We’re well into The Hockey News’ summer splash series – our exclusive rankings of the off-seasons of each NHL team. We’ve been moving in reverse from the 32nd-place Buffalo Sabres to the No. 1 spot. And our latest team is No. 13 in the series – the St. Louis Blues. For the entirety of this series, we’re examining each team’s lineup additions, departures, and hirings and firings where applicable. After careful consideration, we’ve reached a consensus regarding where teams are ranked in terms of the moves they’ve made this summer. Some teams have improved, and some teams have made a slight improvement or regression in one way or another. And finally, some teams have obviously regressed. The Blues [http://thn.com/stlouis] had a solid regular season last year before blowing a late lead against the Winnipeg Jets [http://thn.com/winnipeg] and being eliminated in the first round. But St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong has never been shy when it comes to making big moves, and once again this summer, he’s made a few changes. That said, the Blues are closer to the middle of the field in these rankings because they’re not considerably better or worse than they were at the end of last season. And they’re still going to have a tough go of it making the Stanley Cup playoffs in the seriously competitive Central Division. ADDITIONS Pius Suter (C), Nick Bjugstad (C), Logan Mailloux (D) The Breakdown: The Blues came on strong late last season, after nearly digging a hole they couldn’t climb out of. Armstrong did his best to beef up his defense corps with the in-season acquisition of veteran Cam Fowler from the Anaheim Ducks [http://thn.com/anaheim]. And that was enough to push St. Louis into a playoff berth. But this summer, they made a savvy signing at center with former Vancouver Canuck [http://thn.com/vancouver] Suter, then signing journeyman Bjugstad and trading for former Montreal Canadiens [http://thn.com/montreal] blueliner Mailloux. Those are all relative fringe players. The core of the Blues is still veteran center Robert Thomas, star winger Jordan Kyrou, and captain Brayden Schenn, and unless they come through with dependably solid seasons, the likes of Suter, Bjugstad and Mailloux aren’t going to put the team on their back. Individually, Suter is a decent-enough center [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/where-new-blues-should-fit-into-lineup], Bjugstad is a fourth-liner, and Mailloux has the potential to grow into a top-four D-man. But right now, Armstrong is showing his core he believes in them. And that means making only peripheral changes. St. Louis Blues (Connor Hamilton-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/848a9d1b-a065-418b-842c-5d07f4298091.jpeg] St. Louis Blues (Connor Hamilton-Imagn Images) DEPARTURES Zach Bolduc (RW), Torey Krug (D), Radek Faksa (C), Ryan Suter (D) The Breakdown: We’re including Krug in this list of departures because he’s essentially been diagnosed with a career-ending injury [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/krugs-career-likely-over-in-nhl]. This is why there’s room for Mailloux [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/community/players/mailloux-i-think-i-m-ready-to-make-that-jump-full-time] – the Blues will put Krug on Long-Term-Injured-Reserve, and be able to spend a good deal of cap space to improve during the season. Losing Bolduc hurts the most, as he scored 19 goals and 36 points in 72 games last season. But you have to give something to get something, and that Mailloux deal cost St. Louis a promising young player. Faksa was a consistent defensive presence up front, but he’s more or less replaced by Bjugstad. And Suter is likely retiring after a stellar NHL career. But as a group of four departees, they’re all minor bumps in the road for a Blues team that expects to be a playoff team once again this coming year. THE BOTTOM LINE The Blues’ collapse against Winnipeg was stunning, and it would’ve been easy for Armstrong to tear it all down and start anew with a different core of players. Instead, he’s doubled down by only adding a few talents that aren’t elite – at least, not yet. For the purposes of our summer splash rankings, we put St. Louis near the middle of the pack because, while they’re not demonstrably worse, they’re also not significantly better than they were last year. That may change if Armstrong uses his cap space [https://puckpedia.com/team/st-louis-blues] to add talent. But as it stands, the Blues haven’t changed all that much. And in the Central Division, not improving all that much could lead to a division-rival team like the Utah Mammoth [http://thn.com/utah] vaulting past the Blues and keeping them out of the playoff picture. The pressure on St. Louis is considerable, and the way they begin the year could lead to major moves from a GM who wants his team to be Cup contenders in the long term. SUMMER SPLASH RANKINGS 13. St. Louis Blues 14. Pittsburgh Penguins [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-14-pittsburgh-penguins] 15. Colorado Avalanche [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-15-colorado-avalanche] 16. Ottawa Senators [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-16-ottawa-senators] 17. Boston Bruins [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-17-boston-bruins] 18. Edmonton Oilers [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-18-edmonton-oilers] 19. Minnesota Wild [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-19-minnesota-wild] 20. Seattle Kraken [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-20-seattle-kraken] 21. Columbus Blue Jackets [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-21-columbus-blue-jackets] 22. Washington Capitals [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-22-washington-capitals] 23. Nashville Predators [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-23-nashville-predators] 24. New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-24-new-york-islanders] 25. Tampa Bay Lightning [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-25-tampa-bay-lightning] 26. Toronto Maple Leafs [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-26-toronto-maple-leafs] 27. Dallas Stars [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-27-dallas-stars] 28. Calgary Flames [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-28-calgary-flames] 29. Los Angeles Kings [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-29-los-angeles-kings] 30. Winnipeg Jets [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-30-winnipeg-jets] 31. Chicago Blackhawks [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-31-chicago-blackhawks] 32. Buffalo Sabres [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-summer-splash-rankings-no-32-buffalo-sabres] Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
