Getting up to speed: Hitch, Army want Blues to be more 'reckless'
ST. LOUIS -- Get ready for change in St. Louis.
Based on general manager Doug Armstrong and coach Ken Hitchcock's comments Tuesday, the Blues will get younger, faster and more reckless.
"I really believe in the group, but I also believe that if we don't make the internal changes that are necessary, we're going to get passed," Hitchcock said.
Some of those changes may be style-related. As the Blues evaluated their game tape this past season, which ended with a first-round playoff exit to the Minnesota Wild, they recognized a trend: The NHL is now a fast man's game.
"What's happened here in very quick order, this league has sped up," Hitchcock said. "This league has pace like never before, and you can't change out a bunch of players. That's not our job as coaches. Our job is to get the most out of every player. And I think internally, without changing a bunch of players, we can really quicken our team and make our pace a lot higher."
They identified a mid-February game in Tampa this season, a 6-3 win, where the Blues flashed a level of speed that showed promise for the club's new approach.
"That's a very fast team," Armstrong said of the Lightning. "Now, they might not have been at 100 percent. I don't know. All I know is, we were, and we really looked quick. So how can we use the same personnel to get quicker? What are some of the things? And that's why Ken's a great coach, is he can find and make those alterations."
Another of those alternations Hitchcock has planned is for the Blues to resurrect more reckless play next season. He noted there were too many times this past year they were caught with gaps in their game -- either the defensemen were too far behind the forwards, or the forwards ended up too far ahead of the defensemen. While Hitchcock believes his team played with skill, he thinks its conservative play was costly. He also pointed out that the Blues have struggled the past two years in the playoffs to create separation off the rush.
"The four fastest teams in the league are playing right now," Hitchcock said, referring to Tampa Bay, Anaheim, Chicago and the New York Rangers. "They're the four fastest in October and November, and they're still playing. And we've got to get to that pace. We can do that. If Doug doesn't change anybody, we can do that, because we can change the way we play, but we can also change the position of the personnel to make us more reckless, much quicker."
Roster changes, however, are inevitable.
It's the nature of the salary cap system, Armstrong admitted Tuesday, that teams will make changes from year to year. He estimated even the team that wins the Stanley Cup will probably have about four or five changes on its roster, which means the Blues are no exception.
"I know there's four or five changes already, just based on free agency and the age of players and what's going to happen," Armstrong said. "We are going to have a different look."
Some of that may be bringing in players from the outside -- Armstrong said he will "explore improving our team to levels that we probably haven't explored in the past, but it has to make sense" -- but there certainly will be promotions from within. Armstrong said there was no question the Blues would be adding players from their AHL affiliate in Chicago next year. He also singled out defensemen Robert Bortuzzo and Petteri Lindbohm as players with the kind of reckless energy the club is looking for, and said they'll try to incorporate such personnel into their game plan early.
That doesn't necessarily sound good for Blues defenseman Barret Jackman, who turned 34 in March and is an unrestricted free agent this July.
The general manager would not say Tuesday whether any of the Blues' impending unrestricted free agents would return, but he did says his focal point would be signing the team's restricted free agents. That points to forward Vladimir Tarasenko, whose re-signing Armstrong indicated as the club's top priority as the offseason began.
Come July 1, Armstrong's focus will be on players who will be restricted or unrestricted free agents the following summer. He specifically mentioned Jaden Schwartz, who signed a two-year deal with the club in September.
Armstrong also shared that the team's pro scouts were in St. Louis and would be meeting Tuesday and Wednesday.
"We're going through every team," he said. "We have our free-agent list, and I'm telling them on teams I've talked to so far on what they're looking to do."
No word yet from Sobotka
Armstrong confirmed there's been no update on the situation with Vladimir Sobotka since Sunday's report from the Post-Dispatch said the forward has until roughly the end of this month to decide whether he'll return to the NHL this season. Whenever he does return, he will have to come back to the Blues for at least one year, unless the club itself decides otherwise.
You can follow Elisabeth Meinecke on Twitter at @lismeinecke or email her at ecmeinecke@gmail.com.
