We're in the thick of July now and, with Connor McMichael's extension done and dusted at $6.75 million annual average value over six years, the St. Louis Blues could be finished for the summer. There are no more in-house free agents of note to sign, the draft is long past, and there are scant few free agents remaining on the market; barring a surprise trade, the current roster seems like what we'll see during training camp.
So, did the Blues do enough to improve the team and contend for a playoff spot in a crowded Central Division? According to the statistical model over at The Athletic, the answer is no--in fact, the Blues got worse, their Net Rating a minus-7. From the article:
"St. Louis’ pro scouting staff deserves some benefit of the doubt after the double offer sheet coup. But I would still prefer Jordan Kyrou over Mason McTavish and Connor McMichael. Kyrou is a legit needle-mover; the other two currently look a lot closer to average. “Currently” is the key word there. It wouldn’t be a shock to see both improve within a new context. For now, though, the Blues do look worse off."Dom Luszczyszyn
The Bad News
While Kyrou had a disappointing 2025-26 season and a change of scenery was warranted, he's been a consistent 30-goal scorer for much of his career and often grades out well by underlying statistics (per Natural Stat Trick, he had a 59.74 xGF% last season--the highest mark on the Blues). McTavish had a similarly down season and is younger, which means a bounce-back is possible, but he doesn't have the same strong track record or stats that Kyrou has in the past. McMichael, similarly, had a breakout year at age 24 while shooting 14.7 percent; there's real risk that McTavish and McMichael are both a major downgrade from Kyrou.
Reasons to Believe
The good news is the Blues, as a whole, should be better simply because their goaltending won't be the worst in the league for half the season and you'll get healthy seasons from Robert Thomas, Dylan Holloway, and several others. Internal improvements and player growth aren't really measured by the model so, while it does appear somewhat negative on the surface, there are reasons to be hopeful. On paper, the Blues look worse off; but things get a tad rosier when you look at the bigger picture.
Add us as a preferred source on Google