For a team that finished 2022-23 with 81 points and saw many key players leave that season, the St. Louis Blues didn’t backslide any further in 2023-24, even if they didn’t do enough to punch a ticket into a wild card despite enjoying an encouraging run late in the year. It shows that an organization doesn’t always need to tear everything down and rebuild, but simply restructuring could be the better way to go. Continuing with such a mentality will do general manager Doug Armstrong and the Blues well.
But when you finish the current season with 92 points, a total that would have put you in the playoffs had you been in the Eastern Conference, that also screams that you need to do anything and everything you can to return in 2025. Luckily for the Blues, they have enough talent left on this team, even in a “retool phase,” to become one of those eight teams to play in the postseason next year.
St. Louis Blues have the talent, must avoid mistakes in the offseason
Armstrong should be hoping he can do enough to catapult the Blues back into the NHL Playoffs, but doing so will require a mistake-free offseason. For one, playing in a division alongside the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and Winnipeg Jets means Armstrong can’t just be satisfied with a good product, but a great one.
This is, of course, assuming there is no realignment with the Arizona Coyotes going inactive and their personnel heading to Utah. But even if someone like Colorado, for example, jumped to the Pacific with Utah following, St. Louis would likely find themselves competing for a spot with a team like the Edmonton Oilers. So no, it wouldn’t get any easier if the NHL swapped Colorado for Edmonton.
So what makes for a mistake-free offseason from Armstrong and company? Let’s talk about three potential errors the Blues longtime general manager cannot afford to make over the summer.