The St. Louis Blues just squeaked into the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, via the final spot in the Western Conference wildcard. With a record of 44-30-8 for 96 points, they finished the season in the fifth position of the Central Division.
Winning 12-straight games down the stretch catapulted them from being a team on the fringe to facing the team with the absolute best record in all of hockey last season, the Winnipeg Jets. Despite taking them to the brink of elimination, the Blues fell short in heartbreaking fashion in game seven.
Can the Blues avoid a low seed once again in 2025-26? Or, are they destined to fight until the last day of the season again to decide their playoff fate?
Have to be more consistent
One of the main things that hindered the Blues last season was that there were inconsistencies all season. A rotten start, then a revival with a new head coach, turned into a roller coaster ride.
The Blues could not string together more than two straight wins for most of the season, but also didn't suffer any long losing streaks either. Which could have been seen as a good thing to say that this team stayed in the middle of the pack of the Central Division.
Ahead of them were the Division / Conference / Regular season champs, the Winnipeg Jets, followed by Dallas, Colorado and Minnesota. Despite the Central Division holding five spots in the Playoffs, none of them made it to the Stanley Cup final as it was once again Edmonton representing the West.
The Blues have another chance to make it back to the playoffs in 2025-26, and this time it could be much more beneifical. But, that all depends on how they do in the regular season. If the road is windy and bumpy, there is a good chance that the same result, a first-round exit, will be the outcome. But, if they can establish themselves in the top-three of the division and try and control their own destiny, that could be very beneficial.
As great as they were on home ice last season, there might not be another team that could benefit from having home-ice advantage than the Blues. And this team, filled with both up-and-comers and some grizzled veterans, is eager to make history once again, just like they did in 2019.