It's only been a few months since the end of the 2024-25 season, but this St. Louis Blues team is quite different from the one that got knocked out of the playoffs in the first round. While the roster itself didn't get a major facelift, there are still three things that have changed for the Blues--and not for the better.
No new coach bump
Jim Montgomery joined the Blues organization in the middle of the season and, as usual, the Blues got a bump when he replaced Drew Bannister. That bump was enough to put the team on a heater and carry them to a wildcard spot in the ultra-competitive Western Conference, where they nearly eliminated the President's Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the playoffs.
Now, however, there is no new coach bump. Montgomery got a full training camp and preseason with the team, which means less figuring things out on the fly and more having systems and the like in place. Unfortunately, something isn't clicking for the players, and they've struggled as a result.
Recalibrated expectations
Nobody expected the St. Louis Blues to make last year's playoffs, and nobody would've guessed they'd come mere seconds away from defeating the Jets in the first round. The Blues did both of those things, though, and it's reset expectations--for fans and opposing teams. Perhaps teams won't take the Blues as lightly as they may have last year; maybe fans have entered this season with playoffs as the baseline, rather than wishful thinking. Those new expectations can change the dynamic of a team, and it could be a cause for the slow start.
Aging curve finally catching up
There's no two ways about it: the core players on the Blues roster are getting older, and we know how impactful age-related decline can be. The forward group isn't in too bad a spot--Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas are in their primes, for example, and 34-year-old Brayden Schenn can be played in a more sheltered role--but the same can't be said for the defense. Cam Fowler, Colton Parayko, and Justin Faulk are all on the wrong side of 30. The good news is that Fowler and Parayko have a 61.6 xGF%, per Money Puck, so at least for now, that pair is holding its own, but Faulk's individual expected Goals-For percentage is 46.36, per Natural Stat Trick.
Faulk is playing the third-most minutes of Blues defensemen at 5-on-5, and he's not holding his own. Age hasn't caught up to every Blue, but it certainly seems to be taking a toll on Faulk--and the Blues will be in trouble if age-related decline starts to affect other players on the roster.