The Blues were just three seconds away from pulling off one of the biggest upsets in NHL history. After going 21-5-4 over the last three months to sneak into the final wild card spot, the Blues had a 3-2 lead over the Presidents' Trophy winner, the Winnipeg Jets, in Game 7. Although the Blues choked and ultimately fell 4-3 in double overtime, it was still extremely impressive that the Blues were able to put up such a good fight.
It gave fans hope that the team is closer to being competitive again than previously thought. If they were able to make a few moves during the offseason, the Blues could be a team that can make the playoffs and make some noise as well. However, instead of capitalizing on this strong end to the season, the Blues had a relatively quiet offseason. This puts the Blues in a position to regress in 2025-26 and become more of an average team.
A quiet offseason could put the Blues in a position to be a middle of the pack team
The big move the Blues made was acquiring Logan Mailloux from the Canadiens in exchange for Zack Bolduc. Now, Mailloux can be a solid piece for the Blues' defense. Mailloux is a big, aggressive young defenseman, but he still hasn't proven he can make an impact at the NHL level, unlike Bolduc, who is the same age and is coming off a 36-point season while averaging 12:48 of ice time. While the Blues have plenty of young forwards, there was probably a better deal to move Bolduc in.
They also signed veteran forwards Pius Suter and Nick Bjugstad to two-year deals. While both players can be solid middle-six players, they come with their question marks. Suter is coming off a career year, in which he scored 46 points, ten more than his previous career high. Who knows if he can put up those types of numbers again? Similarly, Bjugstad is coming off one of his worst seasons at age 34. It remains to be seen if he can return to the player he was in the mid-2010s.
It feels that the Blues' strategy for this upcoming season is to run it back and hope to find the same success as they did in 2024-25. While this seems like a good idea, having just made the playoffs, it was a miracle they made it last year. They only lost nine games over the final 30 and still only made the playoffs because of tie breakers. They also had the benefit of the new coach bump with Jim Montgomery being hired in late November.
It feels like it took a perfect storm for the Blues to make the playoffs. Everything had to break right for them to even be in the conversation, and even after that it they still needed help. It feels like the front office isn't expecting regression, which is bound to happen with this group of players. How can you expect a team that needed a miracle to get into the playoffs to be a contender in the falling year without significant improvement? Especially considering they play in a very tough division.
While it's good that the front office has so much confidence in the roster, it could be what holds them back. The Blues will stay an average team unless a significant improvement is made to the roster.