Most improved offseason

[a smell of green grass]

When grading this offseason, I believe that it is insightful to consider the previous recent offseasons. This is particularly true given that the Blue have freshly "completed" their re-whatever.

Is there any uplift provided by the 2023 offseason?

Is there any help provided by the 2024 offseason?

Is there any help provided by the 2025 offseason?

The answer is NO and NO and NO. The 2023 and 2024, and 2025 draftees are all still languishing in the great abyss knows as the Blues Prospect Pipeline. Most haven't even graduated to the AHL yet. Every BluesTalker has COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN that we were even in a long re-whatever. That tells you what we accomplished during that project.

The 2026 offseason is an attempt by the Blues to "COVER UP" the failings of the previous 3 offseasons. That is the truth. So relative to the 2026 offseason, don't hold your breadth. The moves were made in DESPERATION by a GM wanting to sail into the sunset with some sort of forward float, and that is what we will see.... A lackluster season that the media will spin as a vague sort of forward float

[TruBlueFan_1970]

When grading this offseason, I believe that it is insightful to consider the previous recent offseasons. This is particularly true given that the Blue have freshly "completed" their re-whatever.

Is there any uplift provided by the 2023 offseason?
- The arrival of Jake Neighbours as a full-time winger who scored 27 goals.
- Zach Bolduc cup of coffee where he had 9 points in 25 games
- Drafted Dvorsky, Stenberg, Lindstein

Is there any help provided by the 2024 offseason?
- Acquired Broberg and Holloway without giving up much in return and both stepped into Top 6 and Top 4 roles
- Bolduc further developed and scored 19 goals and 17 assists as a 21 year old
- Blues acquired Cam Fowler who had 36 points in 51 games
- Blues made the playoffs and took the Presidents trophy winners to double OT of game 7
- Drafted Jiricek who should get a cup of coffee in 26/27 seasons

Is there any help provided by the 2025 offseason?
- Bolduc flipped for Mailloux who developed into a better player in the 2nd half of the season, providing much needed depth on RD
- Snuggs made the big show and as a rookie posted 21g, 30 assists and a +16 while being 3rd on the team in scoring.
- Dvorsky arrived as a full time center and put up 21 points as a 20-year old in sheltered minutes. Should have a larger role this season
- Stenberg arrived and played well, contributing 10 points in 32 games and showing he has the ability to be an NHL regular
-Lindstein arrived and played a top 4 role at the end of the season with 4 points in 17 games and a +6
- Shed veterans at their peak value in Schenn and Faulk, acquiring first round picks, prospects and later picks
- Signed Suter as a solid bottom 6 depth center
- Drafted Cabonneau for future RW middle six talent. May get a cup of coffee in 26/27 season


2026 Offseason:
- Added a young #2 center with size and tenacity in McTavish. Needs to show he is a top 6 player
- Added a 25 year old winger in McMichael who adds speed, size and tenacity. Needs to contribute in the 50 point range as he’s shown the ability to do
- Added a steady defensive Dman in Carlo to solidify the PK, the bottom pair and the RD. Good mix of veteran and youth on the blueline
- Added grit and size in Johnston to hopefully develop an identity on the 4th line.
- Team should be harder to play against with these additions
- Added to center depth with drafting Lawrence and Dagenais. Both TBD on arrival

The answer is NO and NO and NO. The 2023 and 2024, and 2025 draftees are all still languishing in the great abyss knows as the Blues Prospect Pipeline. Most haven't even graduated to the AHL yet. Every BluesTalker has COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN that we were even in a long re-whatever. That tells you what we accomplished during that project.

The 2026 offseason is an attempt by the Blues to "COVER UP" the failings of the previous 3 offseasons. That is the truth. So relative to the 2026 offseason, don't hold your breadth. The moves were made in DESPERATION by a GM wanting to sail into the sunset with some sort of forward float, and that is what we will see.... A lackluster season that the media will spin as a vague sort of forward float

I normally just read your opinions and don’t reply, as I just disagree. But, no need for vitriol responses from me. However, a few above where I disagree with you.

