Now that the St. Louis Blues are officially knocked out of the Stanley Cup playoffs, there are still some interesting storylines for the rest of this season. Each of these will then bleed into the upcoming offseason and then into the 2026-27 season.
The first real order of business when the regular season ends on April 15 is where the Blues will be in terms of the draft lottery. Their odds for the first-overall pick will be locked in following the game with the Utah Mammoth on that date.
With that still a few days away, the Blues have three games left to play. There is alot that can happen between here and then.
Let's go over it.
Where are they currently?
According to Tankathon.com, the Blues have the eighth-best odds of landing the first-overall pick in this upcoming draft. That gives them a 6% chance of having their name called for the top spot, and the ability to pick one of the two consensus top choices in Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg.
Now, there are some other interesting tidbits here, as the Blues have three first-round picks. After trading Justin Faulk to the Detroit Red Wings, they sent back their first-round pick, which is slated to be the 14th pick. That has no chance of landing the first pick.
And then, they hold the first-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche, and as the Presidents' Trophy winners, they are favorites to win the Stanley Cup. With the Ottawa Senators' recent penalty stemming from the Evgenii Dadonov trade botch, they will pick last at No. 32, giving the Blues the 31st pick.
A lot of options here
The Blues, and particularly General Manager Doug Armstrong in his final NHL Draft, can have a lot of fun with these picks. Let's go over some possibilities.
Use all three picks and get three top-end prospects for when this franchise re-enters its championship window. With a blossoming group of youth already making their mark at the NHL-level, why not supplement it for the next three years or less?
Trade the bottom two picks, No. 31 and No. 14, to try and get another chance at the first-overall pick. Even if it gives the Blues two top-10 picks, it might be worth it. McKenna is going to be a superstar in this league, or the Stenberg brothers can turn this franchise around.
The last option is to trade for established talent. This is a last-ditch effort, as the player they get for a win-now situation would be a waste. The Blues made the playoffs last season, on a miracle run, and fell very short of another appearance. But there is still a lot of uncertainty with this team's future.