St. Louis Blues 24-25 Season Preview

St. Louis Blues
Central Division

2023-24 Recap
Record (W-L-OTL): 43-33-6
Over/Under: 33-41-8
Home Favorite: 9-3
Home Dog: 16-10
Road Favorite: 4-3
Road Dog: 11-20
Win Score 4 or more: 28 of 43
Lose Give Up 4 or more: 30 of 49
Puck Line Wins: 26 of 43
Puck Line Losses: 30 of 49
Front End Back-to-Back: 6-5
Back End Back-to-Back: 6-5
Goals Scored Per Game/Rank: 2.85 (25th)
Goals Against Per Game/Rank: 3.02 (15th)

Additions: Dylan Holloway, Philip Broberg, Alexandre Texier, Radek Faksa, Mathieu Joseph, Ryan Suter
Subtractions: Kevin Hayes

Drew Bannister is returning as head coach after leading the club to a 30-19-5 record as the interim last season. Back-to-back years of missing the playoffs was not acceptable to Blues GM, Doug Armstrong so it was time to be aggressive. Armstrong acquired a pair of former Edmonton Oilers in Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg after the Oilers passed on matching their offer sheets. The result sent shockwaves around the league. “If there is a GM code not to do offer sheets, no one emailed it to me”, said the Blues GM. Earlier in the summer Armstrong bolstered the team’s bottom six with a trio of depth signings.

Offense
The Blues finished 25th in offense last season despite having six players with 20 goals or more. Up front St. Louis is led by Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou Pavel Buchnevich and Jake Neighbours. Thomas is the only one of the group who scored a point a game player last season. Kyrou led the team in goals and after some early season struggles seemed to benefit from the coaching change to Drew Bannister. Buchnevich is coming off his fourth consecutive 20 goal season and Neighbours who scored 27 goals in his first full NHL season are all going to need to continue to build on their numbers.

General Manager Doug Armstrong has stated publicly that their best players need to be at their best if the Blues are going to return to the playoffs. The additions of Radek Faksa, Alexandre Texier and Matthieu Joseph add depth and playoff experience to this roster. "We’re faster, we’re more determined, and we’re bigger. It’s not sexy, but it’s effective”, Armstrong said to Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic.

Defense
The Blues were a far better team defensively last season and a lot of that had to do with the coaching change to Drew Bannister. St. Louis saw their goals against drop from 3.63 to 3.02 in 2023-24. All three pairings feature a puck mover on the right side with Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk and newcomer, Philip Broberg. The Blues will be without Torey Krug indefinitely due to a pre-arthritic condition in his left ankle. Ryan Suter was signed as a free agent. Bought out by Dallas and Minnesota the past few years, the Blues will be one of three teams he receives a paycheck from every two weeks. The Blues will also be the fourth team in the Central Division he has played for (St. Louis, Dallas, Minnesota, Nashville).

Goaltending
After back-to-back sub-par seasons Jordan Binnington returned to form with a Goals Against Average (2.84) below three and his .913 Save Percentage was his best since his rookie campaign in 2018-19. One other aspect of his game that saw progress was his temperament. Never shy about challenging players or losing his composure, his 8 minutes in penalties were a significant drop from 29 the previous season. Joel Hofer gave the Blues exactly what the team needed as the backup. He earned 31 of a possible 54 points in his 27 starts for the team with a 2.65 Goals Against and a .914 Save percentage.

Player to Watch – Jordan Kyrou
Kyrou’s goal and point total both took a drop in 23-24 going from 37 goals to 31 and 73 points to 67. Kyrou is in year two of his 8-year deal that pays him 8.125 million dollars per season. With that contract comes increased expectations. The coaching change appeared to bring out the best in Kyrou and I expect him to revert to form when he scored 37 goals and in 2022-23.

Outlook
The Blues finished with 92 points and narrowly missed the playoffs in 23-24. I like the additions they have made to the roster and don’t see them taking a step back this season. DraftKings Sportsbook has their point total at 86.5. I am on the Over 86.5 and considering a pizza money play on the +205 to make the playoffs.

Regular Season Point Total: 86.5 (Over/Under -115)
To Make the Playoffs: +205
To Miss the Playoffs: -255
To Win the Pacific Division: +2200
To Win the Western Conference: +2800
To Win the Stanley Cup: +5500