Earlier this week, The Athletic released the results of its annual survey that measures how confident fans are in their respective front offices. The survey asks fans to rank different elements of each NHL front office, and fans were able to rank the management of the team they cheer for or, for the bold among us, every front office in the league. The six categories included Roster Building, Cap Management, Draft and Development, Trading, Free Agency, and Vision, and the results were tallied up and given a letter grade.
The St. Louis Blues, after last summer's stunning double-offer sheets of Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg and a surprise playoff berth in 2024-25, jumped up 13 spots since last year's ranking. In the summer of 2024, the Blues were the 23rd-ranked office in the league; this year, they're in 10th with a B-plus ranking, behind the Washington Capitals and ahead of the Ottawa Senators.
It's clear fans were getting frustrated with GM Doug Armstrong's work after the 2019 Stanley Cup Victory: letting Alex Pietrangelo walk, questionable contracts, a middling prospect pool, and several playoff misses certainly had discontent bubbling beneath the surface. Add deadline trades of beloved players like Ryan O'Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko, and it's easy to see why things were becoming touch-and-go.
Last year just goes to show that winning truly does cure everything. Adding Holloway and Broberg was a coup in itself, followed by the Cam Fowler trade that revitalized his career, and a productive offseason that saw Armstrong add Pius Suter and Nick Bjugstad to shore up the roster's depth. The biggest add, though, was pouncing on Jim Montgomery the moment he was available; his hiring as head coach turned the Blues' season around.
There are still some questions about the ultimate ceiling of this Blues roster, but with 69 percent of fans now more confident in the Blues front office than last year, per the survey results, it's clear Armstrong and company have earned back the trust of many St. Louis supporters.