Bigger.
Heavier.
These always seem to be the comparative adjectives tied to the description of the type of forwards preferred by the St. Louis Blues and GM Doug Armstrong and head coach Ken Hitchcock.
When you look around at the Blues and the rest of the NHL and see the regular season success the physical dimension-based strategy has brought St. Louis, it's easy to see why those are their preferred specifications.
But the Blues under Hitchcock have annually failed in the seasons most important moments and, if the latest rumors of Armstrong's interest in adding yet another big, heavy forward are true, the organization may simply feel they don't already have enough of their favorite style of scorer.
"I think they'd like to add a depth forward. And who is that? Is it Antoine Vermette from the Arizona Coyotes? Is it potentially Joffrey Lupul from the Toronto Maple Leafs? They have some injury concerns, I know, with Lupul," said TSN's Darren Dreger, appearing on an episode of NHL Network's NHL tonight, per NicholsOnHockey.com.
Whether it's Vermette, Lupul or another option, it seems like a certainty that Armstrong will add at least one big piece, literally and possibly figuratively, to help the Blues for their playoff and Stanley Cup push.
"The St. Louis Blues feel they're close, but they're still going in head-to-head battles with Nashville and Chicago within the division," Dreger said. "Again, if there's an opportunity for Doug Armstrong to add a piece that maybe makes them a little bit deeper on the front end, and a little bit heavier, then that's what he's looking for."
Lupul, a gifted scorer, has been plagued by injuries for the entirety of his NHL career and he's on the shelf again. He's also no longer a young player - at 31, it's fair to expect injury issues to worsen as his body continues breaking down.
When healthy, he's a natural scorer, and he's over six-foot and two hundred-pounds, but last season, when he managed to suit up for 69 games, was the most action he's seen in a season since 2008-09 when he appeared in 79 games for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Vermette's actually a year older than Lupul, but has held up fairly well playing for a bad Coyotes team. He appeared in all 82 games last season and finished with 24 goals and 21 assists.
He's a do it all, two-way center with some grit and a lot of toughness.
He also meets the size specifications and, as a pending unrestricted free agent expecting one final big NHL payday, seems set to leave Arizona.
