Jake Neighbours enters the 2026-27 season with a pretty clear assignment: prove that last year was the outlier, not the new normal.
For the Blues, the outlook is murky. They’re not quite in the tier with the Central Division’s top three teams, but they’re also too solid to tear it all down and start over, as long as the roster stays healthy. That leaves plenty of room for individual evaluation, and Neighbours sits near the top of that list.
His 2025-26 season looked nothing like the two years that came before it. In 159 games across those strong campaigns, Neighbours put up 49 goals and 84 points, which set the bar high heading into last season.
He didn’t come close to matching that production. His ice time barely moved - 15:14 per game, only about 30 seconds lower than before - but the scoring fell off sharply.
He finished with 15 goals and 36 points in 69 games.
Even with the dip in offense, Neighbours continued to build a reputation as one of the team’s most important presence guys. He’s become a true heart-and-soul player, someone who brings leadership on the ice and in the room. That mattered even more after Brayden Schenn and Justin Faulk were dealt to the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings, respectively, at the trade deadline.
Now the question is how that role grows from here. Neighbours should have a real shot to get back over 20 goals if he stays healthy, and his career 17.1 shooting percentage suggests he’s still one of the club’s most efficient finishers. Over an 84-game season, he could even push toward 30 goals.
The leadership side may be just as important. The Blues still haven’t named a captain to replace Schenn, and they also haven’t added another alternate captain to fill Faulk’s spot. Right now, the only players wearing letters are Colton Parayko and Robert Thomas, both with an “A.”
Neighbours getting a letter next season would hardly be a shock. It should probably be the expectation.
As St. Louis leans into a younger core, he looks like the emotional center of that next group.
A captaincy might be premature, but a letter feels well earned.
And if the Blues are going to make a serious run at the postseason in 2026-27, they’re going to need depth scoring to show up. Neighbours is the player best positioned to lead that charge.
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 🡒]
Blues Are Betting Big On An Offseason Plan That Could Backfire
The Blues spent the offseason trying to reshape the roster around a narrower playoff path, making a series of moves that signaled belief in a different mix of talent and timing. The most significant change was the swap that sent Jordan Kyrou out and brought Connor McMichael in, a move that shifts attention toward whether St. Louis has actually improved in the areas that matter most when the Central Division starts tightening up.
Jordan Binnington also stayed put despite plenty of trade chatter, leaving the goaltending picture as one of the biggest variables hanging over the season. Add in the pressure on Robert Thomas to drive the offense, and the Blues enter camp with a familiar kind of uncertainty: they expect to contend for a postseason spot, but the answer may depend on whether their biggest offseason bets pay off in time. [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 🡒]