All in all, the team has been rebuilding since the 2023 draft. They’ve made the playoffs once and missed twice during that timeframe. The team today is younger, faster, bigger and has more depth than last season. The pieces are coming together and some of the ‘23-26 offseason/in season moves have a chance to be larger contributors this season. And we aren’t saddled with a ton of horrible contracts like some other teams. Buch and Fowler aren’t great deals, but they aren’t killing the team either.

I expect a more competitive team this season, more scoring, better defense, and solid goaltending. They will push for a playoff spot and not many teams will want to see them if they get in. While you can’t stand this team and find any and all reasons to find the negatives, there are positive moves that were made the last 3 years to improve the team.

[aslord]

Given the assets involved including draft picks- the question is whether we are better off with mcmicheal, mctavish and tynan lawrence or kyrou and mctavish (assuming are 11 and 29th enough to grab mctavish). I think in the near term people are foing to regret trading kyrou. Let's see how everything pans out and hooe our scouts are on it.

Kyrou could score 100 goals this season and I wouldn't regret the move

[a smell of green grass]

When grading this offseason, I believe that it is insightful to consider the previous recent offseasons. This is particularly true given that the Blue have freshly "completed" their re-whatever.

Is there any uplift provided by the 2023 offseason?
- The arrival of Jake Neighbours as a full-time winger who scored 27 goals.
- Zach Bolduc cup of coffee where he had 9 points in 25 games
- Drafted Dvorsky, Stenberg, Lindstein

Is there any help provided by the 2024 offseason?
- Acquired Broberg and Holloway without giving up much in return and both stepped into Top 6 and Top 4 roles
- Bolduc further developed and scored 19 goals and 17 assists as a 21 year old
- Blues acquired Cam Fowler who had 36 points in 51 games
- Blues made the playoffs and took the Presidents trophy winners to double OT of game 7
- Drafted Jiricek who should get a cup of coffee in 26/27 seasons

Is there any help provided by the 2025 offseason?
- Bolduc flipped for Mailloux who developed into a better player in the 2nd half of the season, providing much needed depth on RD
- Snuggs made the big show and as a rookie posted 21g, 30 assists and a +16 while being 3rd on the team in scoring.
- Dvorsky arrived as a full time center and put up 21 points as a 20-year old in sheltered minutes. Should have a larger role this season
- Stenberg arrived and played well, contributing 10 points in 32 games and showing he has the ability to be an NHL regular
-Lindstein arrived and played a top 4 role at the end of the season with 4 points in 17 games and a +6
- Shed veterans at their peak value in Schenn and Faulk, acquiring first round picks, prospects and later picks
- Signed Suter as a solid bottom 6 depth center
- Drafted Cabonneau for future RW middle six talent. May get a cup of coffee in 26/27 season


2026 Offseason:
- Added a young #2 center with size and tenacity in McTavish. Needs to show he is a top 6 player
- Added a 25 year old winger in McMichael who adds speed, size and tenacity. Needs to contribute in the 50 point range as he’s shown the ability to do
- Added a steady defensive Dman in Carlo to solidify the PK, the bottom pair and the RD. Good mix of veteran and youth on the blueline
- Added grit and size in Johnston to hopefully develop an identity on the 4th line.
- Team should be harder to play against with these additions
- Added to center depth with drafting Lawrence and Dagenais. Both TBD on arrival

The answer is NO and NO and NO. The 2023 and 2024, and 2025 draftees are all still languishing in the great abyss knows as the Blues Prospect Pipeline. Most haven't even graduated to the AHL yet. Every BluesTalker has COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN that we were even in a long re-whatever. That tells you what we accomplished during that project.

The 2026 offseason is an attempt by the Blues to "COVER UP" the failings of the previous 3 offseasons. That is the truth. So relative to the 2026 offseason, don't hold your breadth. The moves were made in DESPERATION by a GM wanting to sail into the sunset with some sort of forward float, and that is what we will see.... A lackluster season that the media will spin as a vague sort of forward float

I normally just read your opinions and don’t reply, as I just disagree. But, no need for vitriol responses from me. However, a few above where I disagree with you.

