The St. Louis Blues are about to embark on their perilous journey back to the Stanley Cup playoffs, with the preseason just around the corner. With training camp set to begin on September 18 and the first preseason puck drop coming up on September 20, things are ramping up quickly.
The NHL Network recently started releasing its list of the top-50 NHL players right now, and there was a Blues player recently listed at #32. That player is Robert Thomas, who is arguably the best player on this team.
Does that sound about right?
A proper placement?
Thomas has a legitimate chance to be one of the best players to wear the Blue Note in quite a long time. This organization has been missing a playmaker that can change to trajectory of the game in multiple facets. What he brings to the ice is more than dishing the puck, but also being an efficient centerman from the faceoff dot. As well as being a hard-hitting and tenacious player.
The 2025-26 season might finally see its first 100-point player since Branden Schanahan in 1993-94, in which he had 102 points. Thomas is coming off back-to-back 80+ point seasons, and with a brand new right winger in Jimmy Snuggerud, who can score with the best of them in his very early NHL tenure, expect the point total to hover around that milestone.
In terms of his placement at #32, it seems like a proper placement. He is definitely not a top-20 player in all of the NHL, as there were more than 20 players ahead of him in point totals last season. And, he should not have been listed closer to the 50th place mark, as he is much better than that.
The Blues are going to have to heavily rely on their most valuable player again in 2025-26. With the playoffs hopefully on the horizon, once again, it will have to be Thomas to lead them to glory. His play is the most detrimental to this team, and all success and failure run through what he does with the puck on his stick.