NHL.com is providing in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 1-Sept. 1. Today, three important questions facing the St. Louis Blues.
1. Can top-end players, particularly forwards Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich, continue to ascend and lead the Blues back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
St. Louis made moves during the offseason to add depth in areas of need, but in order to bounce back and qualify for the playoffs after missing the past two seasons, it will need its top players, including Thomas, Kyrou and Buchnevich, to do most of the heavy lifting.
"Obviously we need the big dogs to be the big dogs. That's the reality," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said in July. "We need Kyrou (67 points; 31 goals, 36 assists last season) to have a good year, Robert Thomas (team-leading 86 points; 26 goals, 60 assists) to have a good year, 'Buch' (63 points; 27 goals, 36 assists) to have a good year. We have to find out (forward) Jake Neighbours (38 points; 27 goals, 11 assists), is that Jake Neighbours or is he a better player than he was last year, or was that a shooting percentage thing (team-leading 18.6)? That's up to him to tell us.
“We have [center Brayden] Schenn (46 points; 20 goals, 26 assists) in there and [forward Brandon] Saad (42 points; 26 goals, 16 assists). We have competitive players that have played in those areas. They're going to have to maximize their game for us to have a good season."
2. Where do Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway fit into the plans?
After signing the 23-year-old defenseman and 22-year-old forward to offer sheets Aug. 13 that were not matched by the Edmonton Oilers, the Blues project Broberg with top-four potential and Holloway perhaps on the third line.
Each played a major role for the Oilers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final when Edmonton lost in seven games against the Florida Panthers.
"When I talked to each player, we view Dylan as a top-nine forward; he's played center coming out of college, he did have wrist surgery that put him on the wing, great skater, size," Armstrong said Tuesday. "Going to be really good competition in the forward group this year. I see him touching a lot of areas in that group. Broberg we see as a top-four left-handed defenseman. I think his skating, he’s just an elite skater and he's got very good hockey sense, he can recover a lot of space, good stick down low, he's got a good frame. He just has to become a man, and I think he’s working towards that obviously every day in the gym."
3. Can Jordan Binnington duplicate or be better than he was in 2023-24?
In the majority of games last season, Binnington, the Blues' No. 1 goalie, was their best player.
After a rookie season in 2018-19 that led to a Stanley Cup for Binnington and St. Louis, his key numbers declined for the next four seasons, falling to an NHL career-worst 3.31 goals-against average and .894 save percentage in 2022-23. But the 31-year-old went 28-21-5 with a 2.84 GAA and .913 save percentage last season, and will try to continue that trend in 2024-25.
"I felt I was present throughout," Binnington said. "I checked in pretty often and put my best foot forward every day. So I feel good about that and definitely some evolution, some growth. Lots of things to take away and more experience."
