Jaden Schwartz hasn’t been himself. Regardless, it’s not often you see him blasted on social media for making mistakes. Usually, it’s pretty obvious that #17 is out there working hard and giving his all. He’s certainly not a liability by any means, but it would sure be nice if he could contribute to the score sheet. He can, and he will.

His season hasn’t gone as planned, but things can turn around for him, and super fast. Despite recently deciding to make a drop pass that didn’t make sense, Jaden is out there hounding every play. I’m sure he’s frustrated with the results, but his character is strong. He’s going to turn it around.

“Although he’s not scoring he’s still contributing. He’s a menace on the forecheck and that leads to goals. It wears teams down. The team floundered without him last year and some of this season too. “ – Tim Hirsch

Think back to the beginning of the 2017-18 season. Jaden Schwartz had already scored 7 goals in his first 10 games played. He had 7 assists as well for 14 points total. He actually registered points in 9 of those 10 games to start the year. The stint included three different 2 point performances and a hat trick.

This season, Schwartz has played a total of 33 games. More than half of them (17) have resulted in zero points. He has scored 3 goals and holds 17 assists for 20 points total. He has just four 2-point performances as of now. None of which are multi-goal games. He hasn’t scored in 14 games and has found himself in two 6 game goal droughts as well.

33 games into Jaden’s 2017-18 season, Schwartz had 15 goals and 21 assists for 36 points. He had himself 10 multi-point performances. Two of which were multi-goal games. Schwartz had put up two 3 point games and was able to accomplish 4 points in one night. He registered at least a point in 22 of 33 contests.

There is a night and day difference here in production, but Jaden’s success was no fluke. It’s simply a matter of time before Schwartz starts routinely showing up on the scoresheet again. He’s been playing his game, but just hasn’t been getting results.

This is a player that the Blues obviously need at the top of his game. He’s not there, but it’s not because he isn’t trying. Realistically, if he continues to play the way he has (with the exception of the dreaded drop pass), I see an easy increase in production. He’s proven to be a competitor and I believe that he’s got a lot more to show for this season.

He went on to finish the 2017-18 season with 24 goals and 35 assists for 59 points in 62 games played.

That Jaden Schwartz can show up at any time, and once the puck starts going in, confidence has it’s own way of working things out from there. I’m not expecting #17 to continue on this path of misfortune. I believe that he’s going to have a very strong finish to the season.

However, It may not be appreciated as much if the Blues fall out of the race.

But imagine a Blues team without Jaden Schwartz.

“We’ve seen the Blues struggle and fall off the wagon without him. St. Louis is a better team when Jaden Schwartz is healthy, and a better team when Schwartz plays his game. It’s part of the identity of the Blues.” – William Walker

Right now, Jaden may be trying a little bit harder than we’d like him to be considering the hole he’s trying to dig himself out of. Then we consider the hole that the team is collectively trying to dig themselves out of on top of that. Some players are going to find themselves trying to do a little too much. Maybe that’s what we’re seeing with him.

I believe things are going to start happening for Jaden Schwartz. Hopefully sooner than later.

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