In late December, I talked about wanting to see a red-hot Zachary Bolduc embark on a red-hot second half of the 2024-25 season. While Bolduc would help the Blues should he reach that level, there are three primary contributors to this team who could, in turn, transform this group into making a surprise wild card appearance.
No, these aren’t role players, but primary contributors the Blues will rely on perhaps more than any other if they want to make a postseason run and ultimate berth. Which players should fans have their eye on, and what makes them so important to the Blues?
Jordan Binnington
It’s time for Jordan Binnington to become one of the NHL’s most consistent goaltenders, and he’s shown flashes of it all season. So far, Binnington has three shutouts, an 0.899 save percentage, a 2.79 GAA, 15 quality starts, and a 0.536 quality starts percentage.
And maybe he’s starting to heat up, with two of those shutouts coming in his previous four starts. Still, he’s been inconsistent, logging a 0.750 or lower save percentage in another two of his last five games. From here on out, the Blues No. 1 goaltender must show more than that every time he steps between the pipes.
Cam Fowler
This one’s turning out to be a good trade in the Blues favor, as Cam Fowler has nine points and four goals in 11 games played. He’s stepped in and immediately logged top-four minutes, plus at least two blocks per game.
Hey, if you would have told me the Blues were acquiring not one but two productive, top-four blueliners while losing Torey Krug and Nick Leddy, there’s no way I’d have believed that. Still, enter Philip Broberg and Cam Fowler, and the Blues haven’t missed a beat. If Fowler keeps this up, look for the Blues to keep playing better hockey.
Jordan Kyrou
Okay, this needs to be the time of the year for the Blues leading points producer to just start taking over games on a nightly basis. Jordan Kyrou has shown us so much potential, and he’s had more than his fair share of multi-point games throughout the first half of 2024-25.
Now, it’s time to, finally, get on that point-per-game pace while maintaining his current 14.3 shooting percentage. It helps that Robert Thomas returned and is more than on form, so now, if Kyrou can complement that from now until mid-April, the Blues will be very, very hard to stop.