St. Louis Blues: Will They Even Make The Playoffs?

By Joseph Schneider | Jan 22, 2017

Nov 9, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues Head Coach Ken Hitchcock looks on from the bench during the first period against the Chicago Blackhawks at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports /

Times have certainly hit the St. Louis Blues hard since the Winter Classic. So much that a sixth straight bid in the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs could be in jeopardy.

The St. Louis Blues followed up their first outdoor hockey game with just three victories over the past nine games. Within that same span, the Blues have compiled the smallest amount of points (six) among teams currently in a playoff spot and have dropped to a tie for the Western Conference’s first wild card seed as a result.

Needless to say, the Blues could benefit from an upcoming five-day hiatus through All-Star weekend. But St. Louis still plays a pair of games before this checkpoint, which will put the Blues on pace to have played more games than over half of the league.

With 51 points over 47 games, the Blues find themselves on the cusp of the playoff bubble. It’s unfamiliar territory for head coach Ken Hitchcock, who has led St. Louis to five straight playoff births since taking over. He has also only missed playoffs once in 13 full, 82-game seasons as a head coach.

Plenty of questions remain as the Blues draw closer to All-Star break. How might Jake Allen rebound from a prolonged mental slump? Will the Blues get consistent offensive production behind Vladimir Tarasenko? Does the team plan on buying or selling at the trade deadline?

These answers may not be clear immediately, but there are external factors that could present challenges to St. Louis’s mission for playoffs. One of the most notable factors revolves around an increasingly improving Central Division.

The Minnesota Wild continue to cruise, having amassed a 20-2-1 record since the start of December.

The Chicago Blackhawks have remained consistent as one of only eight teams to win at least a dozen games at home and on the road to this point.

The Nashville Predators have played more complete hockey recently as well, and could be take over the third Central Division spot for quite some time with

returning from injury.

More from Analysis

If these trends persist, St. Louis’s postseason chances rely primarily on the Wild Card. That’s a more difficult seal considering that six teams stand within a span of five points for these spots, including division foes Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets.

Another intriguing aspect involves the construction of the Blues remaining schedule. In particular, St. Louis only has four more multi-game homestands and five sets of back-to-back games, conditions that have offered St. Louis mixed result throughout the 2016-17 campaign.

The Blues have a 7-12-1 record outside of Scottrade Center, the worst in road winning percentage aside from Vancouver, Dallas and Arizona.
St. Louis has only collected 10 points without a day off in between games.

The silver lining through this development could be the quality of opponents. Nearly 63 percent of the Blues post-January games are scheduled against teams not on pace to make playoffs. This includes a combined seven games against the Arizona Coyotes and Colorado Avalanche, the only two teams without 40 points thus far.

This potentially favorable setup will not matter unless more players begin to exceed expectations. There are reasons to be both optimistic and concerned about the current level of production from the forwards, defensemen and goaltenders.

The offensive output has been distributed evenly with half of the forwards averaging at least half a point per game. Yet, the lack of a dynamic scorer aside from Tarasenko (46 points in 47 games) has caused line shuffling on nearly a game-to-game basis.
The blueliners are accountable for 28 percent of St. Louis player points this season. But none have a positive plus-minus and five of the team’s active defenseman have at least a dozen giveaways this season.
Netminders Jake Allen and Carter Hutton have combined for 28 games with at least 25 saves. However, their collective .895 save percentage is currently the league’s worst, forcing the Blues to recall prospect Pheonix Copley and force him into impromptu action against Winnepeg.

If St. Louis continues to perform at its current seasonal pace, the Blues will finish up with about 89 points, which would mark would be the team’s lowest in an 82-game season under Ken Hitchcock.

By no means would this rate guarantee playoffs either, as only one of last year’s playoff teams finished with fewer points than St. Louis’s projected total.

Next: St. Louis Blues: Sitting In Goaltending No Man’s Land

The Blues are certainly in control of their own destiny, and the upcoming results could serve as a prelude of what will come in the franchise’s 50th anniversary season. As an old adage goes, don’t count your chickens before they hatch, Blues fans.