The Blues spent the summer reshaping their roster from top to bottom, and not every move carried the same weight. Some additions are little more than organizational filler.
Others could end up steering the entire season. With a new front office setup, as Doug Armstrong hands the general manager role to Alex Steen, St.
Louis packed a lot into one offseason.
At the bottom of the list are the moves that barely register on the NHL radar. In June, Armstrong locked up Will Cranley, Zach Dean and Dylan Peterson to one-year, league-minimum extensions, while goaltender Georgii Romanov got a two-year extension. Those deals matter in Springfield, where the Thunderbirds should lean on them, but they’re not the kind of signings that are going to change the Blues’ outlook.
Jonatan Berggren and Oskar Sundqvist also got one-year extensions, but these are the sort of depth moves that mostly keep the roster stocked. Low AAV, limited upside, minimal ripple effect.
The free-agent work had more bite, even if the Blues weren’t exactly shopping in a strong market. The only two players of note to land NHL contracts were Ross Johnston and Dillon Dube.
Johnston’s deal stands out immediately: three years at a $2-million AAV for a 32-year-old. His game is built around fighting, and the numbers underline how little he offers beyond that - 14 goals, 46 points and 579 penalty minutes in 307 games.
That’s a steep price for a player who does so little with the puck.
Dube brings a different kind of weight. He was one of the five indicted Hockey Canada players, and the reaction around his signing is already part of the story.
Cal Foote, another one of those players, recently signed in Sweden, but his contract was terminated two days later after fan pushback. The Blues are already dealing with discontent over Dube, and that tension is likely to follow the team through the season.
Even negative impact counts as impact, which is why this move ranks above the depth extensions.
Then came the Brandon Carlo trade, a deal that looks expensive before you even get to the player fit. Carlo has had success under Jim Montgomery before, but the cost - two third-round picks to help the Toronto Maple Leafs - feels steep for a defenseman who turns 30 this season.
If he can handle a second-pair role, St. Louis will feel better about it.
If he settles in as only a third-pair option, the blue line could get cramped in a hurry.
The 2026 draft brought volume and variance. The Blues entered with a lot of draft capital, but they also moved several picks to bring in roster help.
They took a swing by selecting Maddox Dagenais over Ethan Belchetz, while the Tynan Lawrence pick looks like the kind of selection that can make a front office look smart down the road. St.
Louis added a large group of prospects to the pipeline, which matters for long-term competitiveness. But if the draft class misses, the fallout could be felt for years.
The Mason McTavish trade sits even higher because of what the Blues needed and what they gave up. Center depth matters, and St.
Louis needed someone behind Robert Thomas. McTavish fits that need, but two first-round picks is a serious price.
If he gets back on track developmentally, the trade could look like a coup. If he doesn’t, it could drag the season with it.
And at No. 1 is the Jordan Kyrou trade, the move that changes the shape of the team most immediately. The simplest rule in trades usually holds: the team that gives up the best player often loses the deal, and Kyrou was the best player involved.
Connor McMichael has promise, and Milton Gastrin is an intriguing prospect, but St. Louis is still a worse team on paper after moving Kyrou.
He needed a fresh start, and the Blues made the best of a limited hand. Even so, dealing away one of your top players is rarely the kind of move that helps right away.
In Other News...
Hurricanes Face A Tough Alexander Nikishin Decision
St. Louis is watching the situation in Carolina closely, and for good reason. The Blues have emerged as one of the leading candidates to land an unsigned restricted free agent defenseman who has caught the attention of teams around the league, even as the Hurricanes weigh whether their surplus on the left side makes him expendable enough to move.
The price on a deal is expected to be steep, and the financial side could get messy in a hurry. Carolina has been open to trade calls, but there are complications beyond the prospect of giving up a young blue-liner, including the possibility of folding another contract into the transaction, which only adds another layer for St. Louis to sort through if it wants to stay in the mix. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Carlo Gives Blues Defense What It Was Missing
The Blues have quietly added a familiar face to Jim Montgomerys blue line, bringing in Brandon Carlo to help firm up a defense that needed more steadiness. Carlo is expected to settle in on the third pairing, but his value will go well beyond simple minutes at even strength, especially with the kind of penalty-kill work that can swing tight games and give a coaching staff a little more confidence late in periods.
For Montgomery, the reunion matters as much as the fit. He knows exactly what Carlo can bring in terms of structure and reliability, and St. Louis is betting that those traits translate quickly in a new setting. There is also the contract layer to this move, with Carlo in the final season before reaching unrestricted free agency in 2027, which gives the Blues both a short-term boost and a longer look at how he fits into their plans. [Read more 🡒]