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5 Questions as St. Louis Blues Approach Training Camp

By Patrick Karraker

Dec 27, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock yells to his team during the third period against the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center. The Stars shut out the Blues 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 27, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock yells to his team during the third period against the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center. The Stars shut out the Blues 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jake Allen St. Louis Blues
May 23, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) in action against the San Jose Sharks during the second period in game five of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. The Sharks won the game 6-3. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Can Jake Allen carry the load in net?

Make no mistake, Jake Allen was dominant at times during the 2015-16 season. He went 11-4-2 over the season’s first two months with three shutouts, and he collected another two shutouts in December even as he struggled to a mediocre 7-5 record and saw all of his stats drop off. After suffering a knee injury right after the new year, though, Allen struggled to regain his form. In 14 games following his return, Allen was 8-5 with a mediocre 2.83 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage. He did have one shutout against the Capitals in March. When he was pressed into action during the playoffs, Allen wasn’t especially good, either, posting an .897 save percentage with a 2.49 save percentage and a 1-1 record in his two starts.

With Brian Elliott–perhaps the Blues’ most valuable player last season–traded to the Calgary Flames at the draft, Allen will be the undisputed starter for the first time in his NHL career. While it’s the logical progression for the 26-year-old, it’s a risky move for GM Doug Armstrong. Elliott’s replacement is former Nashville Predators backup, who has averaged just 25 games a year as the understudy to Pekka Rinne, and it sure seems as if the Blues signed him with a plan of using Allen in 60 or more games. The 30-year-old Hutton has been alright for Nashville (especially with extremely sparse opportunities), but he certainly doesn’t have the same ability that Elliott did to step in and play like a starter. If Allen endures a brutal cold streak like he has during each of his first two full NHL seasons or gets injured like he did last season, the pressure will be on Hutton, and that’s certainly something the Blues would prefer to avoid. Luckily, they’ll have two netminders with NHL experience (Pheonix Copley and Jordan Binnington) plus an extremely intriguing Finnish prospect (Ville Husso) in the minors, so there are alternatives, but the goalie situation is definitely less secure than it was last season.

Also, there’s the matter of training yet another goalie to succeed in crunch time, which is frustrating considering that Elliott won his second and third playoff series and expanded his resume as the only Blues goalie to win a playoff series since 2001-02 (he previously helped the Blues to a win over the Sharks in 2011-12). Allen struggled under postseason pressure as an amateur and a minor-leaguer, and he’s just 3-5 with a .902 save percentage and 2.29 GAA through his first 11 NHL playoff games. The Blues will just have to hope that his increasing level of experience helps him succeed, just like it did (to an extent) for Elliott. Of course, Allen needs to play well enough to help the Blues make the playoffs in the first place, and that will be the biggest concern this year as the roster undergoes a rather significant facelift.

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