All in all, the team has been rebuilding since the 2023 draft. They’ve made the playoffs once and missed twice during that timeframe. The team today is younger, faster, bigger and has more depth than last season. The pieces are coming together and some of the ‘23-26 offseason/in season moves have a chance to be larger contributors this season. And we aren’t saddled with a ton of horrible contracts like some other teams. Buch and Fowler aren’t great deals, but they aren’t killing the team either.

I expect a more competitive team this season, more scoring, better defense, and solid goaltending. They will push for a playoff spot and not many teams will want to see them if they get in. While you can’t stand this team and find any and all reasons to find the negatives, there are positive moves that were made the last 3 years to improve the team.

I appreciate your thoughtful response. I agree that the Blues improved, but I'm not at all happy with how much we potentially improved for the long-term.

The only reason we improved is that we removed the reliance on Army draft picks, and brought in players from the end of other team's bench. In other words, we essentially did another "Holloway and Broberg", but with much less upside.

Sure, that may help a small bit for the future, but does that come close to enough for a Stanley Cup? Does that give STL a HOFer to call our own?

The goal for a re-whatever is to build a strong team, not a team that will win a few more games next year. The re-whatever was a massive fail, and a waste of 3 years.

[TruBlueFan_1970]

I appreciate your thoughtful response. I agree that the Blues improved, but I'm not at all happy with how much we potentially improved for the long-term.

The only reason we improved is that we removed the reliance on Army draft picks, and brought in players from the end of other team's bench. In other words, we essentially did another "Holloway and Broberg", but with much less upside.

Sure, that may help a small bit for the future, but does that come close to enough for a Stanley Cup? Does that give STL a HOFer to call our own?

The goal for a re-whatever is to build a strong team, not a team that will win a few more games next year. The re-whatever was a massive fail, and a waste of 3 years.

More than one way to build a cup contender. Not by any means saying this team is as talented as our 2019 cup team, but they are building in a similar way. There were no true superstars on that team, although it can be argued that Petro will be a HOF’er. They had depth, grit, tenacity, skill, size, a (bleep) good defense, and top notch goaltending. Mix of vets and youth. Sound familiar?

Is Thomas/McT/Dvo/Suter >> ROR/Schenn/Bozak/Sunny? Probably not yet, but has the potential in a year or two

Is Tarasenko/Schwartz, Perron/Sanford/Blais, Maroon/Sanfors/Blais, Barbs/Steen >> Holloway/Snuggs, Neighbours/Buch, McMike/Stenberg/Berggren, Toro/Johnston/Finley??? Not yet, but the wings are coming together and will be more competitive this year I believe. The depth is improving but not yet at that 2019 level, especially the 4th line. I do think our top line will be better than Perron-ROR-Sanford/Blais this season and our 2nd line will be eerily similar to Schwartz-Schenn-Tank with the tenacity, skill and size. They just won’t yet be there maturity wise.

Petro/Parayko/Jaybo/Gunnar/Eddy/Borts/Dunn was that teams strength. I like where we are at with Bro/Parayko/Fowler/Lindstein/Mailloux/Carlo. We need the depth that Eddy and Borts brought, but it’s on the way with Jiricek. I still think they supplement this group in the coming 8-12 months.

Goaltending is still solid.

While I’m sure we still disagree, I appreciate the civil discussion.

[a smell of green grass]

I appreciate your thoughtful response. I agree that the Blues improved, but I'm not at all happy with how much we potentially improved for the long-term.

The only reason we improved is that we removed the reliance on Army draft picks, and brought in players from the end of other team's bench. In other words, we essentially did another "Holloway and Broberg", but with much less upside.

Sure, that may help a small bit for the future, but does that come close to enough for a Stanley Cup? Does that give STL a HOFer to call our own?

The goal for a re-whatever is to build a strong team, not a team that will win a few more games next year. The re-whatever was a massive fail, and a waste of 3 years.

More than one way to build a cup contender. Not by any means saying this team is as talented as our 2019 cup team, but they are building in a similar way. There were no true superstars on that team, although it can be argued that Petro will be a HOF’er. They had depth, grit, tenacity, skill, size, a (drat) good defense, and top notch goaltending. Mix of vets and youth. Sound familiar?

