The time has come for Blues fans to accept Colton Parayko for the player he is
He's 29 and the guy now on defense, durable and physical enough.
Sports fans naturally want their favorite players on the team to be the type of player they want. It's the same as me asking my Buick Encore to go as fast as my old Hyundai Elantra. The same as asking your dog or cat to understand the four sentences you just dropped on their heads. A useless plea that never gets answered, yet a practice that doesn't seem to stop.
After much mind-wrangling and an overabundance of the hockey imagination, it's time to let Colton Parayko do his thing. Basically, I am done asking him to be the second coming of Chris Pronger, or any other former player who liked to put opposing players' faces through the boards. Parayko isn't Garth Butcher, even if Blues fans would love that.
Parayko's skills lie in the classic aesthetic of an NHL defenseman: clearing the corners, pushing the action back into the offensive zone, and being faster than most D-men. He does those things well, and he has a heavy shot from the point. Parayko can control the action behind the boards, slowing the action to such a crawl that a referee will skate by asking him to move the puck.
While he may look like Ivan Drago, Parayko is no Dolph. He isn’t going to punch any players or take a two-minute penalty for throwing in an extra shot after the whistle. In 498 career regular season games, Parayko has only spent 137 minutes in the penalty box.
Parayko is also a workhorse, having played in at least 95% of the season's games in six of the seven seasons he's played in the league. He's also playing 23 minutes a game these days, picking up some of the slack left over from the departure of Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester. The second biggest attribute of a defenseman, sitting behind being a good one, is being available.
Last season, he tied his career mark for points in a season with 35, including six goals. Along with the tough guy mentality, some Blues fans would like to see the big fella top double-digit goals like he did in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. Since he has the big shot and likes to shoot, I don't think that's too big of an ask. One could venture to guess the back injury that caused him to miss 21 games in the 2020-21 season (which was only 56 games long) has ceased and left the building.
Fans always like a big defenseman with a big shot to collect goals, but it's not the most important aspect of the game. It's not like Parayko isn't offensive-minded; he can take the puck up the ice faster than some full-time forwards. But it's his speed and ability to get back quick and defend the ensuing rush that makes him a complete player.
It's not a stretch to suggest he is still developing into the team's main face on defense, a place that is being designed for him. While Justin Faulk made big strides in the past two seasons since joining St. Louis, this defensive core is being wrapped around Parayko. Petro and Jay Bo are gone, and so is Vince Dunn. The next fleet of young defensemen will learn and play under Parayko.
Along with the increased minutes, Parayko also owns that eight-year contract that he signed that binds him to this team. While my wild ideas of trading him at his most valuable position aren't a fool's errand to think on, it's right next to Doug Armstrong trading Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou in a package in things that just won't happen.
Parayko is staying, and the smart thing to do would be accepting the player he is, and not dreaming about something he is not. Parayko is a physical player, and he gets aggressive in the zone all the time. The minute he gets overly aggressive and a penalty is called, fans will hate that notion which was built in their heads. Let him be.
Without him, the blue line would start to bleed, forcing a cap-sizing of the depth that Armstrong and Tom Stillman are building up on defense. Brainstorming on a possible big trade is about as useful as telling Parayko to turn into the Hulk on the ice.
The truth is he's a fine defenseman who is becoming a leader right before our eyes. That's good enough.