The St. Louis Blues' season is over. They finished with a 37-33-12 record and 86 standings points: four back of the second wildcard berth that the LA Kings finished with, and the eleventh best odds for the draft lottery. It was a disappointing season after last year's near-upset in the first round of the playoffs, and veteran leaders Justin Faulk and captain Brayden Schenn are no longer with the team, as they were traded at the deadline. Their departure, in a way, turned the roster over to the next wave of young Blues.
And the youth sure stepped up when they were handed the keys. They nearly drove the Blues right back into the postseason, though the hole the team dug earlier in the year proved too deep to get out of.
In the 20 games after the trade deadline, the Blues went 13-4-3, which is a .650 points percentage. The players that stepped up the most were 25 years old or younger, and it starts with Joel Hofer. Hofer went 9-2-2 to end the season, posting an outstanding .927 save percentage (SV%) and a 2.2 goals against average (GAA). He has fully established himself as a capable starter and, regardless of what management decides to do with Jordan Binnington, should be in the crease for Game One of the 2026-27 season.
The young skaters in front of Hofer stepped up, too. Dylan Holloway, despite a smattering of injury issues, finished the season with 22 goals and 51 points in 59 games. Jimmy Snuggerud finished his rookie season with 21 goals and another 51 points, even earning NHL star of the week honors. On the back end, Philip Broberg demonstrated he is a no-doubt top-four defenseman in the NHL, and maybe even a legitimate top-pair option; he set a new career high in points with 34 while averaging 23:21 per game. Even Logan Mailloux, whose season looked like a disaster for most of the year, found his game and became a key member of the defense corps.
While the Blues aren't going to be playing hockey again until the autumn, the way the youth stepped up down the stretch is a promising sign. Perhaps the team is closer to contending than their record shows, and new general manager Alex Steen can retool around this emergent core to get the Blues back in the playoffs next spring.
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