3 St. Louis Blues players who shouldn’t return next season

Sammy Blais was a decent stopgap in St. Louis, but he’s easy to replace

Returning to St. Louis after he was acquired in the Vladimir Tarasenko and Niko Mikkola trade, Sammy Blais has seen limited ice time this season in 45 games. His previous four appearances between February 13th and March 9th have all been losses for the Blues, and Blais has had a tough time staying healthy this year. So, like Kapanen, letting him walk would be rather easy. 

Blais surprisingly got off to a good start when he returned to the Blues last season, posting 20 points and nine goals in 31 contests. His shooting percentage was an unheard of 23.1 percent, and he was still the same physical player he’d always been. 

That didn’t parlay into a better outing this season, though, as Blais posted just seven points and one goal in those 45 outings. No, injuries didn’t help, but Blais still never took full advantage of his limited chances this season. 

There are too many lower-liners set to be free agents this summer who could come in and outperform the meager numbers Blais put up in 2023-24 with relative ease. It doesn’t mean they need to come in and score over a half-point per game like Blais did upon his return to St. Louis last year, but they shouldn’t have a tough time scoring more than 0.15 points per contest.