Not much love for the '25-'26 Blue Notes around the league

[blues2112]

I think the biggest difference between the consensus here and the national writers is that we tend to overstate how sure the following bets are (though, I agree in every case):

- Snuggerud fitting seamlessly in our top 6
- Buchy returning to a point per game producer
- Holloway not regressing
- Broberg not regressing
- Fowler maintaining his high level

I think we tend to take the over on each of those, whereas national publications tend to take the under. If those five players regress to their recent levels, this isn't a playoff team.

There are other questions, too:
How well will LM hold down an NHL job?
Which version of Binner will we see?
How will we improve our 6 on 5 when we lost our second best faceoff guy amd defensive ace?

I still agree with most here that our upside outweighs the down, and that we can hang with the haves in our division.

Great post!

[seattleblue]

I think the biggest difference between the consensus here and the national writers is that we tend to overstate how sure the following bets are (though, I agree in every case):

- Snuggerud fitting seamlessly in our top 6
- Buchy returning to a point per game producer
- Holloway not regressing
- Broberg not regressing
- Fowler maintaining his high level

I think we tend to take the over on each of those, whereas national publications tend to take the under. If those five players regress to their recent levels, this isn't a playoff team.

There are other questions, too:
How well will LM hold down an NHL job?
Which version of Binner will we see?
How will we improve our 6 on 5 when we lost our second best faceoff guy amd defensive ace?

I still agree with most here that our upside outweighs the down, and that we can hang with the haves in our division.

I take your point about others thinking the Blues overachieved and their true self being their first half rather than their second half, but I don't know about the "recent level" of 21, 81 and 6. Those three are all essentially debuting as Blues.

If the season hadn't ended the way it did I'd feel differently but I expect the Blues to be all about the business of winning from the drop of the gate. Kyrou's offseason is indicative.

[TBone]

What say you?

Let them think what they want to.

2026-27 and beyond is when the window fully opens again.

[Hooking]

The Blues have never been media darlings.

Even when they won a cup and were in the window for winning another it was either:
1. Jordan Binnington has old tweets that means he is racist.
2. Blues fans are racist for hating Kadri for injuring their players.


They want Utah to be the next big thing and generate hype around them because the NHL has seen what that can do with a "new" team as far as revenue. Dallas is a huge market, WPG has a Vezina goalie... etc. The central is tough. I do think the Blues are underestimated but it will be hard to be top 3 in this division.

[SRV1990]

I was watching Maroon on TV last night, he was speaking highly of the Blues, Binnington in particular.

Blues are in a very tough Division and Conference; unlike the prior season and most of the other top teams they didn't make any flashy front page moves. Other teams and players are attracting headines, the Blues are going to have to earn respect on the ice.

None of this matters. The season has started, there is a mathematical grading scale that trumps the prognostications and narratives of the talking heads. It's a long ride and it promises to be a lot of fun, lots of good, hard-fought hockey. LGB!

Go with the old Tony La Russa theory on how to make the playoffs. In baseball, his philosophy was to focus on winning as many series as possible and not targeting a certain number of wins. For the Blues, same philosophy could apply. Focus on winning 2 out of 3 in nine game spurts, or with OT losses, maybe the equivalent of 11/18 possible points. Over a season, that’s a 99 point pace. La Russa was a helluva manager and kept his focus on the here and now, being the current series. Hope the Blues do the same and avoid any long losing streaks.

Both of these posts, IMO, are spot on! Use the "disrespect" as fuel, otherwise pay no attention to what others think. Focus on each game, or small blocks of games, and make it hell for teams to play the Blues!

[Hockey Pete]

I think the biggest difference between the consensus here and the national writers is that we tend to overstate how sure the following bets are (though, I agree in every case):

- Snuggerud fitting seamlessly in our top 6
- Buchy returning to a point per game producer
- Holloway not regressing
- Broberg not regressing
- Fowler maintaining his high level

I think we tend to take the over on each of those, whereas national publications tend to take the under. If those five players regress to their recent levels, this isn't a playoff team.

There are other questions, too:
How well will LM hold down an NHL job?
Which version of Binner will we see?
How will we improve our 6 on 5 when we lost our second best faceoff guy amd defensive ace?

I still agree with most here that our upside outweighs the down, and that we can hang with the haves in our division.

I take your point about others thinking the Blues overachieved and their true self being their first half rather than their second half, but I don't know about the "recent level" of 21, 81 and 6. Those three are all essentially debuting as Blues.

If the season hadn't ended the way it did I'd feel differently but I expect the Blues to be all about the business of winning from the drop of the gate. Kyrou's offseason is indicative.

I'm not as concerned with Dylan, Jimmy and Philip as IMO their commitment/compete levels are fairly high and a constant (Herb used to call it a kids "Factory Default"), they may struggle for a bit, but they'll find a way to turn it on.

