The St. Louis Blues received an honest but bit overlooked grade of a "D" from Bleacher Report in their 32-team roundup of the offseason. Adam Gretz may have hit the key points, but there is a larger underlying truth that fans should hold on to prior to the 2026-27 season.
What wasn't working is now on another team, and something fresh is hitting the Enterprise Center ice in hopes of erasing past mistakes. For years, this team has been pounding the same drum in hopes of a different tune, and it never rang.
Now, there is a sense that this young core can blossom into something unique and beautiful. And this offseason helped push it in that direction.
Let's talk about it.
Moving into a new era...
The Blues did not win the offseason by creating headline-savvy deals. They also didn't make the same mistake they made in the offseason prior by putting Nick Bjugstad and Pius Suter into the center roles they were given in hopes of patching up holes. Instead, they were able to release really bad contracts and administer an influx of youth.
Alexander Steen is taking over as the new General Manager, and he has a core group consisting mainly of players under 25. That means that eventually, this team will figure itself out and prove that they can compete. It is only a matter of time.
...Mixed with some old school hockey
Mason McTavish and Connor McMichael, along with the tough guys in Ross Johnston and Brandon Carlo, are going to put a little bit of hurt on the competition. The Blues are going to be rough and tough, and that will be all over the 200-foot sheet of ice.
Head coach Jim Montgomery is going to have a fast and ferocious training camp to figure out who is the best fit where. Watch for fireworks to occur amongst teammates prior to the newly formatted 84-game campaign, and that will carry over to punishing the other team once the regular season begins.
So, Blues fans should not hold that "D" grade to heart. It is a fair shake when looking at the popularity of the grades, but in terms of making sure this team can start fresh in 2026-27, that is a much higher score.
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