The St. Louis Blues came into this season with real hope attached to them.
That hope was built around the line of Dylan Holloway, Jimmy Snuggerud and Robert Thomas, a trio that gave the Blues a late-season lift and even spent part of the offseason training together to build more chemistry. Eight games in, though, the picture looks a lot messier.
St. Louis has dropped five of its first eight, and the obvious gap in the roster has started to glare: the Blues don’t have a true superstar who can take over a game.
The injuries have certainly made life harder. Logan Mailloux and Alexey Toropchenko were out to begin the season, and since then Dillon Dube and Ross Johnston have also been sidelined.
That means the Blues haven’t had a full lineup to work with, and it’s fair to say the group hasn’t been whole enough to show its full potential yet. But the deeper concern is not just who’s missing.
It’s that the Blues are still running into teams with elite talent and not having anyone who can match that level when the game starts tilting.
The numbers against division opponents tell the story. St.
Louis is 1-4 in those matchups and has been outscored by 12 goals. Of the 12 goals the Blues have scored in those games, only four have come from the first line - including an empty-netter from Snuggerud in the season opener against the Dallas Stars.
That’s not the kind of top-end production that lets a team trade punches with the best teams it sees over and over again.
It’s not only about scoring, either. The Blues have also had trouble keeping opposing top lines in check.
Against teams like the Colorado Avalanche, the lack of a difference-maker shows up in the way the game gets played. When Nathan MacKinnon or Cale Makar has the puck, the pressure ramps up instantly.
St. Louis, without enough offensive bite of its own, has been pushed into a defensive shell - playing cautious, sitting back, trying to block shots and cut off passing lanes instead of forcing the issue.
That style puts the Blues at the mercy of the other team, and that’s not a recipe for winning.
The Minnesota Wild game followed a similar script. For much of that matchup, St.
Louis was reacting to Minnesota instead of dictating the pace or controlling the puck. That’s the problem in a nutshell: without someone who can command attention and force opponents to adjust, the Blues are giving teams room to attack aggressively, create turnovers and generate odd-man rushes that put the goalie in bad spots.
It also leaves the coaching staff trying to solve a larger problem than a simple lineup shuffle.
That reality points the conversation toward the trade market, even if it’s early. The Blues have pieces they could use if they wanted to chase a superstar, but there’s not much room yet to line up a deal because the season is still so young and general managers aren’t exactly eager to move major names this soon.
One path that once looked possible involved the Detroit Red Wings, where the Blues could have had a conversation about Simon Edvinsson and Alex DeBrincat. Edvinsson’s contract extension has likely taken that option off the table, and changed the direction of any potential discussion there.
Another name that could have fit into the picture was Kyle Connor, especially if the Winnipeg Jets had stumbled out of the gate. But Winnipeg’s strong start, along with Connor Hellebuyck’s return to the organization, has made that route far less likely.
Even if none of those names turn realistic, the bigger point remains the same. The Blues may need to get involved if a major player starts to surface in trade talks.
If St. Louis wants to move closer to being a legitimate contender, it may have to find the kind of game-changing talent that can change the way opponents approach them from the opening puck drop.
In Other News...
Blues Loss Exposed Two Problems Fans Are Tired Of
The Blues latest trip through Nashville offered a familiar mix of hope and frustration, with a 5-2 loss that once again put their special teams under the microscope. Jimmy Snuggerud provided one bright spot by converting on the power play, giving St. Louis a needed jolt in a game where chances were harder to come by and the Predators penalty kill did plenty of the heavy lifting.
St. Louis managed only one goal on five power-play opportunities, and the inability to cash in when the game tilted toward the man advantage loomed large throughout the night. In goal, Jordan Binnington was left facing too much traffic and too many clean looks, and the Blues never found enough answers to keep the game from slipping away. [Read more 🡒]
Blues Bring Back A Young Name As Roster Questions Suddenly Grow
Roster maneuvering picked up around the Blues again as they turned to a familiar young name for help up front. Otto Stenberg was recalled from AHL Springfield as the club adjusted its forward group and kept a full 23-player roster in place, a sign that the day-to-day shuffle can have a bigger ripple effect when a team is already managing its cap picture.
The move came with Ross Johnston going on injured reserve because of a lower-body injury, and he is expected to miss at least a week. With Johnston sidelined and the roster full, the Blues have had to thread the needle between immediate availability and longer-range financial flexibility, which is how the cap conversation has suddenly become part of the personnel discussion. [Read more 🡒]
Logan Mailloux Finally Gave Blues Fans A Reason For Hope
Logan Mailloux is only three weeks into an eight-week recovery from hand surgery, but the young defenseman gave Blues fans a small sign that the long road back is moving in the right direction. Before a recent team practice, he was spotted skating on his own, the first indication that he has gotten back on the ice since the preseason injury that landed him on injured reserve.
For a club waiting to see what kind of impact Mailloux can make once healthy, even a solo skate carries some weight. The Blues still have a stretch to go before he is ready to rejoin the lineup, and his rehab remains the priority, but the sight of him moving again offered a more encouraging update than the silence that followed his surgery. [Read more 🡒]