St. Louis Blues: 5 burning questions for 2018-19 season

2. Can They Figure Out An Optimal Forward Core?

Last season, the Blues had an amazing top-line trio. When they were able to get Brayden Schenn, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Jaden Schwartz on the ice together, few forward lines dominated like they did.

At five-on-five, the Blues owned nearly 60 percent of the total shot attempts, 60.77 percent of the unblocked shot attempts, and 62.92 percent of the scoring chances with their top line on the ice. Additionally, they outscored their opponents 26-15 in just over 431 minutes.

Ideally, the Blues would love to keep Schenn, Tarasenko, and Schwartz together. When you have a dominant trio, you do whatever it takes to keep them together. The addition of David Perron gives them another option and perhaps Robby Fabbri (if healthy) will too.

Perron will likely join O’Reilly on the second forward line along with fellow free agent signee (and Missouri native) Patrick Maroon. The Blues forward depth should give them options. Perron is about as consistent as they come in a scoring role, which might let St. Louis explore putting Tarasenko with O’Reilly’s line to give that trio a little more skill.

While it’s usually best to separate your best players to make your team more difficult to match up against, the Blues are clearly a better team when Schenn, Tarasenko, and Schwartz (arguably their three best forwards) are together. It’s up to the rest of their forwards to step it up so they can stay together. The more options the Blues have, the better.

For the first time in a while, Blues fans are going to have a ton of fun creating their hypothetical lineups. Head coach Mike Yeo should as well.