For years, the St. Louis Blues have continued to chase sustainable secondary scoring in their quest to return to the postseason. With a lack of depth, it has left them overly reliant on a handful of their top-line producers, and it has cost them a playoff berth on multiple occasions. Through the first six games of the 2026-27 season, it seems they could have finally found their answer.
Through their six games, the Blues have a 3-2-1 record. More importantly, they are beginning to win games without leaning exclusively on their top line of Dylan Holloway, Robert Thomas, and Jimmy Snuggerud.
Two of the newest additions to the organization, Mason McTavish and Connor McMichael, have provided an immediate secondary scoring punch that has taken the pressure off that unit while generating offense from different areas of the ice.
Secondary scoring arrives early
McTavish has four goals and seven points in six games, while his linemate, McMichael has six points. Forwards Pius Suter, Jake Neighbours, and Jimmy Snuggerud have each managed three goals as well.
In the Blues' 7-2 road victory over Ottawa on Tuesday night, Suter, Neighbours, and McTavish each scored twice, with Pavel Buchnevich collecting three assists and Adam Jiricek (officially) getting his first goal of his NHL career. This is the kind of depth scoring and versatility that has been missing in recent history.
When looking back, it has been far too long for the Blues to have more than two or three reliable point-producing players on their roster. In 2022-23, only three players reached 20 goals and four hit 60 points, while the team finished sixth in the Central. The following season, they had six 20-goal scorers, but only three of them crossed the 60-point mark, with their team finishing fifth in the division.
The 2024-25 team had five 20-goal scorers, but only three finished above 60 points before their Game 7, first-round exit against the Winnipeg Jets. Last season, Thomas reached 60 points, and three players finished above 50.
Reduced pressure on the top line
The Blues' front office, coaching staff, and players will be among the first to say that the teams that spend the first month of their season leaning on their top line tend to pay for it by the time February comes around. It is around that time that injuries begin to pop up, fatigue sets in, and the game itself gets tighter and rougher.
Now, the Blues have the added benefit of exposing matchups and hopefully capitalizing on them. Opponents cannot devote their best defensive pairing and matchup to defending Thomas, Holloway, and Snuggerud and assume the rest will fade. Suter has proven to be a reliable finisher, and Neighbours and Buchnevich are finding ways to produce.
Blues Head Coach Jim Montgomery and their coaching staff are proving that they have answers for every team across the NHL. If a tough matchup is given to the top line, it could mean an advantageous matchup for the remaining three forward groups could be coming.
The Blues have been here before, with promising starts that have faded once the schedule got heavier. They have also had more than their fair share of slow starts to the season. The difference this time is that the production is coming from players who were supposed to be questions rather than answers. If McTavish, McMichael, and Berggren keep this up, the team's biggest weakness in their first six games of the season and in their past four seasons could suddenly become one of their biggest strengths.
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