The NHL offseason is officially here as teams are positioning themselves ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft on Friday night and free agency a few days after that. But the St. Louis Blues have been rather quiet.
While there have been some rumors surrounding the Blues, namely involving Joel Hofer and Jordan Kyrou, Doug Armstrong has yet to make a move this offseason.
There were some that thought the Blues could be a landing spot for Noah Dobson. The New York Islanders traded the defenseman to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday afternoon for two first-round picks and a prospect.
Sure, the Blues may not have been able to offer the draft capital that the Canadiens did, they could've put together a similar package using roster players like a Kyrou or other future assets. And St. Louis may have made a mistake by not going after Dobson.
Dobson, who signed an eight-year, $76 million ($9.5 average annual value) as a part of the sign-and-trade, is the type of defenseman that the Blues don't exactly have right now.
Colton Parayko is another big right-handed defenseman, but he's already 32 and owed $6.5 million per year through 2030. Justin Faulk is another low-30s defenseman here as well with the same cap hit through 2027
In terms of younger defensemen, the Blues have a few in Philip Broberg (24), Tyler Tucker (25), and Matthew Kessel (25). Of course, we can't forget about recent first-round picks Adam Jiricek (2024) and Theo Lindstein (2023). So while Dobson would've brought something the Blues don't have right now, perhaps they're hoping that one of those defensemen can grow into a top-pair role at a lower cap hit for the foreseeable future.
So while the path is there for the Blues to compete in the future, missing out on Dobson when the team is looking to compete right now (and beyond) may upset some fans across St. Louis.
Perhaps the Blues will now set their sights on a few other defensemen on draft night.