The St. Louis Blues spent the offseason making enough moves to change the conversation around the team.
That part is done. What still hangs in the air is the harder question: did they actually improve enough to matter once the puck drops?
A lot of the attention starts with Jordan Kyrou. His name had been floating in trade chatter for months before the Blues finally dealt him, bringing back Connor McMichael in return.
On paper, the logic is easy enough to see. McMichael is described as a more versatile forward than Kyrou, and the trade at least ended the constant speculation around Kyrou.
But the real verdict won’t come until McMichael shows he can be an effective upgrade.
If he doesn’t, the noise will come fast. And it will get louder if Kyrou catches on in Washington and has the kind of bounce-back season that makes the Blues’ decision look worse in hindsight.
Then there’s the move that didn’t happen: Jordan Binnington staying put. His name was also out there for months, but no team stepped up with an offer St.
Louis liked enough to pull the trigger. So Binnington remains with the Blues as he heads into the final year of his current contract.
That decision could become a sore spot if his game drops off this season. If that happens, the story will almost certainly shift to what the Blues passed up by not moving him when they had the chance to get a decent return.
Robert Thomas is another name that could keep surfacing. The public line is that the Blues and Thomas are committed to each other, but that doesn’t mean the rumor mill will stop spinning. If the market gets hot, some will question Alex Steen for not making a deal.
The Blues don’t have to trade Thomas. That much is clear.
But if other teams are willing to pay up, the debate will be whether St. Louis should have taken advantage of that kind of interest.
If Thomas plays well, the issue fades. If he struggles, Steen will be the one under the microscope.
And then comes the biggest question of all: was this offseason enough to get the Blues back into the playoffs?
That’s not an easy one to answer with the Central Division looking the way it does. The top three spots appear to be spoken for on paper, which leaves St.
Louis fighting with the Utah Mammoth and the Nashville Predators for that third spot in the division. If that doesn’t happen, the battle could shift to the wild card race, where two spots will be heavily contested.
That’s the reality facing the Blues now. There’s optimism around the roster changes, sure.
But optimism doesn’t earn points. A fast start might be the difference between all these questions feeling smart and all of them feeling expensive.
In Other News...
Blues Have A Real Tyler Tucker Decision Brewing On Defense
Tyler Tucker heads into the final year of his contract with a real fight on his hands for a place in the Blues blue-line picture. The organization has more young defensemen pushing into the conversation, and both Theo Lindstein and Arseni Koromyslov bring traits that could make the decision harder than it looked a year ago. Tucker has carved out a reputation as a physical, straight-ahead defender, but the room around him is getting tighter as St. Louis keeps looking for the right mix of size, mobility and puck movement.
Lindstein, a 2023 first-round pick, gives the Blues a different look with his skating and ability to move the puck. Koromyslov adds another layer of competition after coming over from the KHL, bringing a style that overlaps with Tuckers but with a cleaner first pass out of the zone. If one or both of those younger options seize roster spots, Tucker could quickly shift from a useful depth piece to a trade candidate, which makes this preseason battle worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
Jake Neighbours Has A Bigger Blues Role Than Ever This Season
Jake Neighbours has already become one of the more important voices in the Blues room, and the coming season should only deepen that role. Even with his scoring dipping from the level he established in his first two years, he still showed the kind of presence St. Louis leans on, and the club is now asking for more from him as a leader as well as a winger.
With Brayden Schenn and Justin Faulk no longer around, the leadership picture has shifted and Neighbours is among the players positioned to help fill that space. A letter on his jersey would be a natural next step, and the bigger question is whether a larger responsibility off the ice comes with the kind of offensive rebound that could push him back into 20-goal territory if he stays healthy. [Read more 🡒]
Dalibor Dvorsky Faces A Big Blues Test In Year Two
Dalibor Dvorskys first full NHL season gave the Blues plenty to work with, and it also showed why patience still matters with a young player taken in the top 10 back in 2023. He made the leap from prospect to everyday lineup piece, handling a heavy workload while beginning to look like the kind of depth scorer St. Louis has wanted to build around for the future. The organization still sees him as a potential third-line center and power play option, but the next step is less about offense and more about the details that decide whether a young center can be trusted in tougher minutes.
For Dvorsky, the challenge in year two is becoming more complete without losing the instincts that got him here. The Blues want to see progress in his defensive game and in the areas that help a center survive against stronger competition, and that means his role is still very much a work in progress. If he keeps moving in the right direction, he could become a valuable piece for St. Louis well before the 2026-27 season, but the path from promising young scorer to dependable NHL center is rarely a straight line. [Read more 🡒]