What would the St. Louis Blues look like right now if that Game 7 against the Winnipeg Jets had gone the other way?
That’s the kind of what-if that hangs over a franchise. The Blues had the Presidents’ Trophy winners on the ropes in the 2024-25 playoffs, only to watch it slip away in brutal fashion: two goals allowed in the final two minutes of the third period, then the series-ending goal in double overtime.
Instead of moving on, St. Louis went home.
If they had finished the job, the next stop would have been the Dallas Stars. Winnipeg’s reward for surviving that first-round scare was a second-round matchup with Dallas, and that would have put the Blues in front of a team that was a real problem in 2024-25. The Stars pushed all the way to the Western Conference Final before losing to Edmonton in five games.
But the Blues weren’t exactly a soft landing spot either. A series win over the regular-season champs would have given them a serious jolt, and that kind of momentum can change the feel of an entire spring.
Instead, the loss became a hard reality check. St.
Louis came out of that defeat looking like a team that wasn’t quite as strong as it had seemed, and that carried into the 2025-26 season, when disappointment showed up everywhere on the ice. The club went through an identity crisis, and that’s part of why the younger core is now starting to take shape.
A win over Winnipeg might have altered the offseason, too. Then-General Manager Doug Armstrong only made a few notable moves, signing Pius Suter and Nick Bjugstad and trading Zack Bolduc for Logan Mailloux. That was it - not much of a splash after a first-round exit.
Had the Blues advanced, the picture could have looked different. They might still have been operating inside a championship window, with a better shot at landing top-end talent in St.
Louis. Still, it wouldn’t have erased the bigger arc of where this franchise was headed.
The groundwork for a younger wave of prospects had already been laid, and eventually the Blues were going to close one chapter and start another.
In Other News...
Blues Fans Can Finally Judge The Jordan Kyrou Decision
The Blues have spent the offseason reshaping their roster with an eye toward the 2026-27 season, and the Jordan Kyrou move sits right at the center of that plan. It was the kind of decision that changes both the present and the future: St. Louis added a draft pick, then used that asset to bring in Mason McTavish, giving the club a younger core and a different kind of long-term upside.
For now, the early read on the trade leans positive for the Blues, even if the full verdict still has to wait for the season to play out. Kyrou was productive but inconsistent during his time in St. Louis, and the organization clearly decided it was time to cash in before the window closed on his value. The larger question is whether the roster the Blues built from that choice can turn promise into something more tangible when the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Beloved Rangers Figure John Davidson Lands Front Office Role With Sabres
The Sabres added another familiar name to their front office mix this week, hiring John Davidson as a senior advisor and bringing in one of the NHLs most experienced executives. Davidsons rsum stretches across several major jobs, including stops as president of hockey operations with the Blues, Blue Jackets and Rangers, and Buffalo is clearly leaning on that background as it continues to shape its leadership group.
For St. Louis fans, Davidsons name still carries some weight from his earlier run in the organization, when he helped guide the hockey operations side before moving on to other high-profile posts. His arrival in Buffalo also reconnects him with general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, a relationship that has long been part of Davidsons front-office story and now gives the Sabres another seasoned voice in the room. [Read more 🡒]