Is Thomas/McT/Dvo/Suter >> ROR/Schenn/Bozak/Sunny? Probably not yet, but has the potential in a year or two

Is Tarasenko/Schwartz, Perron/Sanford/Blais, Maroon/Sanfors/Blais, Barbs/Steen >> Holloway/Snuggs, Neighbours/Buch, McMike/Stenberg/Berggren, Toro/Johnston/Finley??? Not yet, but the wings are coming together and will be more competitive this year I believe. The depth is improving but not yet at that 2019 level, especially the 4th line. I do think our top line will be better than Perron-ROR-Sanford/Blais this season and our 2nd line will be eerily similar to Schwartz-Schenn-Tank with the tenacity, skill and size. They just won’t yet be there maturity wise.

Petro/Parayko/Jaybo/Gunnar/Eddy/Borts/Dunn was that teams strength. I like where we are at with Bro/Parayko/Fowler/Lindstein/Mailloux/Carlo. We need the depth that Eddy and Borts brought, but it’s on the way with Jiricek. I still think they supplement this group in the coming 8-12 months.

Goaltending is still solid.

While I’m sure we still disagree, I appreciate the civil discussion.

I think it is fool's gold to hold up 2019 as a gold standard. Many agree that the 2019 is the weakest CUP-winning team ever. However, I see your logic, and it is solid. I am also more pessimistic about the trajectory of our younger prospects. Army would not have acquired a bunch of young 2Cs if he believed strongly in Dvorsky. The team is getting almost zero benefit from the NHL draft, and that is going to haunt the roster for a long time.

Thanks for sharing your opinion.

[Bluesfan1978]

I appreciate your thoughtful response. I agree that the Blues improved, but I'm not at all happy with how much we potentially improved for the long-term.

The only reason we improved is that we removed the reliance on Army draft picks, and brought in players from the end of other team's bench. In other words, we essentially did another "Holloway and Broberg", but with much less upside.

Sure, that may help a small bit for the future, but does that come close to enough for a Stanley Cup? Does that give STL a HOFer to call our own?

The goal for a re-whatever is to build a strong team, not a team that will win a few more games next year. The re-whatever was a massive fail, and a waste of 3 years.

More than one way to build a cup contender. Not by any means saying this team is as talented as our 2019 cup team, but they are building in a similar way. There were no true superstars on that team, although it can be argued that Petro will be a HOF’er. They had depth, grit, tenacity, skill, size, a (drat) good defense, and top notch goaltending. Mix of vets and youth. Sound familiar?

Is Thomas/McT/Dvo/Suter >> ROR/Schenn/Bozak/Sunny? Probably not yet, but has the potential in a year or two

Is Tarasenko/Schwartz, Perron/Sanford/Blais, Maroon/Sanfors/Blais, Barbs/Steen >> Holloway/Snuggs, Neighbours/Buch, McMike/Stenberg/Berggren, Toro/Johnston/Finley??? Not yet, but the wings are coming together and will be more competitive this year I believe. The depth is improving but not yet at that 2019 level, especially the 4th line. I do think our top line will be better than Perron-ROR-Sanford/Blais this season and our 2nd line will be eerily similar to Schwartz-Schenn-Tank with the tenacity, skill and size. They just won’t yet be there maturity wise.

Petro/Parayko/Jaybo/Gunnar/Eddy/Borts/Dunn was that teams strength. I like where we are at with Bro/Parayko/Fowler/Lindstein/Mailloux/Carlo. We need the depth that Eddy and Borts brought, but it’s on the way with Jiricek. I still think they supplement this group in the coming 8-12 months.

Goaltending is still solid.

While I’m sure we still disagree, I appreciate the civil discussion.

Wei expect the Blues to have a stronger team than the 2018-19 team within the next 2-3 years.
That team had 1 player in 70 point range, 1 in the 60, 1 in the 50 and two in the 40 point range including Petro.
I expect the top line to all be over 70 this year and the second line to all be over 50. Hopefully a couple more top 40 points.

[bud white]

Given the assets involved including draft picks- the question is whether we are better off with mcmicheal, mctavish and tynan lawrence or kyrou and mctavish (assuming are 11 and 29th enough to grab mctavish). I think in the near term people are foing to regret trading kyrou. Let's see how everything pans out and hooe our scouts are on it.

