The St. Louis Blues should ice a much-improved team in 2026-27. While the club didn’t make earth-shattering moves (i.e., trade Robert Thomas), it did make moves substantial enough to move the needle.
The additions of Mason McTavish and Connor McMichael should bode well for the organization. That, and the return of just about the entire roster, looks good for the Blues on paper.
A lot of things will also have to go right. Some of the younger players will need to take the next step. Players like Jimmy Snuggerud and Jake Neighbours will hopefully entrench themselves as the next wave of NHL superstars.
Plus, one last great season from Jordan Binnington could put the Blues in a playoff spot this upcoming season. However, it will take more than just a few lucky bounces to make a strong postseason run.
Depending on the postseason berth the Blues land, they could end up with a David-versus-Goliath matchup. For instance, let’s assume the Blues land the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. Let’s also assume that the Colorado Avalanche repeat as the West’s top seed.
Could the Blues unseat the Avalanche in a first-round series?
Well, if 2024-25 was any indication, the Blues qualified as the second wild card and pushed the then-Presidents’ Trophy winners, the Winnipeg Jets, to seven games in the first round.
Should the Blues capture the second or third spot in the Central Division, they would likely have to face, say, the Dallas Stars or Minnesota Wild. Unless the Blues won the Central, the path in the first two rounds would be a tough one.
That’s what the Blues would be up against. And it might just be that this time they could pull it off.
Blues need more than luck to get out of first round
In short, the Blues will need more than just luck to make it out of the first round this upcoming season. They’ll need to have everything come together, especially with Binnington and Joel Hofer providing solid goaltending.
That’s the thing. The best teams in the NHL get solid goaltending even if they don’t have Vezina Trophy-caliber netminders. The Carolina Hurricanes were an example of that. They got decent goaltending throughout the season, but then turned it up in the playoffs.
Unless Binnington or Hofer can turn into Frederik Andersen in the postseason, it will be tough for St. Louis to make it past the first round.
In all likelihood, it might be a first-round exit for the Blues. That’s not a defeatist statement. That’s a wake-up call for the organization. If the team can put everything together at the right time, there could be a magical run in the works for the Blues.
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