Jordan Kyrou probably wouldn’t mind if he forgot about the first two months of last season.
He had one goal in his first nine games. He endured a 10-game goal drought, his third-longest since becoming an NHL regular. He got booed at home following Craig Berube’s dismissal.
So Kyrou would probably like to move past the start of the year. But the end of it? Well, perhaps that’s worth remembering for him and the Blues.
Kyrou had 11 goals and eight assists in the final 16 games of the season, and he produced while the Blues were still trying to chase down a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Thanks to the strong finish, Kyrou ended the season with 31 goals and 36 assists.
Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said he was proud the way Kyrou’s season ended.
“When you look at the last month and playing those meaningful games and how well he played, moved him around the lineup a bit and found a spot with him with (Pavel Buchnevich) and (Brandon Saad),†Bannister said at exit interviews. “I’m proud of the way that he played, and I was really excited about how he played in this month to six weeks where it was really meaningful games. I’m excited for Jordan moving forward. He is going to be a key part of this team’s success moving forward. I think he’s still got a lot to give.â€
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Kyrou has become a bit of a controversial figure among Blues fans.
On the one hand, he’s a creator of offense on a team that doesn’t have an abundance of those players. His speed opens himself for chances on the rush. His skill allows him to find more space. He scores goals in a league in which that’s hard to do consistently. Even in a perceived down year, he still led the Blues in goal-scoring.
On the other hand, his productivity can be streaky and his battle level inconsistent. His defensive lapses are brighter than other players on the ice. His willingness to engage in battles on the boards and in the corners waxes and wanes.
Of course, everything Kyrou does — both good and bad — is amplified by his franchise-record contract that is worth $8.125 million a year and has seven more seasons remaining.
“He’s a game-changing player, and a game-breaking player that has become a lightning rod for whatever reason,†Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. “But I sat up here in, I’m going to say 2017, and Jay Bouwmeester was a lightning rod and everybody hated him. Then he left our franchise and everyone thought, ‘How are we going to live without Jay Bouwmeester?’ These are ebbs and flows. A year ago, Colton Paryako and Jordan Binnington were finished. Now, they’re not finished.
“I can’t get sucked into this daily ‘he’s a good player, he’s a bad player’ thing that’s there. I have to have a longer-term approach. If you want to have a relationship with someone, you better be willing to go through tough times if you want to go through good times with them. If you’re only committed to someone through the good times, it’s going to be a difficult relationship for you to be happy in.â€
The irony is that the advanced numbers say Kyrou’s overall game was the best it’s been in his career.
With him on the ice at 5 on 5, the Blues generated 10.45 more shot attempts per hour, and allowed 6.51 fewer shot attempts. Shots on goal? On offense, 5.76 more per hour. On defense, 4.01 fewer per hour. Despite a plus-minus rating of minus-12, Kyrou was actually plus-8 at 5 on 5, as he was hurt by empty-net goals against and shorthanded goals allowed.
Overall, his impact on the Blues’ play-driving was the greatest it has been in his career.
Offensively, his personal generation was among the league’s best, too.
There were 210 forwards that played at least 900 minutes at 5 on 5 this season. Kyrou ranked 24th with 1.13 goals per 60 minutes — behind Sam Reinhart and William Nylander, ahead of Nikolaj Ehlers and Sidney Crosby. On a per hour basis, he was 22nd in shot attempts, 18th in shots and 26th in scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Various expected goals models placed him all around the same area, as MoneyPuck had him at 24.7 expected goals, HockeyViz at 24.5, and Natural Stat Trick at 23.7. Given his shooting talent, MoneyPuck estimated that Kyrou would score 31.2 goals this season with the shots he took. He finished at 31.
If anything, Kyrou is leaving a lot of production on the table on the power play, where he ranked 72nd in goals per hour among the 152 forwards with at least 150 minutes on the man-advantage.
“I thought he went through stretches this year where the puck didn’t go in for him at the start of the year,†Armstrong said. “I think if you look at all of the fancy stats, he had a lot of chances and they weren’t going in. And then they start going in, and everybody gets off his back a little bit. I think consistency is maybe something (to work on).â€