Kyrou could score 100 goals this season and I wouldn't regret the move

Kyrou will quickly realize that he had it good here. Now that the East Coast hockey media gets to see him more often, they'll realize that he's not a special player. I think he'll be lucky to get 2 years in Washington before they move him.

[dr0zombie]

Given the assets involved including draft picks- the question is whether we are better off with mcmicheal, mctavish and tynan lawrence or kyrou and mctavish (assuming are 11 and 29th enough to grab mctavish). I think in the near term people are foing to regret trading kyrou. Let's see how everything pans out and hooe our scouts are on it.

Kyrou could score 100 goals this season and I wouldn't regret the move

Kyrou will quickly realize that he had it good here. Now that the East Coast hockey media gets to see him more often, they'll realize that he's not a special player. I think he'll be lucky to get 2 years in Washington before they move him.

I agree. And I would 100% bet you are right. But............ what if Ovi can make Kyrou engage more and play more physically? I know it sounds crazy. But maybe Ovi can make Kyrou more than a perimeter opportunist with wheels. I am curious if Ovi can change Kyrou where no one else could.

[TruBlueFan_1970]

Given the assets involved including draft picks- the question is whether we are better off with mcmicheal, mctavish and tynan lawrence or kyrou and mctavish (assuming are 11 and 29th enough to grab mctavish). I think in the near term people are foing to regret trading kyrou. Let's see how everything pans out and hooe our scouts are on it.

Kyrou could score 100 goals this season and I wouldn't regret the move

Kyrou will quickly realize that he had it good here. Now that the East Coast hockey media gets to see him more often, they'll realize that he's not a special player. I think he'll be lucky to get 2 years in Washington before they move him.

I agree. And I would 100% bet you are right. But............ what if Ovi can make Kyrou engage more and play more physically? I know it sounds crazy. But maybe Ovi can make Kyrou more than a perimeter opportunist with wheels. I am curious if Ovi can change Kyrou where no one else could.

Or maybe Tom Wilson will change him.

[Cahokanut]

I would definitely not rather have Jordan Kyrou than both Mason McTavish and Connor McMichael. That's a crazy take.

Before the Blues purposely handicapped Kyrou. He was our best offensive player and a all-star. He will likely put up 20 to 40 more points then any blue this year. And probably more then Mason and Mcmikey together.

Management fault is same thing one would need to look at when judging Mason. How much was his decline or non growth, was/is by managements hand. Which I think may be more then not.
I hope/think this season is better for him.
But how long that last might very well depend on how much management likes him. Because although the GM has changed names. Playing guys for their loyalty rather then their skill, is all the same.
This is the problem with loyalty over truth. You only see what your bias lets you see. By the agenda the boss sets.

No that isn't happening. He isn't outscoring Thomas period, much less scoring 110+, and the odds of him putting up 80+ points, which he has never done in his career, are about 40/60.

Your bias is about as dull and as boring as anything ever seen on this site at this point.

Attack. Attack. With a bull [shirt] and bad math.
Thomas has never scored 90+ points.
+20 on Thomas's point total of last year would be 84 points. Which is 9 more then Kyrous career high. He would need 91 points going on Thomas's Average. The Bais seems to be yours.

Not counting last year's stupidity of management to hold back Kyrou and purposely handicap the team. Playoffs be damned. Kyrou was averaging around 72 points.
In his prime with something to prove and with a Washington team that won't [fork] the team to prove a point to a player. 90+ is almost a given and a bet id make any day.

Also, Dull is the swing, bad math and the miss, you throw with a boring derp.

I'm not the one bad at math. If Thomas scores at his normal rate over the past 3 seasons, which is 1.07 ppg, that would give him 90 points on the season.

Based on your expectation, that would mean to outscore Thomas by just 20 points Kyrou would have to turn in a 110 point season.

You putting money down on a Kyrou 110 point season? He has averaged in the same time frame .76 ppg, which is a 66 point season. However, let's say new team, new system energizes him and he scores an additional 20 points this season, over his previous best season of 75 points, that still only puts him at 95, which would be well short of your 20 point mark, much less your 40 point mark.

You didn't think this through at all did you?

