Three Reasons To Worry About 2023-24 St. Louis Blues Already

It is extremely early in the 2023-24 season. In fact, as of writing this article, the St. Louis Blues have only played two games.

There’s a lot that can change, for good or bad in this season. There’s still 80 games left after all (perhaps less, if you’re reading this later on).

However, there is already reason to worry about this team and its chances at reaching the playoffs. Things are already looking like it might be an uphill climb.

While certain problems from 2022-23 seem to have been fixed, there are still things that aren’t that great with the Blues at present. Some of it might not even be what you think.

With all that in mind, let’s look at the three things that are already giving Blues fans something to worry about in this extremely early part of the season.

Relying on goaltending

Interestingly, one of the worries about the Blues going into the 2023-24 season was goaltending. Many fans had soured on Stanley Cup champion Jordan Binnington and were even pondering whether Joel Hofer could steal the starting spot.

Well, instead, Binnington has shown focus, determination and that cool demeanor that made him an unstoppable force in 2019. He has kept the Blues in both of their early contests by making some highlight reel saves.

How could that be a bad thing? It is because the Blues are already relying on their goalie far too much right now.

Through the first two games of the season, the Blues are averaging a little over 32 shots against per game. Not only is that a high number, but the high danger chances against are a little more than you would like.

Though the Blues collected three points out of four in two games, the only forced overtime against Dallas and only did not lose in overtime against Seattle because Binnington allowed it. If not for his gigantic saves, the Blues might easily have one or no points in the first two games.

That’s great to have a big start from your goaltender, especially when you wanted them to have a big year. However, it is not sustainable to expect that kind of performance from Binnington, nor Hofer, for 80 more games.

If the Blues don’t give their netminder an easy night now and then, this might be a long season again.

Lack of scoring

Spinning off the injury issue, even with the team fully healthy, they have not scored nearly enough. Yes, the overall team game is fine and they’re keeping a tighter defensive position and keeping opponents away.

However, in two games, the Blues only have two goals in regulation. In a league where winners typically score four or more goals, one goal per game is not even close to cutting it.

Compounding matters, the Blues continue to be a quality over quantity in the shot category. That’s fine if guys are connecting on things more regularly, but eventually you just need to get pucks on net.

We’ve seen far too many games where the Blues have three or four shots in one period. Unless you score two goals on those four shots, that’s just not enough.

I’m not saying just chuck stuff at the goal from 40 feet away simply to pad your shot totals, but three and four shots won’t cut it. You have to challenge goaltenders and make them work sometimes.

The Blues are barely making their opponent’s goalie sweat in some periods. Given the talent the team lost last year, we knew they weren’t going to be a top-five team in goals, but the pace they’re setting early in 2023-24 is not too encouraging.

The team did need to refocus on defense and seems to have done so, since they’ve also only allowed two goals in regulation. You just hope the focus on defense has not come at the expense of offense because you do have to score to win.