The St. Louis Blues are coming off a season in which offense was hard to find.
They finished with the ninth-fewest goals at 230, no one on the roster reached 30 goals, and Robert Thomas led the club with just 64 points. With new faces coming into the top six and along the blue line, the expectation is that the scoring should climb in 2026-27.
A handful of players look positioned to take a real step forward.
Jimmy Snuggerud is at the top of that list. There’s a strong case that he won’t just improve on last season’s production, but could end up leading the entire team in points in 2026-27.
His rookie year was impressive, especially the late-season surge that made his future look even brighter. Snuggerud finished with 51 points, the seventh-highest total by a Blues rookie in franchise history, and he did it while moving around the lineup, missing significant time after wrist surgery, and adjusting to the NHL’s speed and pace.
A bigger leap feels like the next logical step.
Robert Thomas is another name tied directly to that offensive bump. This is the moment everyone has been waiting for - his prime has arrived, and the organization has given him two linemates who should help him cash in.
Snuggerud’s rise was already mentioned, and Dylan Holloway should also see his numbers climb, even if he missed this list because others project a larger overall jump. The bigger question hanging over Thomas is simple: can he finally crack 100 points?
Philip Broberg also looks set for a much bigger year. This is his defense now, and the workload is going to reflect that in 2026-27.
He posted a career-best 34 points last season, but that number should be left behind. With the Blues and the rest of the league playing two extra games, Broberg is looking at roughly 45 to 50 more minutes of ice time to make his mark.
No one on the roster is under more pressure than the Swedish defenseman, especially now that Colton Parayko is no longer the steady first defenseman. Broberg is also hoping for a better season from his partner Logan Mailloux, who finished strong after an ugly start that can’t be ignored.
Mason McTavish brings another layer to the offense after a busy offseason for both ex-General Manager Doug Armstrong and current headman Alexander Steen. They helped land him on draft night, and his addition should matter immediately.
McTavish has a career-high of 52 points, set in 2023-24 with the Anaheim Ducks, and last season he dropped to 41 as Leo Carlsson and Beckett Sennecke developed around him. Now he arrives in St.
Louis with a fresh start, new linemates, and a battle for the second-line center job. Even if he doesn’t win that spot, his skill and grit still give the Blues another real weapon in the top six.
Connor McMichael rounds out the group of players most likely to post a meaningful jump. He’s one of the four new Blues additions this offseason, and like McTavish, he’ll be in the mix for that 2C role before likely settling on the wing after training camp and the preseason.
McMichael put together a solid year in Washington and finished with 46 points, but the Blues were willing to value Jordan Kyrou’s pure goal-scoring threat more than him. In his first season in St.
Louis, that point total should keep climbing. If McMichael, McTavish, and either Pavel Buchnevich or Jake Neighbours click quickly, the Blues could have a very dangerous line, with McMichael’s speed standing out right away.
In Other News...
Blues Fans Already Have One Big Debate About Their New Forwards
The Blues offseason additions have already given fans something to chew on, and it starts with how the new forwards fit into an offense that is still taking shape. Mason McTavish and Connor McMichael both bring scoring upside, but they arrive with different expectations attached, and that alone has made for an early debate about which pickup matters more in the long run.
McTavish looks like the cleaner bet to become a bigger part of the attack. He is younger, carries more of a well-rounded offensive profile and seems better positioned to be a steady presence in the lineup, while McMichaels usage appears more fluid as the coaching staff sorts out roles and line combinations. For a team trying to deepen its forward group, the intrigue is not just what either player can do, but how much room there will be for each to do it. [Read more 🡒]
Blues Fans May Not Have To Wait Long For Carbonneau
Robert Thomas being named the 25th captain in Blues franchise history at 27 gives St. Louis a clear new face for the room as the organization moves into another season with expectations attached. It also frames the next wave of talent behind him, including first-round pick Justin Carbonneau, whose arrival is already part of the conversation even before he skates in an NHL game.
Carbonneau is expected to begin the year in Springfield, but the timetable around him may not stay quiet for long. St. Louis has a critical December stretch on the schedule, and the way the Blues handle that month could shape when the winger gets his shot, especially if the season turns bumpy or the roster gets tested by injuries. [Read more 🡒]
Blues May Have A Bigger Jimmy Snuggerud Debate Than Fans Think
With Robert Thomas now officially installed as the 25th captain and Blues games set to land on Prime, St. Louis has been getting a fresh round of attention heading into the season. Another recent snapshot of where the roster stands came from The Athletics annual Top 150 NHL players list, which included several Blues players and offered another reminder that this group has enough recognizable talent to matter beyond the Central Division conversation.
Still, the bigger debate for the Blues might be the one around Jimmy Snuggerud. The young winger has already put himself on the radar as a player with real upside, and his name belongs in the kind of league-wide discussion that usually separates promising pieces from established ones. Whether he is already there is a separate question, but it is one St. Louis can expect to keep hearing as his role and reputation continue to grow. [Read more 🡒]