Every year, The Athletic releases an article of player tiers, determined by a statistical model, internal deliberation, and the input of a number of executives, general managers, scouts, and the like within the hockey world. This year's edition features a whopping six players from the St. Louis Blues, though none in the highest tiers of MVP-level talents or franchise forwards.
Still, six players ranked in the top 150 in the NHL is a great foundation for a contending team. Championship caliber? Not on paper, but that's why they play the games: as Blues fans know all too well, a run of great games for a couple weeks in the spring can carry a team to a Stanley Cup victory.
The highest-ranked Blue may come as a bit of a surprise, but for anyone who's watched him play over the years, it's clear why Robert Thomas is ranked in Tier 3. Players in the third tier are considered "All-Stars," so critical parts of a contending team's core. Thomas stands alone among Blues players in that tier.
In Tier 4, two Blues players make an appearance: Jordan Kyrou and Colton Parayko. Players ranked in the fourth tier are considered top 100 in the league, and are your top-line/top-pair players. There's a world Kyrou can elevate his game and share a tier with Thomas, but he's going to have to show that the improvements to his game under head coach Jim Montgomery are sustainable.
The Blues have three players, then, in the final tier: Tier 5. Those players are veteran Pavel Buchnevich and both offer sheet acquisitions Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg. Players in this tier are considered part of the supporting cast: good players that can elevate a contending team, but aren't able to shoulder the load themselves. Considering the play of all three, that seems an appropriate assessment.
It may not be the embarrassment of riches at the top of the lineup that many contending teams have, but the Blues are no slouches, either--they should make some noise in the regular season and, hopefully, be quite a handful when the postseason rolls around.