Sydor Retires & Blues Sign Six + Blues Q&A Question of the Week #3

The last member of the LA Kings 1993 Stanely Cup finals team* hangs up his skates this week as Daryl Sydor retires. The two time Cup winner appeared in 47 games for the boys in blue last season. Putting his career total at 1,291 games over 18 NHL seasons.

(*Note: Robert Lang is still active, but did not play in a playoff game that season)

The idea behind bringing Sydor to St. Louis was a logical one. The Blues were (and still are) a young team. Besides Andy McDonald no other Cup winners were on the roster. Sydor offered cost effective depth while imparting years of invaluable experience on baby faced prospects.

Sadly, the best laid plans of those in the hockey operations don’t always pan out. Sydor wouldn’t back down to the challenge, but it was becoming clear that he was struggling to keep up with the pace of the game. Which lead to a vocal minority claiming he was holding back prospects Jonas Junland and Alex Pietrangelo.  The reality was that neither were ready to replace anyone in the Blues top six. Both were better off playing more minutes elsewhere.

Sydor wasn’t exactly making a case for more ice time either.  His role was to fill in for injuries and to give someone a night off reminder to work harder. The circumstances did give Daryl a little taste of the coaching side of hockey. His nights off were spent being the Blues eye in the sky. Keeping an eye on the defensemen from the box upstairs. Helping the coaching staff to make defensive adjustments. His next venture sends him south to the Houston Aeros of the AHL where he will be an assistant to the newly hired Mike Yeo.

Kudos and congrats to Daryl Sydor on a great NHL career.

Blues Sign Six to Two-Way Contracts

This week the Blues announced that Brennen Evans, Nathan Oystrick , Nicholas Drazenovic, Ryan Reaves, TJ Hensick and Tyson Strachan have all agreed to one year, two-way contracts.

Brennan Evans spent last season with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. At 6’3 and 220 he is a large body on the blue line. All that needs to be said of Evans is that he likes to fight. To the tune of 199 penalty minutes in 79 games last season. Through his career of 494 games he has 1,111 penalty minutes. Should DJ King head to Peoria this season he could combine with Evans to become a new version of the Bash Brothers ala the Might Ducks movies.

Nathan Oystrick is what I like to call a “tweener”. He has spent the majority of his time in the AHL while garnering a few NHL call ups. Adding Osytrick on a two way is very similar to adding players like Brenden Bell, Danny Richmond, Steve Wagner, Bryce Lampman from previous seasons. He adds depth to the Blues list of injury call ups and brings experience to a Rivermen team about to get a burst of youthful players.

Nicholas Drazenovic is another “tweener”. Players taken in the 6th round often fall in to that category. He was not a flashy offensive player in the WHL and hasn’t really been in Peoria either. Although last season was his best professional season, posting 39 points in 58 games. I’m sure some of that was due to playing on the same line as then top forward prospect Lars Eller. Drazenovic projects out similarly to former Blues tweener extraordinaire Yan Stastny. Over qualified for the AHL, but can’t really make a home in the NHL. With the addition of Vladimir Sobotka, TJ Hensick, and the retention of Matt D’Agostini and Brad Winchester there isn’t much room for “Draz”. He has a chance to be a leader for the Riverman on their soon to be young roster. Perhaps that can pay off with a chance to take a 3rd/4th line role with the Blues in 11-12?

Ryan Reaves is a big man that likes to take the body. Listed at 6’2 and 220 lbs he can put the hurt on opposing defensemen. After a solid 08-09 season in Peoria there has been talk that he slipped with the Rivermen during the 09-10 campaign. I liked what I got to see of him at training camp and in the preseason. He looked the part of the big, surly, aggressive energy line instigator who might pop a few goals in too. The Blues have Brad Winchester and BJ Crombeen in this role already, but Reaves looked like he might move up and take that roster spot soon. With three seasons in the AHL already, he is a young veteran for Peoria who is hitting a watershed season.

TJ Hensick is similar to Matt D’Agostini. A young player with scoring success at lower levels who struggles to stick to a NHL roster. His acquisition was a low risk, high reward move. Sending AHL prospect Julian Talbot to Colorado. A player who at most projected in to a 4th line NHL role. Hensick will have a chance to compete for the NHL roster, but will have to oust D’Agostini, Sobotka, and possibly Drazenovic to get in.

Tyson Strachan fills out the remainder of the Blues depth chart on defense. I went in to some detail about Strachan’s abilities and history in my last blog. Please feel free to read more there. His benefits are two fold. In the NHL he is a capable “7th man”. Able to fill in for injuries and give nights off to regulars without making a negative impact. In Peoria he will be one of the most established veterans. Able to provide the farm team some stability.

I know its hard for any team’s fan to be excited about depth signings, but its all the Blues have till Erik Johnson and David Perron come to terms. The silver lining? The Blues know what they have to work with very early. Flexibility is a very good thing.

Blues Q&A Question of the Week #3

So far this week I’ve asked about Halak, Eller and the scoring line centers. The last question of the week focuses on goal scoring.

The Blues are losing roughly 32 goals off their everyday line up with the departure of Paul Kariya, Keith Tkachuk, and Mike Weaver. Will David Backes, Patrik Berglund and Brad Boyes rebound to cover those goals lost?

Yes or No?