The St. Louis Blues were really two teams last season. One entered the season following a playoff berth, but struggled under coach Andy Murray; the other improved greatly when Davis Payne took over for the fired Murray.
But even a late surge (St. Louis went 23-15-4 under Payne), couldn’t get the Blues in the playoffs, as they finished with 90 points (just two fewer than the year before), five short of the playoffs and good for fourth in the Central Division and ninth in the Western Conference.
Because of the obvious improvement, the "interim" label was removed from Payne this off-season. Yet, by far the biggest news this offseason was the Blues’ stunning trade for Montreal Canadiens playoff hero, Jaroslav Halak. In exchange, St. Louis parted with a pair of prospects, Lars Eller and Ian Schultz.
Halak was 26-13-5 last season and ranked fourth in the NHL in save percentage (.940), and ninth in goals against average (2.40) and tied for fifth with five shutouts. Then he led stunning upsets of the Capitals and Penguins in the playoffs, before fading in the East Finals against the Philadelphia Flyers.
He’s an upgra ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Doc Moseman
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