The third in a series of Central Division teams and what they have done (or not done) to improve themselves in the offseason. I started at the bottom of the division and am working my way up. Next up, last season’s fifth place team… the St. Louis Blues.

Last Season – 44-32-6 – 94 points… finished 5th in the Central Division, 9th in the Western Conference. Missed playoffs by 1 point for their first playoff miss since 2011.

Key stat from last season – 2.75 and .906 – Jake Allen’s goals against average and save percentage.

Subtractions - F Patrik Berglund, F Vladimir Sobotka, G Carter Hutton, F Tage Thompson

Additions - F Ryan O’Reilly, F Tyler Bozak, F David Perron, G Chad Johnson, F Patrick Maroon

The BIG Question - Did they keep the right goaltender? Carter Hutton was the best goaltender in Blues country last season, and he is gone. Jake Allen has shown flashes, but not consistency. Every team depends on goaltending, but this team may have a greater dependency on it than most.

2018/19 Outlook - They have added incredible depth at center. Adding O’Reilly and Bozak to Brayden Schenn matches up well in the Central down the middle. Their top line of Schenn, Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko is formidable. St. Louis will be better due to their adds in the offseason, most pundit have declared them the overall winner of the summer… but we all know that and $5 will get you a latte from Starbucks. I have questions about their blueline, overall it is solid, but it lacks the speed of other top units. They are excellent positionally, but their lack of speed could be an issue.

You have to give GM Doug Armstrong credit in how he has rebuilt this team on the fly. His deadline day deals have paid off handsomely with only one playoff miss in the past few seasons, and now they seem to be positioned to make a move into the top tier of the Central Division.

Best Case/Worst Case - Best case for the Blues is that the chemistry comes together, Jake Allen regains the form of 2015-16 and they compete for the Central Division title. Worst case is that the injury bug bites this team again, Jake Allen looks like 2017-18 and they fall painfully short again.

Next up, the Colorado Avalanche.

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Random Notes

- The rookies/prospects are in Florida and got their tournament off to a solid start with a 5-4 win over the Baby Caps yesterday. The Babay Preds scored three in the third to come away with the win.

- Goal scorers yesterday were Colin Blackwell and Mathieu Oliver with two each, Yakov Trenin had the other Baby Pred goal.

- The prospects are in action again today at 11am CDT, taking on the Tampa Bay.

- Tonight is Petey’s Preds Party to benefit the Nashville Predators Foundation and Peterson for Parkinson’s at Bridgestone Arena.

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Tweets by @PredPAPaul


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