I’m not sure Perunovich can save this PP. Krug is and has always been one of the better PP puck movers in the league. It’s hard to have success when everything is a jumbled mess because 2 of the first 3 passes are off the tape and we can’t get a clean entry. I’m not so sure all of that is on the defenseman at this point.

Something has to change because that PP is hardd to watch. Thoughts on Vrana moving up to PP1 and trying to get shots from that right side? Tbh I don't even know how it looks in their sets because like you said they can never even get a clean entry to set up. But with Buch out someone is going to have to move up.

On paper it’s a good idea. But the issue is I don’t know if it helps with the entries. Our entries have been so bad I’m pretty sure we’ve been getting outshot on the PP.

It’s odd because we have good puck carriers on that first unit. But I think there’s something fundamentally wrong because it seems like the same thing everytime. Skate to center with Krug. And drop to Thomas or a Kyrou to enter with speed and they get jammed up. Issue may realistically be Krug not being able to carry the entry himself. I don’t know if that’s a him thing or a fundamental thing

Okay, first of all, Krug has been god awful the first two games while Leddy has actually been fantastic. So I have no idea how this helps anything.

Don't you "first of all" me! The only D who has been passable IMO is Parayko - he has been really strong back there. Really I can't believe they've kept 4-55 together after the atrocities they committed last season. I don't know why they think it has to be like that. Same with Krug-Faulk, they get the easy minutes and get to play mostly with the top F line and still don't know what to do. Long overdue for a changeup the way I see it.

The other weird thing is playing the bottom pair 10 min per game. I thought the simplest way to improve the D - since they didn't/couldn't change personnel - would be to spread out the 5v5 minutes a little more. It's early but they moved the other way so far...

I'm sure this will shock everyone for me to say it, but Leddy has been excellent the first two games. I'm as stunned as anyone. On the other hand, Krug has been straight trash the first two games. AND we've tried him with Colt omn the top pairing before, it was horrible. So I have no idea how that change helps anything.

Faulk has not been great, but I assume he'll revert to form soon enough.

The third pairing also has not been great, but Tucker has been better than Scandyman. Frankly, I'm still not clear on why that duo is playing over Scotty-Bortz. So I agree the third pairing needs a change and when Bortz is there, they need to share more minutes.

I respectfully have to disagree with this. Krug really struggles with positioning on the powerplay. Like he just stands in the middle of the ice and watches as the puck gets cleared out past him. Perunovich and other great powerplay quarterbacks (for example Dunn) can read which way the puck is moving and hold it in at the line. On top of that when they get the puck at the point they don't panic with it and they make smooth plays to an open man. Krug just shoots it back in behind the net. At this point in his career I think he is just too slow to be the same powerplay quarterback he used to be and his skillset pales in comparison to what Perunovich can bring. It baffles me how he gets 22+ minutes a night and Perunovich is stuck on the bench.
On another note I'd like to see Tucker played more he's looked really solid in his small minutes and I think him and Parayko could perform decent together.

Krugs production alone on the powerplay is high end. Point production in general is. He’s never been an overly mobile puck control player like a Hughes or a Makar or a Fox. But he’s a very high end distributor.

I’m not sure we need to look at him as the issue with our powerplay. We don’t have a trigger man on the powerplay. That’s aside from the countless time that ticks down with us fumbling around passes and drop passes trying to get into the zone. Krugs powerplay numbers alone have dropped massively since coming to STL. I’m not sure if we can point towards him aging at that point, and it’s not really like Boston was an offensive powerhouse when he was on the roster.

Cant hurt to try Scotty P on the PP for a few games! Better than letting him rot on the bench. However i dont think hes the main issue. I think Kryou is the issue. He is consistently dusting off the shot back to Krug. Kyrou should be shooting way more from that spot at the top of the circle.