Checking in on the Blues' Offseason Additions (Part 1) - Philip Broberg and Radek Faksa

In a manner that can only be described as bold and creative, Doug Armstrong had an active offseason in the Summer of 2024. Essentially using four different roster-construction strategies available to NHL teams - free agency, trades, offer sheets, and the draft - the St. Louis Blues brought in many players, seven of which have played at the NHL level.

After 34 games, how are these offseason additions performing? How are they contributing to the Blues' success (or lack thereof)? In this series of pieces, I'll pair statistics and analytics with a little bit of the good-ol'-fashioned eye test to evaluate each player individually. First, let's look at Philip Broberg and Radek Faksa. Check back soon for articles on the rest of the newest Blues!

Philip Broberg

Making up one-half of the Blues' historic double offer sheets move, Philip Broberg was the Blues' #1 prize of the offseason. He was profiled as a promising young defenseman who could skate but had not yet made the developmental strides to be an established top-4 defenseman on a Stanley Cup contender.

Broberg has had an up-and-down season but has vastly outperformed expectations. After a blazing-hot start to the season, he missed almost all of November with a knee injury. He's back now, and has another few weeks of playing time under his belt. On the whole, how is Broberg performing this year?

In 21 games played, Broberg has notched two goals and 10 assists for a total of 12 points. Among Blues defensemen, Broberg ranks 2nd, behind Colton Paryako, in both points and assists. Defensively, Broberg has 27 blocks (5th most on the Blues) and 10 takeaways (4th most on the Blues) to go along with 20 hits and a +/- rating of +6. Although he has cooled off on both sides of the puck since his first month in St. Louis, Broberg continues to be a solid defenseman for St. Louis.

One stat in particular jumps out here. At 5-on-5, Broberg has an individual point percentage (IPP) of 80%, meaning that while he's on the ice, Broberg has a point on 80% of his team's goals, leading all NHL defensemen with at least 250 minutes of time-on-ice. This is largely a representation of his early season breakout, as he only has three points in nine games played since returning from injury. However, he was the victim of a lengthy absence, and he's been overworked since returning (19:34 ATOI pre-injury, 23:20 post-injury).

Broberg is still finding ways to contribute, and he should get a bit of a TOI break with Cam Fowler being added to the blue line, so hopefully Broberg is in for a return to form offensively.