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In this edition of the hotstove wediscuss whether the St. Louis Blues can rebound from this rough patch or if their goaltending woes will prevent them from making the playoffs.
Todd Cordell
There's a lot to like about the Blues' roster but I'm going to say no.
The goaltending just hasn't been good enough to win games on a consistent basis and, while it's bound to get at least a little better, there isn't much reason to believe that will change.
Since the beginning of 2014-15, Allen is 27th among 33 eligible goaltenders (minimum 4,000 minutes) in 5v5 save percentage. Cam Ward and Semyon Varlamov are the only starters below him in that span.
If you adjust the requirement to 2,000 minutes, St. Louis' backup, Carter Hutton, ranks 56th out of 60 in 5v5 save percentage. Two of the four are current NHL backups while the other two are no longer in the NHL.
Essentially, both goaltenders have been among the worst in the league over the last 2.5 seasons. Unless one of them becomes good overnight, I think a lack of goaltending will cost the Blues a playoff spot.
Adam French
I don't think the Blues will.
All of the focus is on the legendary fall of Jake Allen and the more expected continuation of mediocre play from Hutton. Yet this team has more troubles than just terrible goaltending.
An enigmatic offense that requires Tarasenko and Schwartz at their best to get anything done. The "depth" that was supposed to be the whole selling point of this team has been mediocre. Steen is having a blasse year, Stastny is just a confused mess, Lehtera is lucky he's best friends with Tarasenko, Perron is not the fit they hoped, Fabbri is playing like a typical sophomore and the "young gambles" have all failed (Yakupov/MPS/Jaskin.
To me, there are no quick fixes that just get them out of this. Sure you can say "make a trade for a freaking goalie," but what's the price? Getting Ben Bishop? He's in a slump this year himself and hasn't been able to stay healthy. Is that worth giving up a Barbashev or Thompson? Unless Marty Brodeur and Ty Conklin have some horseshoes or an exorcist manual, I don't see how this can end well. Plus, Mike Yeo? He's done very little to inspire confidence.
This team is better than where they are at, but they aren't the dangerous contender they were last season.
Peter Tessier
The Blues may be the only team that needs goaltending more than the Jets. In theory they should make the playoffs, if we were talking in October but now they are not and one has to wonder what has gone off the rails so badly.
It's a mess between the pipes but is that simply a goalie coach change or is it more? Are the systems a mess? Has Hitchcock worn thin? Is 30 games enough time to right the ship? Yeo has more than a few challenges but if he can find a way to get his goalies playing to league average save percentage they should be able to make the playoffs. If not Armstrong should be looking over his shoulder.
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