Colton Parayko is on the doorstep of a franchise milestone that says everything about staying power. Four games into the 2026-27 season, the Blues defenseman will move into second place on St. Louis’ all-time games-played list, passing Barrett Jackman and trailing only Bernie Federko.
Parayko begins the season with 800 career games in a Blues uniform. Jackman sits at 803, so once Parayko gets into his fourth game of the year, he’ll stand alone in second. Federko remains first with 927.
That climb has been built on the kind of steady work that usually gets appreciated more in hindsight than in the moment. The Blues selected the 6-foot-6 Parayko in the third round, 86th overall, of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, and he made his NHL debut in 2015-16. Since then, he has become one of the defining fixtures on the back end, piling up 81 goals, 323 assists and 313 points with a plus-61 rating.
He’s done it while playing heavy minutes, too. Parayko has averaged more than 22 minutes per game across 11 seasons, often lining up against top competition. Through the Blues’ contending years and the rebuild that followed, he has remained a constant presence.
His value was on full display during the 2019 Stanley Cup run. Parayko handled a key shutdown role in that improbable championship season, finishing the playoffs with two goals and 12 points in 26 games while averaging 25 minutes a night.
Now 33 and still under contract, Parayko enters another season as a stabilizing force on a roster that’s going through change. For a team opening a new chapter, his march toward the record book offers a familiar anchor. And before long, another Blues milestone will belong to a player whose game has been built on consistency, not noise.
In Other News...
Blues Face A Defining Question After Doug Armstrong's Exit
Doug Armstrongs looming exit after the 2026 draft closes one of the most influential eras in Blues history and leaves the organization with a familiar kind of pressure: how to keep the competitive window open without the architect who helped build it. The franchise has been shaped by a series of patient moves and targeted acquisitions that ultimately fed into the 2019 Stanley Cup run, and the current roster still reflects that emphasis on depth, physical play and a structure that can hold up over a long season.
The bigger question is what comes next once that blueprint is no longer being drawn by the same hand. The Blues have enough pieces to stay relevant, but winning a championship is never simple, especially without a roster loaded with multiple Hall of Fame-level stars. Armstrongs departure does not just mark a front-office transition for St. Louis, it also forces the club to answer how much of its identity can survive when the man who helped define it is no longer setting the direction. [Read more 🡒]
Blues May Be Sitting On A Skilled Winger Worth Watching
Dmitri Buchelnikov is the kind of winger whose name can slip under the radar for Blues fans now but may not stay there for long. A Russian right winger whose NHL rights were traded to St. Louis after Detroit drafted him in 2022, he has been trending up in the KHL, where his production has grown steadily through a breakout run with Vityaz and then an injury-shortened season with CSKA Moskova.
For the Blues, the appeal is obvious: a skilled forward with a chance to become more than just a distant prospect if his game keeps moving in the right direction. He still has some hurdles to clear before he looks like a fit for a top-six NHL role, but the way he plays and the progress he has already made give him a chance to matter down the road, possibly as soon as the 2027-28 window. [Read more 🡒]