The St. Louis Blues have had a really rough go at it in 2025-26, and their worst showing has actually come without any games being played. The 2026 Olympics, showcasing five Blues players on four different teams, has painted a picture that this team is not bad because of the players, but the structure.
Let's dive into it a little bit more.
Each player has been stellar on their best-of-best team
Looking at Jordan Binnington and Colton Parayko with Canada, Philip Broberg with Sweden, Dalibor Dvorsky with Slovakia and Pius Suter for Switzerland, everyone has contributed something for their country. In this tournament filled with teams consisting of the best available players, each has shined brightly.
That has put the structure of the Blues on blast, as this team should have been put together better at the start of the season. The core group, consisting of Jordan Kyrou, Brayden Schenn, Pavel Buchnevich, and Dylan Holloway, is not good enough to build a team around. It might have worked in years past, but this team has been painfully underwhelming.
General Manager Doug Armstrong and head coach Jim Montgomery are both at fault here, but there was nothing more they could do with the contracts they currently have within the core group. The No-Movement Clauses on those players listed above, aside from Holloway, handcuffs this roster's ability to get better.
There is a silver lining here
There is some silver lining here, as the Blues can benefit from this Olympic showing from their players. Dvorsky is a superstar in the making, as he is showing up on the biggest stage and playing well alongside two veteran international players who never made it as high as the NHL. Also, the notion that Binnington is washed up was quietly dismissed with his shutout victory against Czechia.
The future is not dull and gray, even though this season might be over and done. Once Armstrong gives up his powers to Alexander Steen, who is patiently awaiting his new position as the new GM of the Blues, there is a chance that the offseason could fix a lot of the current issues. Prospects will get their chances at the end of this current season to prove their worth, like the possibility of Justin Carbonneau and Adam Jiricek.
But the embarrassment of this current Blues season has been on full display during these Olympics. How can these players be playing so well for their countries, yet so poorly when it comes to their actual team? Obviously, something is wrong, and it seems like now, the focus is on the structure of upper management, and not solely the players on the ice.