The St. Louis Blues' lackluster 2025-26 campaign was certainly one to forget. For one of their near franchise-leaders in games played for this organization, the same sentiment can be said.
Defenseman Colton Parayko had the worst season of his career, and it is not even close. It was so bad that General Manager Doug Armstrong nearly pulled off the heist of the century by offloading him to Buffalo. But Parayko remains a Blue due to his rare invoking of the No-Trade Clause.
Even still, there is an opportunity for him to turn things around in 2026-27. Let's give him a proper grade for last year's performance.
Expectation for 2025-26
The 2024-25 season was a successful one for Parayko. Dare I say, it was probably a career year for No. 55, and the Blues benefited from his excellent play. With 16 goals and 20 assists for 36 points, he set a personal best for goals and matched the highest point total of his career.
Going into the 2025-26 season, Parayko was supposed to be the first line of defense for goaltender Jordan Binnington. He, alongside Cam Fowler, was set to set a precedent on the blue line that this team was going to be a playoff team once again.
Grade: F
That did not happen whatsoever. Parayko has the worst season of his career, and Fowler has an even worse year. It was a complete disaster, and thank goodness for the emergence of Philip Broberg, or else the Blues likely would have been one of the first teams eliminated from playoff contention.
Parayko finished the season with four goals and 14 assists for 18 points, and it was not even as good as that sounds. He was underwhelming and undeserving of a pass for this rough of a season.
Where does he go from here?
After the attempted trade was canceled, it is clear that Parayko intends to spend the rest of his contract's length in the 'Lou. That is fine if the soon-to-be 33-year-old can completely revitalize his career with a bounce-back season in 2026-27.
The emergence of Broberg, a slight turnaround from Logan Mailloux, and some new blood coming in with the 11th or 15th overall selection in the upcoming draft, there is a chance for Parayko to have some weight lifted off his shoulders. He has always been deemed as having the most responsibility, but his new role could work out better for him going forward.
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