The Central Division keeps loading up, and that’s bad news for the Blues.
St. Louis may look better on paper heading into next season, but the road through the division is still going to be brutal. The gap from top to bottom is shrinking, which makes a playoff push feel a little more realistic, but the youth factor still points to the Blues missing out.
So who should Blues fans worry about most in 2026-27? The answer starts with the obvious heavyweights.
Colorado, Dallas, and Minnesota remain the teams everyone is chasing. Those three are packed with superstar talent and backed by elite coaching staffs, and there’s no sign any of them are about to ease up enough for St.
Louis to slide past them in the standings. The Blues even open the 2026-27 season against a couple of those clubs in the first week.
There’s also a second tier that could keep climbing. Utah and Nashville both have the chance to push into that upper group, with Utah looking like the stronger bet.
The rebrand could end up being the best move they ever made, and Mammoth fans should be ready to enjoy the payoff. Nashville still has some holes, but with a little more help, that Steven Stamkos and Filip Forsberg-led offense could put them right there too.
That leaves St. Louis, Chicago, and Winnipeg on the outside looking in, in that order.
If the Blues get smooth contributions from the new arrivals - Mason McTavish, Connor McMichael, and Brandon Carlo - they could hang around the Western Conference playoff race. But it all comes back to the young players and how quickly they adjust to the best hockey league in the world.
The bottom line is simple: the Blues don’t have one Central Division rival to fear. They have several. And the division keeps getting stronger every offseason.
In Other News...
These 3 Young Blues Are Suddenly Carrying The Retools Biggest Pressure
The Blues 2025-26 finish left plenty of reasons to revisit the retool, even if the record was respectable enough to keep them in the mix until late. A 37-33-12 season in a crowded Central Division still ended without a playoff berth, and the path forward looks tied to whether the next wave of talent can do more than simply hold its own while the veterans sort through injuries and uneven production.
Mason McTavish, Connor McMichael and Logan Mailloux are all at the center of that conversation now, because St. Louis needs meaningful growth from each of them to make the retool work. McTavish arrives with the kind of expectations that come with major acquisition cost, McMichael is being leaned on to find his scoring touch again, and Mailloux has already shown both the rough edges and the upside that make his development such a pivotal piece of the picture. [Read more 🡒]
Ryan Reaves Is Pushing For One Final NHL Chapter
Ryan Reaves is giving himself one more shot to extend an NHL career that has already spanned 962 games, and the former Blues winger says the finish line he has in mind is a big one. In an interview on TSNs 1050 in Toronto, Reaves said he wants to play another season, has been training all summer and feels his body is holding up well enough to keep going.
For a player who built his reputation on toughness and staying power, the appeal is obvious: one more year would put him within reach of a rare milestone that has long carried weight around the league. The path back, though, may not be simple, and it could require him to work his way into a deal before he gets the chance to chase those final games. [Read more 🡒]