Well of coarse I didn't cherry pick to come up with the best Thomas numbers possible. But you do you.
Last Year Thomas had 64.
Thomas's career average is 71.

[TheJackBurton]

I would definitely not rather have Jordan Kyrou than both Mason McTavish and Connor McMichael. That's a crazy take.

Before the Blues purposely handicapped Kyrou. He was our best offensive player and a all-star. He will likely put up 20 to 40 more points then any blue this year. And probably more then Mason and Mcmikey together.

Management fault is same thing one would need to look at when judging Mason. How much was his decline or non growth, was/is by managements hand. Which I think may be more then not.
I hope/think this season is better for him.
But how long that last might very well depend on how much management likes him. Because although the GM has changed names. Playing guys for their loyalty rather then their skill, is all the same.
This is the problem with loyalty over truth. You only see what your bias lets you see. By the agenda the boss sets.

No that isn't happening. He isn't outscoring Thomas period, much less scoring 110+, and the odds of him putting up 80+ points, which he has never done in his career, are about 40/60.

Your bias is about as dull and as boring as anything ever seen on this site at this point.

Attack. Attack. With a bull [shirt] and bad math.
Thomas has never scored 90+ points.
+20 on Thomas's point total of last year would be 84 points. Which is 9 more then Kyrous career high. He would need 91 points going on Thomas's Average. The Bais seems to be yours.

Not counting last year's stupidity of management to hold back Kyrou and purposely handicap the team. Playoffs be damned. Kyrou was averaging around 72 points.
In his prime with something to prove and with a Washington team that won't [fork] the team to prove a point to a player. 90+ is almost a given and a bet id make any day.

Also, Dull is the swing, bad math and the miss, you throw with a boring derp.

I'm not the one bad at math. If Thomas scores at his normal rate over the past 3 seasons, which is 1.07 ppg, that would give him 90 points on the season.

Based on your expectation, that would mean to outscore Thomas by just 20 points Kyrou would have to turn in a 110 point season.

You putting money down on a Kyrou 110 point season? He has averaged in the same time frame .76 ppg, which is a 66 point season. However, let's say new team, new system energizes him and he scores an additional 20 points this season, over his previous best season of 75 points, that still only puts him at 95, which would be well short of your 20 point mark, much less your 40 point mark.

You didn't think this through at all did you?

Well of coarse I didn't cherry pick to come up with the best Thomas numbers possible. But you do you.
Last Year Thomas had 64.
Thomas's career average is 71.

Holy cow.

I didn't cherry pick, I did a 3 year average. He had 64 last year because he missed 18 games and still averaged a point per game.

Your average includes his first 3 seasons of his career. You don't want to cherry pick, fine let's start when he got off his ELC, so 5 seasons.

He averaged 74.6 pps and 1.03 ppg as he averaged 72 games a season.

Kyrou over that same 5 years

He averaged 66.2 pps and .85 ppg

So again, tell me how he's going to not only get above 1 ppg but get to 1.3 ppg when he has never in his career hit that kind of production. His best season was 1 ppg and that 2020-2021 and his point totals have decreased every year since.

[Tony Palazzolo]

I pulled up this article on The Athletic. I look at the offseason and think they moved the needle a fair amount. Now I think this looks at a little more how it will affect next season, not future seasons. I was shocked at they believe the Blues got worse.

24. St. Louis Blues
Net Rating added: -7
In: Mason McTavish, Connor McMichael, Brandon Carlo
Out: Jordan Kyrou, Jonathan Drouin

St. Louis’ pro scouting staff deserves some benefit of the doubt after the double offer sheet coup. But I would still prefer Jordan Kyrou over Mason McTavish and Connor McMichael. Kyrou is a legit needle-mover; the other two currently look a lot closer to average. “Currently” is the key word there. It wouldn’t be a shock to see both improve within a new context. For now, though, the Blues do look worse off.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/744576 ... oved-2026/

Been around long enough to know if they are praising this team it won't go well. This is good.

Oh I could care less about preseason national opinions. They downgrade the Blues for losing Kyrou. Admittingly I'm a fan of Kyrou but also realize that he is a very skilled, flawed player. I think the move is good for him and what the Blues got back is good for them. They really addressed the center depth. The opinion didn't take into account the pickups. On par, this should be a much more consistent team. If you have some players that exceed expectations it could be a really strong team that could make noise in the playoffs.

