There’s a fairly big debate among St. Louis Blues fans about the direction the franchise needs to go this offseason and that debate began immediately after the Blues got swept by Colorado. Much of the difference of opinion can be attributed to gigantic differences in how people view the last two seasons.
On the one hand, you have fans who realize that the bubble playoffs of 2020 and the 2021 season were situations that no team has had to go through before (hopefully after) and makes it harder to judge the team based on those performances. They realize that the 2020 team was in first place in the conference before everything went to pot and the team simply did not know how to handle the adversity presented by the pandemic.
On the other hand, you have those that like to simplify everything. The team did not score enough goals, nor keep enough out, so they need to add more size on the back line and either move on from their current best scorer or, at the very least, add a new one. These fans tend to border on the insanity of rebuilding when a simple addition here or there might be all that is needed. The sane in this group are more along the lines of a retool.
Regardless of which group you find yourself in, the bottom line is that the Blues do need changes. We can argue about offense vs. defense and this player vs. that.
No matter who you think can help, the Blues need help. As presently constructed, they’ve lost too much depth from their championship team and need reinforcements.
Looking to the players that are coming off playoff success would be a smart way to go. All four teams in the semifinal have players that will be available this summer.
Let’s take a look at some of the most intriguing names.