St. Louis Blues re-sign Jacob de la Rose

 

The St. Louis Blues have re-signed left wing Jacob de la Rose to a one-year contract, worth $700,000. De la Rose, 25, was acquired by the Blues on November 6, 2019 from the Detroit Red Wings for left wing/center Robby Fabbri. De la Rose, would end up playing in 34 games for the Blues. De la Rose had 1 goal with 4 assists, 5 points, and a -1. Combined between the Red Wings and Blues, de la Rose played in 50 games with 2 goals, 7 assists, 9 points, and a plus 2. 

De la Rose played in 5 of the Blues playoff games. De la Rose had 88 hits, which were 5th best on the team (120 total combined between the Red Wings and Blues). The hits were de la Rose's 2nd most in his career. De la Rose's most hits were 127 in the 2017-2018 season with the Montreal Canadiens. 

Overall, de la Rose has played 6 NHL season. De la Rose has played 229 games with 13 goals, 24 assists, 37 points, and a -27. In the playoffs, de la Rose has played 17 games and is a -1. 

De la Rose might not show up much on the scoring side of things, but he plays solid hockey. He doesn't make many mistakes. He showed that he can play Craig Berube style hockey. 

St. Louis Blues trade Allen to Canadiens

 

The St. Louis Blues have traded goalie Jake Allen, and a 2022 7th round draft pick to the Montreal Canadiens for a 2020 3rd round pick (via Washington Capitals), and 2020 7th round pick (via Chicago Blackhawks). Allen, 30, went 12-6-3 last season with 2 shutouts, a .927 saver percentage, and a 2.15 goals against average. The season before, (2018-2019), Allen ended up losing his job as the Blues starting goalie to rookie Jordan Binnington. Allen took it as a professional and didn't complain. The Blues ended up winning their first ever Stanley Cup in franchise history over the Boston Bruins. 

Allen's best season as a starter for the Blues came in 2016-2017. In that season, Allen played a career high 61 games, 60 starts with a record of 33-20-5 with 4 shutouts, a .915 save percentage, and a 2.42 goals against average. Allen's most shutouts in a season were 6 in 2015-2016. 

Allen leaves the Blues with 289 games played (2nd most for goalies in franchise history), 148 career wins (2nd), 21 shutouts (2nd), and 4 assists (5th). 

Overall, Allen has played 7 NHL seasons. Allen has a has played 289 games, 271 starts with a record of 148-94-26 with 21 shutouts, a .913 save percentage, and a 2.50 goals against average. In the playoffs, Allen has played 29 games, 23 starts with a record of 11-12 with a .924 save percentage, and a 2.06 goals against average. 

With Allen being trade the Blues get rid of $4.35 million in cap space. The Blues main focus this offseason is to re-sign captain Alex Pietrangelo. So it makes since for the Blues to clear cap space. The Blues backup goalie next season will probably be Ville Husso. I can see the Blues bringing someone into camp who has NHL experience to battle with Husso. 

St. Louis Blues Sign Mackenzie MacEachern to Two-Year Contract Extension

The St. Louis Blues have signed left wing Mackenzie MacEachern to a two-year contract extension worth $1.8 million. MacEachern, 26, is currently in his 2nd NHL season. MacEachern has been a solid 4th line player since coming into the NHL with the Blues. The Blues drafted MacEachern in the third round of the 2012  NHL Draft, (67th overall). Last season, MacEachern finally reached the NHL and helped the Blues win their first ever Stanley Cup. This season, MacEachern has played 51 games with 7 goals, 3 assists, 10 points, and a plus 2. The games, goals, assists, and points are career highs for MacEachern.

Overall, MacEachern has played 80 games with 10 goals, 5 assists, 15 points, and a plus 2. 

MacEachern is the third Blues player to sign a contract extension with this week with the team. The Blues are doing a good job at keeping their core players around. Soon they will need to see if they can keep caption Alex Pietrangelo and Vince Dunn.

St. Louis Blues Sign Marco Scandella to a Four-Year Extension

The St. Louis Blues have signed defenseman Marco Scandella to a four-year contract extension worth $13.1 million. Scandella, 30, was acquired by the Blues in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens on February 18, 2020. The Blues sent a 2020 second-round pick in the NHL Draft and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. After the trade, Scandella has seemed to be a good luck charm for the team. The Blues had been in a bit of a losing streak, losing 5 games in a row. The Blues won that night ending their 5 game losing streak. With Scandella in the Blues lineup, they are 9-2. Overall, counting the day of the trade the Blues are 10-2 with Scandella.

Scandella, has filled in well for defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who was placed on the long-term injured list. In 11 games, Scandella has 0 goals, 1 assist, 1 point, and a plus 4. Overall, combined on the 2019-2020 season; Scandella has played 62 games with 4 goals, 9 assists, 13 points, and a plus 14.

In his career, Scandella has played 580 games with 42 goals, 95 assists, 137 points, and a -24. In the playoffs, Scandella has played 39 games with 6 goals, 3 assists, 9 points, and a -1.

The Blues did a good job keeping Scandella.

