Ranking the St. Louis Blues defensemen from worst to first for the 2024-25 season

Of the St. Louis Blues top eight defensemen who should see the NHL ice at some point in 2024-25, five of them are over 30 after Ryan Suter joined the team. To foreshadow, these rankings were split between three youngsters who may work their way into full-time NHLers with the Blues this season and those who will begin the year securing top-four minutes. 

But if the Blues, like some suspect, end up struggling this year, these rankings will look very different during the 2025 calendar year. Not only could at least one of those older blueliners end up elsewhere, but all three youngsters listed in the early part of this article could skyrocket up this list, especially if they stay healthy. 

8 - Tyler Tucker

It’s time for Tyler Tucker to start proving himself on the ice, but with such a logjam at defensemen in the short term, that could be tough. Still, he brings a physical game, and if he keeps that up, Tucker will log quality minutes and that may lead to more ice time. 

Injuries have held him back, so health will be an X-factor for Tucker heading into the season. But in a worst-case scenario, Tucker will end up as high-end organizational depth who can dominate in the AHL and suit up for the Blues when needed.

7 - Pierre-Olivier Joseph

One of the more under-the-radar acquisitions, Pierre-Olivier Joseph’s sample size with the Pittsburgh Penguins isn’t flashy, but it’s worth taking a deep dive into. Although his numbers weren’t great last season, he still had an encouraging stint in 2022-23 with 21 points and five goals in 75 games, plus 88 hits and 38 takeaways. 

The question is, with so much age and experience in front of him, will he get much of a chance at the NHL level in St. Louis’ system? He will need a strong camp and preseason to force himself into the lineup as at least a seventh defenseman. 

6 - Scott Perunovich

Scott Perunovich may be the top breakout candidate of the young trio of blueliners listed in the bottom three slots of this article. He didn’t score his first NHL goal last season, but 17 assists in 54 games across 15:16 of average total ice time isn’t a bad figure, and it’s something to build on in 2024-25. 

Right now, he’s my front-runner to attain a permanent, or at least a preferred spot, in the Blues defensive rotation. This isn’t just because of his overall productivity but also because of his ability to quarterback power plays, which he saw 118.8 minutes of last season and was on the ice for 12 of those man-advantage goals. 

5 - Ryan Suter

There will be a plethora of questions surrounding the Ryan Suter signing, but judging it strictly as a roster transaction, I didn’t mind it. Suter has been a durable blueliner, playing in all 82 games between 2021-22 and 2023-24, and that was also the case during the truncated 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. 

He’s still blocking shots and landing vicious body checks, and while he won’t log top-four minutes if the Blues keep their rotation as-is, there’s a good chance he will step in as the fourth defenseman should a trade occur. He won’t be in St. Louis longer than a year, but fans should be happy to see one of the NHL’s most experienced players in Gateway City. 

4 - Torey Krug

Top-four minutes and 30-plus points remain in Torey Krug’s grasp, and he made a habit of stealing the puck more often in 2023-24 than he did at any other time in his career with 38 takeaways. Krug also logged 111 blocks, which also served as a career-high, and his 77 games played were his most since the 2016-17 season, so there were a good bit of positives. 

A few downsides are that Krug saw just a 7.1 on-ice shooting percentage, one of the lowest of his career at even strength. That also came amidst some struggles in stopping opponents from scoring - 77 on-ice goals against in the same situation, and a career-worst minus-31 overall. 

3 - Nick Leddy

Nick Leddy’s experience in St. Louis hasn’t been what he envisioned, as he came over to what was then a playoff team from the Detroit Red Wings. But here we are, two years later, and Leddy has seen the Blues miss the playoffs twice while that same Red Wings team may end its playoff drought this season. 

But it’s hard to say his play has been the reason the Blues have hit turbulence over the last two seasons. It was just one of those poorly-timed trades that you can place the blame on no one in particular, so while he’s still in St. Louis, expect another solid season, at worst, for the 33-year-old. 

2 - Justin Faulk

Justin Faulk finished the 2023-24 season with 30 points in 60 games, showing us he’s still a reliable, two-way player who could have seen his numbers climb into the 40-50-point range had he stayed healthy all year. Still, he’s logging 21-plus minutes per game, and his physicality and ability to steal pucks ranks highly against the rest of the team when adjusted to 82 games. 

When Faulk was on the ice at even strength, the Blues benefited with an on-ice save percentage of 91.7, 11 goals on the man advantage, and a sound 88.1 on-ice save percentage when short-handed. If the Blues want to be successful to any degree in 2024-25, they need Faulk to be healthy and ready to rock for an entire season. 

1 - Colton Parayko 

He’s never been prolific in producing points, but Colton Parayko is the prime example of a player who can make a high impact without putting up more than 30-35 points in a single season. While he matched his career-high in goals scored with 10, Parayko’s 218 blocks and 73 takeaways in 2023-24 show us that few blueliners in the NHL are better at putting a stop to scoring sequences. 

He may have seen 76 goals against at even strength this past season, but Parayko’s on-ice save percentage sat at a solid 91.3, and the 73 goals he was on the ice for, also at even strength, was the second-best mark of his career. 

(Statistics powered by Hockey-Reference)