the fire though, he will be eased in the way we've seen with Vince Dunn.

St. Louis Blues prospect depth chart and fantasy upsides can be found here

Fantasy Outlook – The Blues were the 11^th-highest scoring team in the league one year after finishing 15^th. So offensively, they are a middle-of-the-pack team. Their defense took a big hit with the loss of Pietrangelo, and their goaltending was already showing chinks in the armor as Binnington lost some of that playoff magic. Parayko will step up in Pietrangelo's absence and Krug more than replaces the offense lost with Pietrangelo, but defensively it still might not be enough.

Offensively, the team will still be without Vladimir Tarasenko for much of the season and I think David Perron's production last year is unsustainable for the future. However, Robert Thomas has just been scratching the surface and is ready to breakout, and Kyrou is ready to make the jump. I like Zach Sanford as a dark horse producer for this team – how much of one will be determined by what he does this year. Ryan O'Reilly, Brayden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz round out the offense and they are in the prime of their careers.

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In the prospect pipeline, after Kyrou and Perunovich, they have Klim Kostin and little else of fantasy value. Jake Walman is looking more and more like a future depth guy instead of the stud he once was, and others such as Tyler Tucker, Jake Neighbours and Dylan Peterson are simply too far to garner fantasy interest other than for the deepest of leagues.

Fantasy Grade: B (last year was A)

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2020 Offseason Fantasy Hockey Grades