We’re still early enough in the 2024-25 season that any player off to a slow start has ample time to turn things around. Jake Neighbours looked nowhere near the brewing star we thought he’d be early, but he’s since played well, and you can say the same for a few returning players on the St. Louis Blues.
Newer faces like Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway have made their mark, even if injuries have slowed Broberg while Holloway also had a scary moment. But both should continue to improve as the season hits its ‘prime,’ especially when Broberg’s ready to go.
I was also impressed with Mathieu Joseph earlier in the year, and you can say he’ll never emerge into a star, he’s been one of the more valuable assets. While Radek Faksa hasn’t done much in the way of scoring or playmaking (not that I thought that’d be the case anyway), he’s been one of the better defensive forwards.
But one player I haven’t been impressed with is Alexandre Texier, who hasn’t gotten it together at all so far. Through nine games, Texier has just three points and one goal, to go with a 7.1 shooting percentage, and a minus-4 rating. And this has all come in middle-six minutes, so what’s been going on with the recent trade acquisition?
Alexandre Texier has been a headache so far for the St. Louis Blues
If there is one advanced statistic that has worked in Texier’s favor, it’s his on-ice shooting percentage at even strength. Sitting at 10.5, this metric shows us a team’s shooting percentage when that player is in the game, and for me, anything in the double digits is above average.
But that’s about as good as it gets for Texier, whose Corsi For is just 40.5, even if 53.6 percent of his starts have come in the offensive zone. His on-ice save percentage has been just 88.2, and while you can argue that many of the Blues players can shoulder the blame here, it also shows that Texier had an opportunity to step up, but he hasn’t.
Overall, he’s been on the ice at even strength for eight goals allowed this season, meaning that, should he play in each remaining game, that final number is on track to be between 67 and 68. But, if there is a bright side, it’s that all of this has come in just a nine-game sample size, so it’s still possible for Texier to get his act together on the ice and become the player the Blues thought they were getting.