With Doug Armstrong stepping away from the St. Louis Blues following the 2026 draft, it certainly marks a new era for the franchise. However, his blueprint for the team’s future remains, and his plans will likely remain in place for years to come.
A look back at history
Throughout the mid-2010s, the Blues had a lot of really solid teams that simply never got over the hump. Looking back at the 2017-18 team, there was a lot of talent on the roster, with Vladimir Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn, and Jaden Schwartz all in the prime of their careers, coming off 20-goal seasons while playing at a near point-per-game pace. Alex Pietrangelo was also considered one of the league’s top defensemen at the time.
Despite this, the Blues were in a tricky spot. Despite missing the playoffs, the team would not pick high in the draft, nor did it have the draw to bring in an elite center like John Tavares or a top-tier defenseman like John Carlson.
Because of this, Armstrong had to make tactical signings, bringing in winger David Perron and center Tyler Bozak, while also trading Tage Thompson, Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka, a first-round pick, and a second-round pick for Ryan O’Reilly.
After this, we know that the stars aligned for the Blues, with O’Reilly having a career year, Bozak and Perron becoming significant contributors, and, of course, rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington breaking out.
As strange as it may seem now, it does feel like Armstrong has left this team with some optimism that pickups like Mason McTavish and Connor McMichael could help recreate this run.
How realistic is this ideology?
Unfortunately for the Blues, the idea of a Stanley Cup-winning team without multiple Hall of Famers on the roster is very unlikely. Up until 2009, not only had there not been a single Cup-winning team with no Hall of Famers, but there had only been two teams since 1967 to win the Cup with fewer than three Hall of Famers.
Additionally, since 2009, the only teams that have even a chance of not having a Hall of Famer are the 2019 Blues, 2023 Golden Knights, and 2026 Hurricanes, all of which have at least one player with a very realistic shot at eventually making the Hall of Fame.
If you look up and down the Blues’ roster, though it is very young and there is plenty of time for growth, there isn’t a single player who doesn’t seem to face an uphill battle to become a Hall of Famer, much less two or three players.
With that being said, the league is trending more and more toward balance throughout all four lines and away from a few superstars carrying a team to the Stanley Cup.
Though a team like Florida in 2025 did have some elite top-end talent, its third line of Eetu Luostarinen, Anton Lundell, and Brad Marchand was what set it apart from other talented rosters.
The Blues’ third line is a line that has the potential to stand out this year, with a lot of options and possible rotating pieces, including Jake Neighbors, Jonatan Berggren, Pius Suter, Otto Stenberg, and Dalibor Dvorsky, that could set them apart from other teams.
It seems that, similarly to 2019, Armstrong’s master plan is to beat teams with depth, physicality, and game sense. Unfortunately, these are all things the team struggled with last year, and to win a championship this way, you need to be nearly perfect in those areas.
However, with the team unable to bring in big-time trade candidates because of no-trade clauses and appearing unwilling to fully tear it down and earn a high-end draft pick, finding consistency and hoping to recreate some of that 2019 magic seems to be what Armstrong has set the Blues up to do.
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