The St. Louis Blues are on their Christmas break, and with that comes a lot of reflection on the season at hand. What has gone wrong this season, what has gone right? Is there any way to fix what needs to be fixed?
One of those questions directly relates to the defense. It has been a big hindrance on this team, and the Blues downfall this season. There is an option to get some additional help with the departure of a fan-favorite, but that is an extreme case.
For now, this defense has to figure itself out on its own. No one is coming to save this unit from itself.
Broberg and Faulk cannot play 60 minutes
Clearly, you can break up the defensive core into a good, bad, and ugly pair. Philip Broberg and Justin Faulk make up the good. Cam Fowler and Tyler Tucker have been bad. Colton Parayko and Logan Mailloux have been ugly.
Broberg and Faulk have both played very well this season, but they cannot do this all by themselves. The disappointment from the other four d-men has been substantial, and the goaltender failures this season can correlate to them.
Who has to step up?
Faulk has joined Jake Neighbours as the only two skaters on this Blues team to hit the 10-goal mark. There was supposed to be another offensive-defensman in that spot, in Parayko, but he has been goalless this season.
Aside from Parayko, Fowler has also been a major disappointment this season, especially after his strong showing after coming to St. Louis in the middle of last season. He was a key player in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but this season has been anything but special.
Those two have to really step up their game and give Faulk and Broberg some help. If they can do that, the goaltending will improve, and in turn, give the Blues a better chance at victory. If not, there may be some changes made prior to the trade deadline to fix this unit.