Torey Krug, D -- Krug left the Boston Bruins to sign a seven-year contract with the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 9, a lateral move for his fantasy value. Although he no longer brings exposure to elite forwards David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron on the Boston power play, the Blues (24.3 percent on power play, third in NHL) ranked right behind the Bruins (25.2; second behind Edmonton Oilers, 29.5 percent) last season. Krug, who's sixth among defensemen in points over the past four seasons (212 in 282 games since 2016-17), could challenge his NHL career high (59 points in 2017-18) on the first power play with forwards Ryan O'Reilly, David Perron, Brayden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz, especially after defenseman Alex Pietrangelo left the Blues to sign with the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 12.
Blues 31 IN 31: [Season preview | 3 Questions | Top prospects | Behind the Numbers]
Ryan O'Reilly, C -- The center was tied for 11th in the NHL in assists (49) last season and led the Blues in scoring (61 points in 71 games) for a second consecutive season (77 points in 82 games in 2018-19). O'Reilly has become known for his dominant production in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since joining the Blues (34 points in 35 games over past two postseasons combined) and provided strong coverage of plus/minus (plus-11) and power-play points (18) last regular season on a line and power-play unit with Perron.
Jordan Binnington, G-- He was third in the NHL in wins (30) last season behind Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning (35) and Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets (31). But Binnington, who struggled in the 2020 postseason (0-5, .851 save percentage) after helping the Blues win the Stanley Cup in 2019, loses some fantasy appeal after they traded efficient backup Jake Allen (.927 SV% last season; Binnington: .912) to the Montreal Canadiens on Sept. 2 and lost Pietrangelo as a free agent. Binnington, who's entering a contract year (potential 2021 unrestricted free agent) still has a great chance to finish among the top 10 fantasy goalies after the Krug signing, but it could catch up to the Blues if they are again without Tarasenko for most of the season.
Brayden Schenn, C/RW-- Schenn led the Blues with 10 power-play goals (T-18th in NHL) last season and was second among their forwards in PPP (21) behind Perron. Schenn has scored at least 25 goals in four of the past five seasons and at least 54 points in five straight seasons (NHL career-high 70 with St. Louis in 2017-18). Schenn, who plays center on Tarasenko's line when the right wing is healthy, is still in a great spot with Schwartz and forward Robert Thomas and has a fantasy safety net with his strong hits coverage (119 last season, third on Blues; 2.2 per game in NHL career).
