One of my fellow writers from the Hockey Writers has an interesting piece on the St. Louis Blues signing former Denver Pioneer Paul Stastny. With the signing, the Blues have added some great depth to their lineup.
Jeff Ponder, KSDK Sports -- Not only has this signing allowed the Blues to appear more menacing on paper, it also provides head coach Ken Hitchcock more wiggle room in developing lines. David Backes, who scored his career-high 31 goals and 62 points while playing on right wing (2010-11), now has the option to move back to his natural position.This past season, the Western Conference was a death march. The west is going to be even tougher this season, with the moves that have been made in the offseason.
"I see a scenario where Paul plays with [Alexander] Steen and Backes," GM Doug Armstrong said on Tuesday. "That gives us quite a bit of strength on the wing, [and] the size with Backes. And then you have [Patrik] Berglund with [Vladimir] Sobotka and maybe [T.J.] Oshie as another line. [Jori] Lehtera has a history with [Vladimir] Tarasenko from the KHL."
Without taking a second look, you can see this lineup will threaten more often than what the team rolled out at the beginning of last season.
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