The “Puck Drop Preview” series continues on Last Word On Hockey! We are in the first week of fall. The first day of the NHL season is right around the corner. In today’s preview, we are looking at the 2024-25 St. Louis Blues.
Puck Drop Preview: 2024-25 St. Louis Blues
The 2023-24 Season
The 2023-24 Blues season was a big improvement from the previous season. The Blues finished with a 43-33-6 record, which was good for 92 points. The Blues stayed in the playoff race until the third-to-last game of the regular season. However, despite the improvements of the season, there were rough moments. The most notable came in December, when the Blues fired head coach Craig Berube. It was shocking to see the head coach of the 2019 Stanley Cup champions be given his walking papers. Furthermore, the situation became worse following comments by forward Jordan Kyrou regarding the firing. This led to some bitterness between fans and Kyrou, although things did cool down as the season progressed.
Now, on to the positives. Forward Robert Thomas set a career high with 60 assists and 86 points. Forward Jake Neighbours had a breakout season, scoring 27 goals. Goaltender Jordan Binnington returned to form after a tough 2022-23 season. Furthermore, back-up goaltender Joel Hofer had a terrific season in his full-time season. Hofer led the Blues with a 2.65 goals against average. The Blues had confidence in both goaltenders as both got starts during the playoff chase. Both performed well in those games.
The 2024 Off-Season
The first order of business for the Blues was hire their new head coach. After a successful end to the season as the interim, Drew Bannister was given the job officially. This was not the only announcement the Blues had regarding personnel. Later, the Blues announced that general manager Doug Armstrong would be stepping down as general manager in two seasons and his replacement would be former Blues forward, Alexander Steen.
The front office went into the off-season looking for ways to shed some salary from the Blues. They were able to accomplish this in two ways, albeit the second one was not how they would have preferred it to happen. First, the Blues traded centre Kevin Hayes, who struggled in his only season with the Blues. Next, defenceman Torey Krug was diagnosed with arthritis. It was later determined Krug would miss the entire season, leading him to be placed on long-term injured reserve. As a result, Krug’s salary does not count against the Blues salary cap.
As far as roster construction goes, the Blues re-signed Kasperi Kapanen for depth as well as re-signed star forward Pavel Buchnevich. Veterans Radek Faksa and Ryan Suter joined the team, as well as others. The biggest move, however, came in August. In a rare move, the Blues tendered offer sheets to Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg of the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers chose to not match either offer, so Holloway and Broberg joined the Blues.
Projected Lineup
Forwards
Neighbours-Thomas-Kyrou
Saad-Buchnevich-Schenn
Holloway-Faksa-Joseph
Texier-Sundqvist-Toropchenko
Top Six
All members of the projected top-six scored at least 20 goals last year. The biggest question mark of this top-six is whether or not Jake Neighbours can replicate his success from last year. Playing alongside a playmaker in Robert Thomas should help him. Neighbours scouting report projects him to be a scorer, so the potential is there for Neighbours to be a star in this game. The other member of the top line, Jordan Kyrou, will be looking for his third-straight thirty-goal season.
The second line will see Pavel Buchnevich attempt to become a full-time centre in the NHL. Buchnevich has embraced the idea of a position change. With Brayden Schenn and Brandon Saad projected to be on the line as well, that is a line that can be a sneaky dangerous line. Schenn has scored at least 20 goals in all but one 82-game season since joining the Blues. Saad has been a silent X-factor for the Blues. Furthermore, all three are strong defensive forwards. This can be a line Drew Bannister uses late in games, whether the Blues are winning, losing, or tied.
Other plays, like Kasperi Kapanen, could also take a spot on the third or fourth lines.
Bottom Six
Three newcomers project to make up the third line. Veterans Radek Faksa and Mathieu Joseph bring experience to the line, which will be beneficial to the continued development of Dylan Holloway. Faksa will be an important piece on the bottom-six. He is a reliable centre who can play two-way hockey. The Blues have liked having players like this centre the third line, an example being Tyler Bozak. Joseph does the same on the wing, but also brings some size to the equation. For Holloway, he has only played in 89 NHL games. However, he profiles as someone with much offensive upside. He is someone who could eventually play on the top-six.
