St. Louis Blues hockey is officially back this weekend when the Wild come to town for the first game of preseason. The Blues and Wild will play in this season’s Winter Classic. Both jerseys have been revealed, how do you feel?
The roster looks quite different from last season. Colton Parayko signed an INSANE eight year contract. I HATE these long contracts. Guys like Schwartz and Dunn moved out West to join the newest expansion team the Seattle Kraken. If you want to read more about the Kraken, check out Eli’s latest post. Vladimir Tarasenko is still a member of the Blues and will take part in training camp.
Requesting a trade is BIG BOY energy and with all these new faces the next question is how do all the new pieces fit? Tarasenko has plenty left in the tank but he has to want to be out there on the ice with this group if he wants to be successful. Long time trainer Ray Barile deserves a giant hug from 91 listen to the clip below. Cam nails it here.
Meanwhile, the prospects are making the hockey gods happy in Traverse City. Nature is most definitely healing…
Tyler Bozak returns on a one year deal worth $750,000. This might be my favorite signing of the offseason. HUGE for Army with this one because Bozak is an underrated aging veteran who screams experience. The Blues need a guy like Bozak in the locker room to help shape the young skaters. Honestly, probably deserves more but I think he takes a pay cut because he wanted to stay in St. Louis.
Brandon Saad was the second big free agent brought in after Pavel Buchnevich signed a four year deal. I guess I’m all in on the “Saad Father” after drafting him in fantasy for the first time ever. Between Saad and Buchnevich I think Army did a good job of addressing the wing void.
Lastly, two veterans were signed to a professional tryout: James Neal and Michael Frolik. Not sure how these guys will fit in with the salary cap but if Army can make it work I am all on board. Two forwards who are known for their hard work would make a great addition to this Blues squad.
The Morning Skate 
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