Now that free agency and the 2026 NHL Draft buzz have come and gone, the St. Louis Blues and the rest of the National Hockey League look forward to a long summer at home. All eyes are now looking at training camp opening back up in a few weeks.
The Athletic just graded everyone's free agency moves, and the Blues got a pretty healthy score. Jeremy Rutherford, the go-to guy when it comes to Blues news over there, nailed it with his scoring.
Let's talk about it.
Checked all the boxes
If there is one way to describe how this offseason has gone so far for the Blues, it is that it has been efficient. Not spectacular, but also not terrible.
When this past season's troubles finally ended, it became clear exactly what they needed to get themselves back into that Stanley Cup contender window. Then General Manager Doug Armstrong made a plan, and it was succeeded by current GM Alexander Steen.
The Blues made a list, and checked off all the boxes that were weak and unfulfilling.
The Athletic nailed it
A B+ grade is a perfect representation of the Blues' offseason thus far. Ross Johnston and Mason McTavish are solid pickups, and they fit into the system of this franchise. Rough and tough and always play with an edge.
Plus, the draft saw the center depth problem be erased in a 20-minute period with the aforementioned McTavish trade, Tynan Lawrence at No. 11 and Maddox Deganais at No. 16. Plus, let us not forget about the pre-draft trade of Jordan Kyrou to Washington for that No. 16 pick and Connor McMichael.
Finally, the Blues might have established a top-four on the blue line with very minimal movement. They traded two third-round picks to grab Brandon Carlo, and he now gets a chance to make a difference in a second-pairing or third-pairing role. If it is the latter, that gives more order for the top-four of Philip Broberg, Logan Mailloux, Colton Parayko and Cam Fowler. Or, one of them comes out for the up-and-coming Adam Jiricek.
Armstrong set this team up wonderfully, and Steen is honoring his final moves flawlessly. This has already been a great start to this long summer, and when training camp opens up, this team is going to look alot different than the 2025-26 edition.
Add us as a preferred source on Google