It is fair to say that the St. Louis Blues' 2025-26 NHL season has not started as many would have hoped. The team sits at 3-7-2, ranking 31st in the NHL. Jake Neighbours, who was the Blues' most consistent player to start the season, is now out for a minimum of five weeks with a right leg injury. Number one centre Robert Thomas has missed the last four games with an upper-body injury, but will be making his return to the lineup when the Blues face the Edmonton Oilers tonight. The team’s goaltending situation has not been up to the standard you would have expected going into the season, but the biggest hole continues to be the third defence pairing.
The high-risk trade that is not panning out just yet
It is no secret that Logan Mailloux was brought in as an important part of the Blues' future on the backend, at a heavy price, trading forward Zachary Bolduc to acquire the young defenceman. So far, the trade has not gone as well as Doug Armstrong would have hoped. In eight games so far this season, Mailloux has yet to record a point and has the second-worst plus/minus on the team at minus 9. People always say defencemen take a little bit more time to adjust to the NHL game compared to forwards, and that is true. Maybe Mailloux is not where the Blues thought he was in his development, but that does not mean it is time to give up on the 22-year-old defenceman. He has been a healthy scratch four times this season, and with the Blues reacquiring defenceman Calle Rosen, if Mailloux can not find his footing soon, it is extremely possible he could spend some time in Springfield to help get his game on track and build his confidence back up.
The perennial call-up
Matt Kessel has become a familiar face for Blues fans. He has yet to play an entire season with the team, but he always seems to split his season between St. Louis and Springfield. He has played in 74 games with the Blues spread over four seasons, and feels more like a stopgap player. He is not someone the franchise views as an everyday player, which is troubling considering how poorly Mailloux has played to start the season. It is easy to say he has been the better of the two options so far this season, but in the long run, if the Blues still view themselves as a playoff team, Kessel is not the man to fill the void on the third pairing. Mailloux was brought in with the potential to be a puck-moving defenceman, and while that has not materialized just yet, Kessel has never shown himself to be a big points guy at any level he has played. The problem is, right now, if Mailloux is not ready just yet and Kessel is not the answer, what do the Blues do for this season?
What is the answer?
The one player not going anywhere is Tyler Tucker, who has been more than solid in the first 12 games of the season, recording one goal and four points, and is one of three players on the Blues roster with a positive plus/minus. The question is who should be Tucker’s partner on the blueline? Unless Mailloux makes a quick 180, it might benefit him to go play for the Thunderbirds in the AHL and get his development back on track, because it will not do him any good trying to fight through the struggles if he is playing this poorly.
A trade for another defenceman is likely out of the question, considering what they paid to acquire Mailloux; the answer will have to come from inside the organization. If the Rosen acquisition is any indication of what is next for Mailloux, we could see Kessel and the newly reacquired defenceman rotate in the lineup, depending on the matchup and who is playing better. If that does not work out, maybe we could see a different face in the lineup. Samuel Johannesson and Theo Lindstein have had good starts to the season in the AHL, and considering that both possess the ability to move the puck, it might not be a bad idea to let one of them have the opportunity to fill the void the Blues have on their defense. One thing is for certain: the Blues are going to need more from their third-pairing if they want to turn their season around.