I think we know who the St. Louis Blues are at this point, and it seems like the fan base does as well after their 2-1 loss to Columbus last night. The Blues didn't play a bad game last night, and some of it was because Jet Greaves played out of his mind, but the energy and intensity weren't there.
Jet Greaves is not a well-known goaltender in the NHL, but he played great. But this has nothing to do with how he stopped the Blues or even how the Blues played. It's the trend that they've been on. St. Louis still has not won three games in a row this season. It's January, and it still hasn't happened.
This roster has the pieces, and there's a lot to be optimistic about. But as currently constructed, the Blues are just average. Besides Thomas, Kyrou, Buchnevich, Holloway, and Binnington when he's right, this team doesn't have a lot of game changers.
What needs to happen so fans can be more optimistic about this team?
There's one thing that's coming for the Blues that can keep fans optimistic, and that's the youth movement. We've written plenty of content over the past couple of days on the Blues prospects. Dalibor Dvorsky and Jimmy Snuggerud are the two prospects you should expect to see at the NHL level sooner rather than later.
If the Blues don't win out the rest of the homestand, it seems hard to find optimism that they'll find some layer of consistency. I would be giving all the playing time to young players possible if I were Jim Montgomery. Montgomery has come in and elevated the Blues play for sure, but the Blues have issues that are rooted deeper than what a coaching change can fix.
The roster is what the roster is at this point.