{"id":461227,"date":"2025-01-21T19:30:42","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T00:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=461227"},"modified":"2025-01-21T19:30:42","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T00:30:42","slug":"the-st-louis-blues-not-so-secret-weapon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/01\/21\/the-st-louis-blues-not-so-secret-weapon\/","title":{"rendered":"The St. Louis Blues Not-So-Secret Weapon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brayden Schenn<\/a> has been an impact player since joining the <\/span>St. Louis Blues<\/span><\/a> in a <\/span>2017 trade<\/span><\/a>. In 555 games with the <\/span>Blue Note<\/span><\/em>, Schenn has scored 162 goals and recorded 416 points. Furthermore, he has made an All-Star team and was the top-line centre for the 2019 Stanley Cup team. Currently, Schenn is in his second season as the team captain and has continued to be an impact player for the Blues. This season, Schenn has proven to be the Blues’ not-so-secret weapon.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Blues Not-So-Secret Weapon<\/span><\/h2>\n

Expectations Entering 2024-25 Season<\/span><\/h3>\n

After another 20-goal season last year from Schenn, people expected him to continue to be someone who could put the puck in the net. However, there was concern that age would catch up to Schenn. After a 65-point season in 2022-23, Schenn recorded just 46 points last year. In addition, his IPP (Individual Points Percentage) dropped from 80% to 60%. Was Schenn on the early signs of decline? Could the Blues still use him as a centre?<\/span><\/p>\n

Heading into this season<\/span><\/a>, Schenn was not expected to play centre. He would remain on the second line but take a wing position. At the same time, the team experimented with Pavel Buchnevich<\/a> at centre. Schenn would still have a key role on the team, but it would look different from previous years. Or so we thought.<\/span><\/p>\n

Needs Arise<\/span><\/h3>\n

Despite <\/span>embracing the position change<\/span><\/a>, Buchnevich struggled as a centre. His winning percentage on the dot was just under 37%. That is low for any centre, but especially for a second-line centre. Furthermore, Buchnevich’s other stats took a hit as well. It was clear Buchnevich was not ready to be a centre.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cue the Blues Not-So-Secret Weapon<\/span><\/h3>\n

Schenn began to move back to the centre position, which became permanent when Jim Montgomery<\/a> <\/span>took over as head coach<\/span><\/a>. As a full-time centre again, Schenn has excelled. His winning percentage on the dot is just under 50%, the highest it has been since the 2020-21 season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Schenn has provided stability to the Blues lineup. Furthermore, Montgomery has been using him as a first-line centre lately, alongside Dylan Holloway<\/a> and Jordan Kyrou<\/a>. Offensively, Schenn has been consistently producing. In his last five games, he has scored three goals and added five assists. He has produced at a <\/span>very critical time in the Blues season<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

BLUES GOAL!!! Brayden Schenn rips one past Adin Hill<\/a> for a 1-0 lead with 11:35 left in the first period. pic.twitter.com\/xX3idLcPg3<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) January 20, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Schenn will unlikely reach the point totals he did just a few seasons ago. However, if he can continue to produce on the dot and score 20 goals, the Blues will gladly take it. He has undoubtedly been a not-so-secret weapon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is It Sustainable?<\/span><\/h3>\n

At 33 years old, it is natural to wonder if this success is sustainable. The truth is, there is no way to tell. Father Time is undefeated. He will eventually catch up to Schenn, as he does to every player.<\/span><\/p>\n

The decrease in the number of points shows that Schenn is aging. However, the goal totals show he is aging like a fine wine. Very few will complain if he continues to score 20-25 goals. The success on the dot may start to dip at some point, but until then, the Blues should enjoy it. As we said earlier, he has provided much-needed stability to a Blues lineup.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moving Forward<\/span><\/h3>\n

When the Blues are at their best, they have <\/span>four lines with a reliable centre on each line<\/span><\/a>. Right now, they have it. If they can sustain it, that will go a long way to helping the Blues return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.<\/span><\/p>\n

If they successfully return to the big dance, Schenn deserves much credit for what he has done for the team. While hockey is a team game that genuinely takes a team to win, the Blues would not be where they are this season without their not-so-secret weapon, Brayden Schenn.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo by Stephen R. Sylvanie- Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brayden Schenn has been an impact player since joining the St. Louis Blues in a 2017 trade. In 555 games with the Blue Note, Schenn has scored 162 goals and recorded 416 points. Furthermore, he has made an All-Star team and was the top-line centre for the 2019 Stanley Cup team. Currently, Schenn is in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3464,"featured_media":461235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,4547,4548],"tags":[505,5865],"class_list":["post-461227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-hockey","category-nhl","tag-brayden-schenn","tag-st-louis-blues-analysis"],"modified_by":"Andrew Willis","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3464"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461227"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":461236,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461227\/revisions\/461236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}