The St. Louis Blues had to do a good bit of shuffling around in 2025-26 on the defensive side, and that included giving more responsibility to a seventh-round draft pick. Tyler Tucker, who was often labeled as the seventh defenseman, who would basically be brought in as the next man up, was promoted to a full-time spot last season.
With some added repsonsibility, it seemed like his first real go-around the NHL was a good one. Not great, but not bad either.
Let's go ahead and give him a proper grade.
Expectations for 2025-26
Going into the season, the Blues had a few holes in their defense. Nick Leddy was basically released with the intent of retirement, and they had lost Ryan Suter as well. That meant they needed to go and find some new talent or promote from within.
Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong did both, giving up Zack Bolduc for Logan Mailloux and then giving Tucker the nod as the third-pairing defenseman.
Grade: B-
In 69 games, Tucker scored three goals and added 14 assists for 17 points, which were all career-highs or tied with them. He still averaged 14:22 of ice-time, which has been around his career-average through the first four seasons of his tenure.
Tucker had a revolving door of linemates, with Cam Fowler, Logan Mailloux, Matthew Kessel, and even Justin Holl being his partner. His best and most-used partner was with Justin Faulk, who was traded to Detroit this season.
Where does he go from here?
From here, it will be another season of added responsibilities for No. 75 in 2026-27. There is going to be an influx of young talent, like Adam Jiricek and whoever the Blues decide to take with the 11th, 15th, or 29th pick in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft.
That puts a little bit of pressure on Tucker to continue to succeed, as he could be expendable soon. Plus, it is worth noting that this upcoming season will be a contract year for him, as his two-year deal will be expiring. Can he use that fire to have a solid season and really help out a depleted Blues blue line?
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