MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Like many of his teammates during a disappointing end to a season that resulted in no playoffs for the first time in his career, Robert Thomas wants to make amends.
Robert Thomas (18) finished fourth this season for the Blues with 65 points, including a team-leading 47 assists in his fifth NHL season.Not only help the team get better but get better himself.
Thomas finished his fifth NHL season, and his numbers dipped a touch from 77 points (20 goals, 57 assists) in 72 games last season to 65 points (18 goals, 47 assists) in 73 games this season as primarily the No. 1 center.
He will assume that role once again next season and moving forward, and with a new eight-year, $65-million contract ($8.125 million average annual value) kicking in for the start of 2023-24, more onus on Thomas to perform at a higher level, especially offensively will be looked upon with a keen eye.
The 23-year-old reflects on a 37-38-7 season that fell well below expectations this past season, the pressures of a new contract and what needs to happen for the Blues to get back among the league's best:
On frustration of this season and going from 109 points to 81, a big falloff:
Really frustrating. Definitely not the season any of us had envisioned coming into the year. I'm really disappointed in the way it turned out. I think our team should have performed a lot better than it did. This isn't going to be a recurrence. I don't think we're going to be in this situation again. It sucks.
Not just performance on the ice, but things that happen off it. Do those two go hand in hand as to what led to decline:
Yeah, it's a bit of both. I think a lot of stuff off the ice leads to stuff on the ice. I think we underperformed. There's no other way to put it and right from the start of the season, we got behind the Eight-Ball, had a bad start and we weren't able to catch up from that.
What part of the culture were you seeing later in the season you weren't seeing in the beginning?
I think it's a bunch of different things. I think whether it's playing for each other, whether it's little details on the ice, off the ice, I think those things are crucial to winning. It wasn't there at the start of the season (and) it started to come back at the end, but I think we have a lot of work to do this summer to get back to what's made this franchise successful in the past.
Are you going to train any differently this summer?
Yeah, definitely. I think all of us should change something up. This is something we're not happy about. This just can't happen the way the season went. So for me personally, definitely going to be changing something up. What that is still hasn't been decided.
Every level you've won at, you've won big. How tough is this for you to swallow?
I've said this over and over this year: you learn a lot winning and you learn more when you lose. This is something that's new to me. You learn a lot going through this whole season. I think if you don't learn, you're not going to be able to grow and get better and be more successful. I think that's my biggest takeaway from the year.
Is there one or two things learning-wise that teach you the most?
I won't get into specific details, but I think throughout my first couple years, you see leaders (like) Petro, Steener, you see all those guys and you kind of pick on things they did that you see throughout the season that could be different. That's something that when you kind of step back from the season and can reflect on are things you can learn and things that will help you prepare for next season.
Faulk talked about 10 things O'Reilly had, is that the guy you want to be in a couple years, have someone name 10 attributes you have:
Yeah, he was a great leader. He did all those things. I could probably name 10 more things and it's something that in my career, I had Petro, I've had him; I've had Steener, I've had Bouwmeester. There's a list of guys and you take bits and pieces from everyone and you try and find your own way to become a leader, and I think that's something that I learned a lot this year. I had to grow up quickly and I think as you kind of scan and find your way, you're able to look at guys like that to help kind of build your own path.
Did you feel any pressure and expectations from signing the new contract:
I think the greatest expectation you put on is yourself. I think you expect so much from yourself. I don't think the contract plays into any factor with that. I have a vision of where I want to be and where I want my career to be. I've got to live up to that.
From what you learned about end of season, do you feel more optimistic coming into the offseason to next season:
I think there's a lot of work that's got to be done, a lot of learning. We can watch the playoffs and find out what made those teams successful. I think everyone's got to come in with a fresh mindset and be ready to build that culture back. It starts in the summer, it starts right now. I know all of us are eager for a chance at redemption.