One respected outlet had some good things to say about the St. Louis Blues offseason, and that should bring in some optimism with camp roughly one month away. A playoff appearance this past spring didn't entice general manager Doug Armstrong to make any dramatic moves, but you can argue he still made one of the better "splashes" in the league.
The Hockey News ranked the Blues "splash" at No. 13 overall, with Adam Proteau summing it up by saying, "The Blues are closer to the middle of the field in these rankings because they’re not considerably better or worse than they were at the end of last season. And they’re still going to have a tough go of it making the Stanley Cup playoffs in the seriously competitive Central Division."
Proteau's comment above looks accurate. Yeah, some of us may lament the Zack Bolduc trade, and for good reason. Trading a proven talent for an unproven commodity's always a risk, but you know what? The Blues have youngsters at forward who can step in and fill the void Bolduc left, and you can't say the same about the blue line. So, I at least understand it.
Average to above-average is how the Blues offseason looked on paper, which is better than some think
Late last month, I talked about how it was an offseason of "big swings" for Doug Armstrong, and in many ways, it was. You got the Bolduc for Mailloux trade, but you also don't have the face-off king in Radek Faksa.
If I were Armstrong, I'd have tried to run it back with the team I had, AND would've brought on Pius Suter and Jimmy Snuggerurd for the ride. It may've created a logjam, but I'd have known the team would've been better off.
Does that mean I wouldn't have traded Bolduc? Contrary to what I said earlier, chances are, I'd have wanted to keep Bolduc around and just gone deep with the forward group.
But either way, Mailloux could end up making what was a big swing but not much of a splash even bigger if he goes out and plays like Philip Broberg.
The Hockey Writers were spot-on with the Blues
A big splash would've been ideal for some fans. And a contingent of those who wanted to see that splash are without a doubt disappointed here. Others may've seen the Blues offseason as "middle-of-the-road" because no big names came in.
But we need to remember that players like Snuggerud, Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Dylan Holloway, and Jake Neighbours are well on their way to big-name status. So I don't blame Armstrong for adding utilities like Pius Suter and taking a gamble on Logan Mailloux. And, if they pay off, then great.
So, a better offseason than some in Arch City might think? An ever-resounding yes from me. One that could've been better? Yeah, but more of a 'yeah' with a shrug.
From my standpoint, I like where the Blues sit, even if they're in what might be the toughest division in hockey this season. Still, we know they're capable of making the playoffs, and if this team ends up being a better version of that 2024-25 squad, they're going to once again surprise critics.
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