The fourth line does have a question mark surrounding the centre position. Oskar Sundqvist, who is recovering from an injury sustained last season, will not play in any preseason games, but expects to be able to play when the regular season starts. If he does miss more time, Alexandre Texier could move over to the centre position. Texier will be an interesting player to watch. He plays a strong two-way game. As a result, he may have a future with the Blues. Alexey Toropcheko has been a reliable fourth-line player in his young career and should continue to be reliable this season.
Defence
Perunovich-Parayko
Broberg-Fauk
Leddy Suter
Extras: Kessel, Joseph
Analysis
Normally in this series, we analyze the defensive pairings one at a time. However, at this time, there is clear picture of how the Blues will pair their defenceman this season. There is an abundance of defenceman for the Blues to look at and see who should be paired together. However, it is likely Colton Parayko and Justin Faulk will be the right-handed defenceman on the first and second pair. Parayko is coming off a strong bounce-back season while Faulk is looking to overcome an injury-filled season. Both defenceman are the glue that holds the defensive core together. the Blues will need both to be at their best if they want to compete for a playoff spot.
Scott Perunovich and Philip Broberg are interesting defenceman to look at. Both have offensive potential while Broberg also has some upside defensively. With Torey Krug out for the season, one of them could get extra playing time in his absence. However, both are left-handed defenceman, and the Blues also have Nick Leddy, Ryan Suter, and Pierre-Oliver Joseph from the left side. Leddy and Suter are definite starters for the Blues, which only leaves two spots left between Perunovich, Broberg, Joseph, and Kessel. There is still much to be determined before the puck drops to start the regular season.
Goalies
Jordan Binnington
Joel Hofer
This might be the best tandem in the NHL. Binnington and Hofer were big reasons why the Blues stayed in playoff contention for so long. Both are very reliable and both rarely had rough games last year. In 55 starts, Binnington was only pulled three times. In 27 starts, Hofer was only pulled twice. When playing the Blues, there is no hoping to face a “lesser back-up goalie.” Both are threats and can help the Blues win.
Furthermore, Binnington is under contract through the 2026-27 season. It would be to the Blues advantage to go ahead and extend Hofer as well. As the Blues exit the retool and become contenders again, maintaining that tandem at a reasonable price would be a huge gain for the team.
Players to Watch
Jake Neighbours
Playing on the top line for an entire 82-game season should cause an influx of goals and especially assists for Neighbours. Despite scoring 27 goals last year, he only had 11 assists last season. Part of that is his net-front play, where players in that spot are looking for rebounds back on goal. However, playing with guys like Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou will help Neighbours pick up more assists. In addition, Neighbours is also strong at breaking up plays in the defensive zone. If he can continue to do that, he may help the Blues get an odd-man rush opportunity.
Justin Faulk
The Blues really need a bounce-back season from Faulk. The Blues will be relying on Faulk and Colton Parayko to help lead the way for the defence. In addition, the Blues only have three right-handed defencemen on the roster, Faulk, Parayko, and Matthew Kessel. If he is unable to play for any reason, the team may have to pair two left-handed defenceman together or look at someone in the minor leagues.
Pavel Buchnevich
Can the forward make the switch to centre? If he does, do the goal totals drop as a result of the additional responsibilities of centre? Buchnevich has the potential to be a 40-goal scorer. It will be interesting to watch him play this year and see what changes, if anything, as he transitions to a centre
Predictions for the 2024-25 St. Louis Blues
There are many exciting reasons to watch the Blues this season. Could the team sneak into the playoffs as a wild card team? Absolutely. This team should have a similar record as last season in a worse case scenario. However, the question is, what is this team’s ceiling? Are they a top-three team in their division. No. In fact, the Blues are going to go playing against some very good divisional teams this season. It is going to be hard for the Blues to compete for anything more than a wild card spot as a result of this.
However, that does not mean this team will not be fun to watch. Remember, this is still a retooling season. The organization is looking to build the next Stanley Cup-contending team. What we see this year is part of that process. Do not be preparing for a Stanley Cup parade, or even a trip to the second, but be prepared to be excited about the direction the team is going.
Main Photo: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images
