The St. Louis Blues finished the 2025-26 season as the fifth-place team in the Central Division. In reality, they were tied with Nashville, which also finished with 86 points on the season, but the Blues had more regulation wins.
Looking at how the Blues stacked up against the rest of their division paints a really clear picture of what the future looks like. It is not very pretty, and General Manager-to-be Alexander Steen has to brace himself as this division is quickly becoming the scariest one in the NHL.
Let's go over it.
Colorado, Dallas, Utah, Minnesota are all top-tier
There is no secret that for at least the next few seasons, the top-three spots of the Central Division will feature two of the following four. Colorado, Dallas, Utah, and Minnesota.
Each of those teams are complete powerhouse's, with Utah joining the mess as soon as next season. They were a very good hockey team this season, and with one more offseason of moves, they could give Dallas a run for their money as the runner-up for the division title next season.
We all know that no one is going to stop Colorado in an 82-game slate.
The Blues were 1-2 against the Avalanche, 1-3 against the Stars, 2-1 against the Wild, and 2-2 against the Mammoth from this group. Not ideal if this franchise wants to be a playoff-contender.
Chicago and Nashville will improveÂ
In this division, eventually, the bottom of the barrel will start to catch up. That includes Chicago and Nashville, as both will be taking serious strides in the next few seasons as they are coming out of rebuilds.
The Blackhawks are going to be contenders sooner than the Predators, as they are spearheaded by Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar. The Blues have to try to compete with them for a very long time ahead.
The Blues held a record of 2-2 against Chicago and 1-3 against the Preds. Once again, not ideal.
Winnipeg may be stuck where they are
Finally, Winnipeg is going to be hardstuck at the bottom of the Central for a while. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is still this team's best player, and the first line of Mark Scheifele, Gabe Vilardi and Kyle Connor is elite to say the least. But the rest of this team is not doing itself any favors.
The Blues were 1-3 against the last-place in the Central Divison.
Overall, this franchise was 10-16 against divison rivals this past season, which is not a great sign. The Blues have to try and take care of business of their closest opponents, in order to make their way into that top-three playoff threshold in 2026-27 and beyond.
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