Central STL News

Returning to the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season for the first time in two years, the St. Louis Blues are working to maintain their status as a playoff contender while continuing their roster retool.

The Blues improved by five percent last season, finishing with 96 points (44-30-8). Team president of hockey operations Doug Armstrong, who will serve his final season as general manager before Alexander Steen takes over next year, commented on the team's progress. "One of the things I talked to our team about is an NHL team is like a tanker in the ocean," Armstrong said. "When you want to turn things around, it takes a while, and when I say that, I mean you get better in this League in small percentages. We had 92 points (in 2023-24); this (past) year we had 96. I hate doing math in public, but that's about five percent. I think if we do that again next year, that gets us close to 100 points and that's where we want to go.

"I'm hoping that we have turned the tide on the re-whatever and we're starting to become a competitive team that has expectations, honest expectations, reasonable expectations of success."

Last season's playoff push saw St. Louis go 20-4-3 in their final 27 games and secure a wild card spot by beating out the Calgary Flames on a tiebreaker with one more regulation win (32-31). The Blues were eliminated by the Winnipeg Jets after losing Game 7 in double overtime despite holding a late lead.

Reflecting on how last season ended, captain Brayden Schenn said: "That's sports and sometimes you're on the wrong side of it and that night we were... You're never a playoff team until you are again next year, and that's kind of the mentality that you have to have. It's a tough League. Do we feel like we're in a better spot now than we were (last season)? Absolutely. But at the same time, we have to learn from this (past) year just kind of how hard it is to make the playoffs, and we feel like we will get better.

"We're going to learn from the experiences we had and you have to find ways to get better. When you do that and you kind of hold each other accountable throughout the summer, that's how you get better as a team kind of throughout the year."

To strengthen their center depth and add youth on defense, St. Louis signed forward Pius Suter for two years at $8.25 million ($4.125 million AAV) and forward Nick Bjugstad for two years at $3.5 million ($1.75 million AAV).

"We like our depth there," Armstrong said. "[Suter] and Bjugstad certainly change our center ice complexion."

The club also traded for 22-year-old defenseman Logan Mailloux from Montreal but sent forward Zack Bolduc in return; veteran Nick Leddy was placed on waivers and claimed by San Jose while Ryan Suter departed via free agency.

Mailloux joins veterans Colton Parayko, Cam Fowler and Justin Faulk alongside younger defenders Philip Broberg, Tyler Tucker and Matthew Kessel.

"He's an excellent skater, got an excellent shot," Armstrong said regarding Mailloux. "We think he's NHL-ready now. I talked to him, I told him he'll have the opportunity ... he has a job now. It's his job to come into camp and keep it.

"With a trade like this, it's an old-fashioned hockey trade. It was very difficult to include Bolduc in any deal, including this one."

Pius Suter comes off career highs with Vancouver last season—25 goals and 46 points—and could play as second or third-line center behind Robert Thomas (81 points), Jordan Kyrou (70), Dylan Holloway (63), Pavel Buchnevich (57), Schenn (50) or Jake Neighbours (46).

Jimmy Snuggerud may also see time among top forwards after making his NHL debut late last season with four points in seven games.

"When I look at our depth on the wing right now, if you go Snuggerud and Kyrou, then you go on the other side with Buchnevich and Holloway, it seemed like an area of strength of ours," Armstrong added.

Coach Jim Montgomery enters his first full season after being hired Nov. 25 following his dismissal from Boston; under Montgomery’s leadership last year St. Louis went 35-18-7.

"I want to tweak some things, look at what some of the best teams are doing that we could maybe copy because it's a copycat league," Montgomery said. "There's some areas of our game that need to get better and we'll look at those; 5-on-6 is No. 1. And then I just think everybody coming back and having a training camp together and setting the tone of this is how hard we're going to work.

"We're going to come and have fun too because we get to play a game for a living but when it's your turn to go whether it's in training camp it's an exhibition game we've got to go and I think that's something that everybody has embraced."