The St. Louis Blues have placed themselves comfortably in playoff position, but does that make them one of the NHL’s best teams?
As the calendar turns to March and marks just two months left in the season, the St. Louis Blues have 70 points, the second-highest total in the Western Conference behind the Central Division-leading Colorado Avalanche.
The Blues’ 70 points are good for just the eighth-best point total in the NHL. The Avalanche are in the clubhouse as President’s Trophy favorites, but then it is six Eastern Conference teams ahead of the Blues in point totals.
Asking the question of whether or not the Blues are elite is difficult. The team doesn’t have a flashy superstar like a Steven Stamkos, Sidney Crosby, Auston Matthews, or Nathan MacKinnon.
The St. Louis Blues just aren’t sexy, and that’s okay. The Blues have been relying on this method of gritty pucks in deep hockey, and it has worked very well for them in the past.
The closest thing the Blues have to a flashy superstar would be Robert Thomas or Jordan Kyrou. Their dynamic speed is almost as flashy as some of the other superstars make on a nightly basis, but you are still waiting for them to develop more parts of their game.
Vladimir Tarasenko has been the superstar the Blues wanted him to be. However, multiple seasons of injuries and not living up to expectations will quickly take you out of the superstar conversation.
A team doesn’t necessarily need a superstar to be deemed elite, though few teams with superstars rarely find themselves anywhere in the standings except in a comfortable playoff position.
St. Louis has had a relatively easy schedule, and their most recent win came across a Chicago team that has been one of the biggest disappointments in the NHL this season.
Still, everyone has to play the worst teams in the league, and there are times when good teams struggle to beat bad teams. The Blues’ haven’t grabbed 70 points this season because they have been beating up on bad teams.
They have as many points as they do because they’re a great hockey team. Perhaps the most optimistic stat is their 19-6-2 record at the Enterprise Center.
The St. Louis Blues are not one or two pieces away from being an elite team. They are a superstar away from being an elite team. The Blues are a very good hockey team and are primed to make a postseason run, but they just don’t match up with Colorado, Tampa, or Toronto.