NHL.com provides an in-depth look at the rosters, prospects and fantasy matchups for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 1 to Sept. 1. Today, three important questions face the St. Louis Blues.
1. High-level players, especially attackers Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou And Pavel Buchnevichcontinue to rise and bring the Blues back to the Stanley Cup playoffs?
St. Louis made moves this offseason to add depth in areas where it was needed, but in order to bounce back and make the playoffs after missing the last two seasons, it will need its best players, including Thomas, Kyrou and Buchnevich, to do the heavy lifting.
“Obviously we need the big dogs to be the big dogs. That’s the reality,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said in July. “We need Kyrou (67 points; 31 goals, 36 assists last season) to have a good year, Robert Thomas (86 points, 26 goals, 60 assists) to have a good year, ‘Buch’ (63 points; 27 goals, 36 assists) to have a good year. We’ve got to find (the forwards) Jake’s Neighbors (38 points; 27 goals, 11 assists), is it Jake Neighbours or is he a better player than last year, or is it a question of shooting percentage (18.6, best percentage on the team)? It’s up to him to tell us.
“We have (center Brayden) Schenn (46 points; 20 goals, 26 assists) and (forward Brandon) Saad (42 points; 26 goals, 16 assists). We have competitive players who have played in those areas. They’re going to have to maximize their game for us to have a good season.”
2. Where is it? Philippe Broberg And Dylan Holloway fit into the plans?
After signing the 23-year-old defenseman and 22-year-old forward to contracts on Aug. 13 that weren’t matched by the Edmonton Oilers, the Blues project Broberg with top-four potential and Holloway perhaps on the third line.
Each of them played a major role for the Oilers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, when Edmonton lost in seven games to the Florida Panthers.
“When I talked to every player, we saw Dylan as a top-nine forward. He played center coming out of college, he had wrist surgery that put him on the wing, he’s a great skater, he’s got size,” Armstrong said Tuesday. “He’s going to be a really good competition in the forward group this year. I see him touching a lot of areas in that group. Broberg is considered a top-four left-shot defenseman. I think his skating, he’s an elite skater and he’s got really good hockey sense, he can get a lot of space, he’s got a good low stick, he’s got good frame. He’s just got to become a man, and I think he’s working on that every day in the gym.”
3. Can Jordan Binnington duplicate or be better than it was in 2023-24?
In most games last season, Binnington, the Blues’ No. 1 goalie, was their best player.
After a rookie season in 2018-19 that led to Stanley Cup victories for Binnington and St. Louis, his key stats declined over the next four seasons, dropping to a career-worst 3.31 goals-against average and .894 save percentage. But the 31-year-old went 28-21-5 with a 2.84 goals-against average and .913 save percentage last season and will look to continue that trend in 2024-25.
“I felt like I was present throughout the day,” Binnington said. “I checked in pretty often and did my best every day. So I feel good about it and I’ve definitely evolved, grown. A lot of takeaways and more experience.”
