Should he stay or should he go?

The Blues are playing fantastic hockey right now. I hope you saw the game against Chicago. Dominating.

But here comes the hard question. How good are the Blues? I believe that they are good enough to make the playoffs. Even though they currently have the third best point/game ratio, I don't think they are good enough to win the Cup. (It could happen, just not likely) This means that the Blues still need to think of next year and not this year. Should Doug Weight resign with the Blues?

The Blues have one too many forwards right now (Rucinsky is on the IR). But only four forwards are UFAs. Rucinsky (gone), Mike Johnson (gone), Ryan Johnson (gone?), and Doug Weight. It is almost guaranteed that TJ Oshie will be on the team next year. If the Blues trade for a forward this year, only Ryan Johnson or Doug Weight should be resigned, but not both. (Any injuries could be substitued by players from Peoria, as it should be)

At this point in their careers, I cannot argue that Doug Weight has more value that Ryan Johnson. DW is horribly slow but has great hands and can pass. He is still a great skill player but his speed limits its effectiveness. I think of a latter day Adam Oates. RJ is a fast skater who can hit and is a tremendous defender and forechecker but has little offensive value.

In the fantasy world where I run the Blues, I would punt Rucinsky, MJ, and Dan Hinote. (I just never warmed up to this guy.) McClement and Backes are on the bubble. I would bring back both Weight and RJ. I think Weight can be an effective third line center behind Tkachuk and Oshie. Of course, my sentimentality has me looking for reasons to keep Weight. What I think will happen is that RJ will be brought back and Weight signs a one year contract with another team (back to Edmonton?) and then calls it a career. A year after that, the Blues ownership group will have a special Doug Weight day to sell tickets.


Good stuff on Backes. I think it was Jeff Gordon who began fluffing him last year. I think, at best, Backes and McClement can evolve into effective defensive forwards on an energy line, supplanting Mayers and Ryan Johnson.