Well, well, well, the St. Louis Blues are in serious playoff contention on trade deadline eve. Hey, if you told me the Blues would’ve been in serious playoff contention five months ago, I wouldn’t have had any words to say to you.
Why? Because I’d have been too busy laughing. The retooling Blues who don’t know how to score on anyone consistently? Seriously, don’t make me keep laughing. But here we are, on trade deadline eve.
And while the Blues aren’t in one of the two wild card positions for the Western Conference, they’re just one point behind the current second wild card team, the Calgary Flames.
Yeah, those every bit as sneaky Calgary Flames who are still, against all odds, right there with some of the best in the West. Anyway, how did the Blues get to this point, and how did it translate into so much early success?
Before I answer this question, I’ll say this: I don’t believe the Blues are a good hockey team. Yeah, still. They’re above average and they deserve to be in the hunt. But they’re still in ‘happy to be there’ territory if they make the postseason. Still, it’s further than I thought they’d venture.
1 - Swapping coaches
Who in the world hires a coach and fires them after 22 games into their first full-time gig? Remember, Drew Bannister had the ‘interim’ label attached to him last year, so I’m only going by his full-time status.
But still, it wasn’t like Bannister did a bad job last season and he outshined former Stanley Cup Champion Craig Berube. Listen, there is your average general manager, and then there’s Doug Armstrong, who does things the unconventional way as if he’s playing an EA Sports video game.
And hey, don’t judge me - there’s nothing more fun than ‘rebuilding’ teams on those games with outrageous roster moves. I mean, this was bold as bold could get, even if the man who replaced Bannister is named Jim Montgomery.
Still, 21 wins and 47 points later, making the move to Montgomery paid off, and the Blues deserve to be right there in contention.
2 - Snatching a pair of restricted free agents
Supposedly, there was this ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ or something about executives refraining from taking restricted free agents from other organizations. Maybe. But when the stakes are high, such agreements are meant to be broken, and Doug Armstrong was smart enough to realize that.
That said, he brought in Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, and I’m ultra-impressed with the latter player. In 63 games, Holloway has 46 points, 20 goals, a 13.6 shooting percentage, and 135 hits.
Last season, he was this lower-liner with the Edmonton Oilers and his production was so-so at best. Now, he’s a top-six player who has maintained that edge, making him one of the league’s more physical forwards.
Broberg has fared well at times, and he still has a decent 21 points and six goals in 50 games. His plus-11 is tied for second-best on the team along with Holloway and Jordan Kyrou, and behind only Zachary Bolduc, who is at a plus-14.
Overall, adding Broberg and Holloway more than sped up this retool, and had Armstrong not “broken” that “agreement,” or whatever it was, I seriously doubt the Blues would be in the same position.
3 - Keeping faith in Jordan Binnington
It’s no lie that Jordan Binnington would have brought in quite a few assets even if he looked like he lost a step at times. Then, the 4 Nations Face-Off happened, and Binnington turned out to be one of Team Canada’s more valuable players, something that had since spilled over into Arch City.
Binnington is now looking like a potential, outside and looking in, Vezina Trophy candidate, even if his save percentage is just 0.899. His GAA is now down to 2.78, with three shutouts, and a 0.571 quality starts percentage.
Those numbers continue to trend north, and Binnington has unless something crazy unforeseen happens between now and Friday afternoon, entrenched himself as the Blues No. 1 goaltender well into next season. Yeah, with a retooling team, Armstrong could’ve traded Binnington, but that’s most likely no longer an issue.