After missing the playoffs for the third time in the past four years, the St. Louis Blues are facing a crossroads of sorts. New GM Alex Steen has to confront the Blues' anemic offense, but that's not the only thing St. Louis needs to improve on as it begins the Steen era.
At this time last season, the St. Louis Blues were in the midst of a terrific late-season push for a Stanley Cup playoff spot – going on a 12-game win streak that propelled them into the second Western Conference wild card spot.
Their veteran-laden lineup showed they had what it took to be a playoff team, and although they lost in the first round to the Winnipeg Jets in heartbreaking fashion in Game 7, the Blues still made some great memories for their fans that year.
What Went Wrong For The Blues?
Unfortunately, this season has seen St. Louis once again struggle early in the year. This time, their late-season wins have been too little and come too late to help them avoid missing the playoffs for the third time in the past four years.
And with a management change looming large on their horizon, the Blues are at a crossroads – and still not anywhere close to being what they need to be to compete with the Central Division’s legitimate leviathans – the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild.
That has to be the ultimate metric for the Blues as they chart a course in the post-Doug Armstrong era, with GM Armstrong moving up in St. Louis’ front office and longtime Blues star Alex Steen taking on the GM role.
What does Steen have to address? We can start with the Blues’ offense, which ranked fifth-worst in the NHL this season at 2.68 goals-for per game. That’s a huge drop from last season, when St. Louis had the league’s 13th-best offense at 3.05 goals-for.
Meanwhile, the Blues’ defense, which was 11th-best in the league last season at 2.82 goals-against per game, fell to 21st at 3.08 goals-against per game.
What’s Next For The Blues?
So there’s been an all-around failure in St. Louis. Although the Blues have youngsters to build around in Jimmy Snuggerud, Jake Neighbours, and Dalibor Dvorsky, the sense is that the Blues need more elite young players to eventually put them on a level playing field with the Avs, Wild, and Stars.
Steen will have a projected $21.7 million in salary cap space to use this summer, but it’s not as if there’s a plethora of high-end talent that will be available. This is why there have been whispers of the Blues potentially trading a veteran forward or two, highlighted by Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas.
Kyrou is having his second sub-par year in the past three seasons, while Thomas’ numbers have sagged notably this year. So if Steen gets offered a huge package of draft picks and/or prospects for one or both of Kyrou and Thomas, Steen would be foolish not to consider taking it.
In addition, the Blues have to decide on the future of starting goalie Jordan Binnington. The 32-year-old is having the worst NHL season of his career, posting an .875 save percentage and 3.28 goals-against average in 40 appearances. St. Louis’ other goalie, Joel Hofer (.911 SP, 2.59 GAA), is having a far better season, and he’s cheaper, younger, and flat-out better than Binnington is right now.
Binnington does have another season left at a salary of $6 million. Still, at a time where proven goalies are at a premium, Steen should be able to find a taker for Binnington and fully embrace Hoefer as the team’s No. 1 option in net.
Furthermore, the Blues tried and failed to trade blueliner Colton Parayko to the Buffalo Sabres, but Steen could revisit a potential Parayko deal and work with him to find a new home.
Otherwise, it’s a mixed bag in St. Louis right now. Their defense corps took a hit when veteran Justin Faulk was traded to Detroit at the trade deadline, but Armstrong was able to acquire Detroit’s first-round draft pick this year – exactly the type of move Steen should be making when it comes to his older players.
The same goes for the trade that sent former Blues captain Brayden Schenn to the New York Islanders in return for a goalie prospect and multiple high-end draft picks.
In any case, the macro picture in Blues Land is not as exciting as it is in many NHL markets. Armstrong stayed mostly loyal to the players who won him a Cup not all that long ago, but given where they are in their competitive cycle at the moment, St. Louis will have to grit its teeth as they move deeper into a new era. This team needs to get younger and more skilled, and those aren’t easy asks of any GM, let alone one just getting his feet wet.
However, Steen will get every opportunity to demonstrate he can navigate the waters of the GM business the same way he did as a star player. It’ll be a challenge for the Blues to compete for a playoff spot next year, but with the right drafting and development, they eventually could get there.
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