St. Louis Blues Sign Sammy Blais to Two-Year Extension

The St. Louis Blues have signed left wing Sammy Blais to a two-year contract extension worth $3 million. Blais, 23, is currently in his 3rd season in the NHL. Blais has played a career high 40 games with 6 goals, 7 assists, 13 points, and a -2. The goals, assists, and points are career highs for Blais. Last season, Blais helped the Blues win their first ever Stanley Cup. Blais scored his first NHL playoff goal in game 6 of the second round against the Dallas Stars on May 5, 2019.

Overall, Blais has played 83 games in 9 goals, 11 assists, 20 points, and a -2. In the playoffs, Blais has played 15 games with 1 goals, 2 assists, 3 points, and a plus 3.

It's good to see the Blues keeping Blais. Even though he's been injured at times, he's shown he can be good. Hopefully Blais is able to have a healthy season soon.

St. Louis Blues Acquire Marco Scandella

The St. Louis Blues have traded a 2020 second-round pick, and a 2021 conditional fourth-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for defenseman Marco Scandella. Scandella, 29, has been traded two times this season. The Canadiens acquired Scandella in a trade with the Buffalo Sabers on January 2, 2020 for a fourth-round pick. Scandella only played 20 games for the Canadiens. In those 20 games, Scandella had 1 goal, 2 assists, 3 points, and was a plus 1. Combined between the Sabers, and Canadiens in 2019-2020, Scandella has played 51 games with 4 goals, 8 assists, 12 points, and is a plus 10.

Overall Scandella is currently in his 10th NHL season. Scandella has played 569 games with 42 goals, 94 assists, 136 points, and a -28.

In the playoffs, Scandella has played 39 games with 6 goals, 3 assists, 9 points, and a -1.

Scandella was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in the 2nd round (55th overall) in the 2008 draft.

To make room for Scandella, the Blues have played defenseman Jay Bouwmeester on long-term injury reserve and defenseman Niko Mikkola has been sent down to the San Antonio Rampage; the Blues' (AHL) affiliate.

Scandella is in a contract year and should be able to help give the Blues a veteran defenseman. Scandella is the nephew of former Blues left wing Sergio Momesso. Momesso spent 4 seasons with the Blues during his NHL career.

St. Louis Cardinals 2020 Season Preview

Offseason additions: Gwang-hyun Kim, Brad Miller, Austin Dean, Matthew Liberatore, Ricardo Sanchez, Rob Kaminsky, Akeem Bostick, Nabil Crismatt, Oscar Hernandez, Adam Wainwright (re-signed), Matt Wieters (re-signed).

Offseason subtractions: Marcell Ozuna, Jose Martinez, Randy Arozarena, Ramon Urias, Michael Wacha, Chasen Shreve, Dominic Leone.

Point team prediction: 87-90 wins (NL Central champions). The St. Louis Cardinals will go into the season looking to stay on top of the NL Central. In 2019, the Cardinals made the playoffs for their first time since 2015. The Cardinals went 91-71 and won the NL Central for their first time since 2015. The Cardinals would beat the Atlanta Braves in 5 games in the NLDS. The Cardinals would end up getting swept in 4 games by the Washington Nationals (the World Series champions) in the NLCS. It was the Cardinals first time in the NLCS since 2014. Manager Mike Shildt won NL Manager of the Year. Shildt is only the third manager in franchise history to win the award. The two others are: Whitey Herzog in 1985, and Tony La Russa in 2002.

The Cardinals didn't really do much this offseason. The Cardinals signed Gwang-hyun Kim who was a good starting pitcher in Korea, and mostly recently signed Brad Miller. They got Austin Dean off of waivers from the Miami Marlins, and Ricardo Sanchez off of waivers from the Seattle Mariners. The Cardinals traded Jose Martinez, and Randy Arozarena to the Tampa Bay Rays for Matthew Liberatore.

The Cardinals bullpen should be fine again in 2020, it was one of the best bullpens last season. The Cardinals will need a closer though. I think that will be Giovanny Gallegos or Ryan Helsley. The Cardinals still have a great defense in place. The Cardinals will need to have the offense improve in 2020. If the offense doesn't improve, then it could be bad for the Cardinals. Only Kolten Wong hit in 2019.

Starting rotation:

Jack Flaherty
Miles Mikolas (If he can overcome his current injury)
Carlos Martinez (If he does well in camp)
Dakota Hudson
Adam Wainwight

Bullpen:

Giovanny Gallegos
Ryan Helsley
John Brebbia
John Gant
Andrew Miller
Tyler Webb
Gwang-hyun Kim (He can either start of be in the bullpen)

Starting lineup:

Dexter Fowler, RF
Kolten Wong, 2B
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
Paul DeJong, SS
Matt Carpenter, 3B
Tyler O'Neill, LF
Yadier Molina, C
Harrison Bader, CF (If Bader doesn't hit, I can see Lane Thomas taking his spot)
Pitcher

Bench:

Matt Wieters
Tommy Edman
Brad Miller
Rangel Ravelo
Lane Thomas

Prospects to watch:

Dylan Carlson (Will be on the roster at some point in 2020)
Junior Fernandez
Jesus Cruz
Kodi Whitley

Fantasy stud:

Jack Flaherty