06-01-2021, 03:31 PM(This post was last modified: 06-01-2021, 04:53 PM by leafs1997.)
St. Louis has been very patiently rebuilding for a few seasons now and that patience is soon to pay off. For this deep dive, we are going to take a look at St. Louis' blueline in the past as well as what it looks like going into next season. As always, there is an x-factor in these sort of projections due to trades, drafts, and activity. Despite this, and as a short preview: St. Louis' defense in going to be AWESOME next season.
Here was St. Louis' defense in season 58 (maybe the pairs aren't totally right, but close enough):
Withecheck - Urquhart
Bouchard - von Gucci
Andrasak - Beck
While it may not be the best defense in the SMJHL next season, it has a lot to be excited about. They are keeping a core group together that brings a cohesion that is important in getting better. And while there is still room for improvement, it absolutely will be the best blueline in the league in S61. Daryl Urquhart is the only defenseman older than S59 - and at 441 TPE today, I don't think he'll be called up until S62. This means that going into S61, St. Louis could realistically expect to have a least FIVE hard capped defensemen and one soft-capped defenseman.
Daryl Urquhart: Last year he was 2nd in points among defensemen, this year he was first. You may think this is not too big of a deal, but it is: Urquhart went on extended leave for a large part of the offseason and early part of this current season. He saw his ice time drop early in the year and only recently had to make up ground statistically. He is the oldest defender for the club and a great leader. He is a great shutdown defenseman. One area he may want o work on is his PIM - not bad at all (38), but it is second highest on the team among all skaters.
Dane von Gucci: Gucci is the rock that this defense is built around. He is the top TPE defenseman on the team, he's active in the locker room, and leads the team in TOI. Sure, he leads the team with a negative 41, but that's to be expected when you're on the ice a whole 2 minutes more than anyone else on average. Look for him to really step up his game next season. With increased skill and capaility supporting him, I wouldn't be surprised to see the biggest +/- shift ever.
Ethan Bouchard: You know, I wouldn't be surprised if fever95 was disappointed with Bouchard's season. It was a great season, but Bouchard has such high expectations because he is such a great defender. In his sophomore year, he had great defensive numbers. It may have been a situation where he was thrust into the top pair and just had to adjust on the fly right out of his rookie year. It's such a young D core, and Bouchard will be that cornerstone when Gucci and Urquhart leave. I expect he and von Gucci to have a great season next year.
Mars Stanton: For his rookie year, he did fantastically. 16 pts and a 60 DGR in 66 games is great. He was one of the few players with more takeaways than giveaways which is huge. He was a solid defensive player that was never a liability while on the ice. Some players are hot and cold, but Stanton was great in every single game. The biggest thing working against Stanton is the depth chart. He's fighting Beck for a top-4 spot and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he got it to start next year.
Marcel Beck: My guy. Great defensive numbers, okay offensive numbers, especially for a rookie. He had a ton of ice time and held up well. I can say that he'll be at the soft cap before he even stats his second season.
TBD defense: Major Chip Hazard was in this spot but he'll be dropped for inactivity. DFA Melvin Majestik-Moose filled the spot late in the year and did a great job. I expect whoever they pick in the upcoming draft as their top active D to be in this spot to start the year.
I'm really looking forward to next season with this group.
By-Tor![[Image: DqlVneu.png]](https://i.imgur.com/DqlVneu.png)
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