[2forDiving]

I pulled up this article on The Athletic. I look at the offseason and think they moved the needle a fair amount. Now I think this looks at a little more how it will affect next season, not future seasons. I was shocked at they believe the Blues got worse.

24. St. Louis Blues
Net Rating added: -7
In: Mason McTavish, Connor McMichael, Brandon Carlo
Out: Jordan Kyrou, Jonathan Drouin

St. Louis’ pro scouting staff deserves some benefit of the doubt after the double offer sheet coup. But I would still prefer Jordan Kyrou over Mason McTavish and Connor McMichael. Kyrou is a legit needle-mover; the other two currently look a lot closer to average. “Currently” is the key word there. It wouldn’t be a shock to see both improve within a new context. For now, though, the Blues do look worse off.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/744576 ... oved-2026/

Been around long enough to know if they are praising this team it won't go well. This is good.

Oh I could care less about preseason national opinions. They downgrade the Blues for losing Kyrou. Admittingly I'm a fan of Kyrou but also realize that he is a very skilled, flawed player. I think the move is good for him and what the Blues got back is good for them. They really addressed the center depth. The opinion didn't take into account the pickups. On par, this should be a much more consistent team. If you have some players that exceed expectations it could be a really strong team that could make noise in the playoffs.

I don’t know who the analyst was with Mitch Kern last week on the NHL network previewing the Western Conference, but he was very high on the Blues and agreed with you. Predicted they would make the playoffs. Said overall teams in the West didn’t improve much, but the Blues were one of the few exceptions. He mentioned they basically addressed their needs and now have organizational depth as well. He also pointed to the Kings and Ducks as taking a step back and thinks the Central will have both WCs in the West next year (both liked the Blues over the Jets & Preds) Also noted that neither Holloway or Thomas were healthy at the start of last season and thinks they get off to a good start this year. Also stated it looks like it is Hofer’s team, but expects Binnington to be better than last season as well. Kern essentially agreed with him.

[bud white]

I pulled up this article on The Athletic. I look at the offseason and think they moved the needle a fair amount. Now I think this looks at a little more how it will affect next season, not future seasons. I was shocked at they believe the Blues got worse.

24. St. Louis Blues
Net Rating added: -7
In: Mason McTavish, Connor McMichael, Brandon Carlo
Out: Jordan Kyrou, Jonathan Drouin

St. Louis’ pro scouting staff deserves some benefit of the doubt after the double offer sheet coup. But I would still prefer Jordan Kyrou over Mason McTavish and Connor McMichael. Kyrou is a legit needle-mover; the other two currently look a lot closer to average. “Currently” is the key word there. It wouldn’t be a shock to see both improve within a new context. For now, though, the Blues do look worse off.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/744576 ... oved-2026/

Been around long enough to know if they are praising this team it won't go well. This is good.

Oh I could care less about preseason national opinions. They downgrade the Blues for losing Kyrou. Admittingly I'm a fan of Kyrou but also realize that he is a very skilled, flawed player. I think the move is good for him and what the Blues got back is good for them. They really addressed the center depth. The opinion didn't take into account the pickups. On par, this should be a much more consistent team. If you have some players that exceed expectations it could be a really strong team that could make noise in the playoffs.

I will predict it right now. Kyrou will have a fast start, but then he'll drop very fast. Ovie still runs that room, and when he starts getting a glimpse of Kyrou's half baked effort when the puck isn't going in, he'll be all over JK. If JK thought Chief was tough on him, just wait.

The opinion the media wags are floating are based upon Kyrou's stats since they obviously aren't going to Blues games night in and night out. Analytics favor Kyrou in excess. He's a "moneypuck" golden boy. But he doesn't like to get hit. Wants others to deal with board battles. Isn't particularly engaged shift to shift. Tends to pout and disappear if he gets his ice time taken away. All well known to those who actually go to the games. And all issues that don't show up in the advanced statistics.

From their moves, the Caps want to really push this for Ovie in what may well be his last year. And I doubt Ovie will want a passenger on his team.