One St. Louis Blues player enjoying a great season who nobody is talking about

Following Saturday’s loss, the St. Louis Blues are back under 0.500, to the surprise of no one. Their 8-1 loss may foreshadow what’s to come for this team, but at least they’ve proven themselves capable of pulling off thrillers every now and again to keep us interested, right?

That said, there’s been a ton of inconsistency on this hockey team, but one player who nobody has really been talking about has enjoyed a rather decent campaign. So far in 2024-25, blueliner Colton Parayko has nine points and four goals in 15 contests, and he’s converting shots into goals at a 12.9 percent rate, something closer to what you’d see a forward accomplish. 

Yet he’s still playing physical hockey and remains on pace to log 200-plus blocked shots. Throw in the fact that he’s averaging 24:07 of total ice time per game, and you can see why Parayko has been one of the more consistent pieces to this struggling hockey team. 

Colton Parayko is getting zero credit despite enjoying a good season

While the Blues aren’t stopping opposing shots from reaching the net as often with Parayko on the ice at even strength as his on-ice save percentage is a modest 89.9, you can’t say the same for his on-ice shooting percentage. That number resides at 11.6 percent, and 15 of the Blues goals this season have come when Parayko is out there. 

For context, the Blues never reached the 10-percent mark in shooting percentage with Parayko on the ice at even strength over the past two seasons. That said, he’s doing quite his due diligence when his team possesses the puck. 

It’s especially imperative to see someone in the Blues defensive unit step up and play a decent game with Philip Broberg and Nick Leddy still out. Add in the injury to forward Robert Thomas, and it puts even more pressure on a player like Parayko to step up and so far, he’s responded. 

So, the burning question is if Parayko can do more when the Blues don’t have the puck to keep them from allowing so many goals. As I write this, they’ve allowed 52 so far, which is good for just 26th in the league. If Parayko steps up in that regard and continues to play well offensively, at least he’ll give fans something to look forward to while the stars continue to heal.