It's those "other" players that IMO disappear for long periods or lack focus to stay on top. Binny, Kyrou and Faulk to some extent, as all have huge roles and have proven in the past to cost the odd game here and there.

In the end I think the biggest difference maker is Monty, he's just a great coach.

[stlblues1979]

Ive seen a few of these sorts having the Blues in the 90-95 point range. 90 pts only would really surprise me although things can always go south, injuries namely to the wrong guys that happens.
You may not be surprised to learn that i am more optimistic than 90 pts I am in the 100 pt territory for this season, I would cite the continued growth and production from the top 2 lines, more depth on D with Fowler/Broberg/Tucker//Mailloux. Also i like how Jordan Winnington looks i know hes eyeing the Olympics he wants another notch in his belt which bodes well.

I think the Blues get big seasons from:

Thomas, Binnington, Buch, Kyrou, Holloway, Fowler, Broberg and Schenn. Depth is a little sketchy but Stenberg is waiting in the wings

What say you?

I'm with you Harry. I think they are underestimating this team.

On a side note, curiosity forces me to ask, did you take your name from Counting Cars tv show?

Lol, man i dont even know how i came up with this name. I signed up for this mess a long long time ago and have totally forgot i think i was referring to trades made by the Blues administration at that moment

Colorado isn't getting 108 pts. They are over estimating Mackenzie Blackwood, and believe that they have far more depth than they actually do.

I'm with you Jack. I don't see an 18 point difference between them & the Blues.

[stlblue06]

Everyone picked Nashville last year so they probably think of the Blues because of the hot streaks even though they are much different.

October will be very important for the Blues. I just saw a stat that the Blues had the 5th worst combined record from the last 3 Octobers (22-2024)! Right there with the Hawks, Ducks, and Sharks.

[stlblue06]

Colorado got VERY good goaltending last season. Blackwoood and their backup were both above .915 sv%. Good luck repeating that

[TheJackBurton]

Colorado got VERY good goaltending last season. Blackwoood and their backup were both above .915 sv%. Good luck repeating that

Mackenzie Blackwood across the board 2018-2025:

.918
.915
.902
.892
.893
.899
.912

Then in the playoffs last year .892

His numbers might be decent due to the possession game the Avs have, but he's obviously been regressing. Maybe he figured something out, but the playoffs kind of show that whatever it was Dallas figured it out and exploited it.

If he settles back into a .902-.905 they aren't touching a 100 pts unless they are a top 5 offensive team in the league.

[seattleblue]

I think the biggest difference between the consensus here and the national writers is that we tend to overstate how sure the following bets are (though, I agree in every case):

- Snuggerud fitting seamlessly in our top 6
- Buchy returning to a point per game producer
- Holloway not regressing
- Broberg not regressing
- Fowler maintaining his high level

I think we tend to take the over on each of those, whereas national publications tend to take the under. If those five players regress to their recent levels, this isn't a playoff team.

There are other questions, too:
How well will LM hold down an NHL job?
Which version of Binner will we see?
How will we improve our 6 on 5 when we lost our second best faceoff guy amd defensive ace?

I still agree with most here that our upside outweighs the down, and that we can hang with the haves in our division.

I take your point about others thinking the Blues overachieved and their true self being their first half rather than their second half, but I don't know about the "recent level" of 21, 81 and 6. Those three are all essentially debuting as Blues.

If the season hadn't ended the way it did I'd feel differently but I expect the Blues to be all about the business of winning from the drop of the gate. Kyrou's offseason is indicative.

I'm not as concerned with Dylan, Jimmy and Philip as IMO their commitment/compete levels are fairly high and a constant (Herb used to call it a kids "Factory Default"), they may struggle for a bit, but they'll find a way to turn it on.

It's those "other" players that IMO disappear for long periods or lack focus to stay on top. Binny, Kyrou and Faulk to some extent, as all have huge roles and have proven in the past to cost the odd game here and there.

In the end I think the biggest difference maker is Monty, he's just a great coach.

I am also a buyer on Monty when he has a full season. The track record of bringing all of his teams quickly up to the ability to get on a roll and stay there is what convinces me. He's working with the best clay – not only does he have highly motivated prime age vets, he has three players, his best at each position (F, D, G) all locked into earning onto Team Canada. He has rookies chomping at the bit to get their career promise going.

I do not think the Blues are going to win the Western Conf this year (4% odds) or the Cup (2% odds) but I think the chances are decent that the team puts the hammer down, and if that happens and they establish playoff position early then I expect the attention to turn to which big pre-deadline piece are we adding to make a playoff push. Adding the equivalent of a Fowler on the right side would suddenly really make the defense contender worthy if it's healthy, and a locked in Binnington is more than 2% to go on a two month heater IMO.

Next year we aren't getting basically even odds to make the playoffs and for me the Monty factor makes that highly appealing.

[STL fan in MN]

I think the national media is simply sleeping on the Blues. I’m trying to check my blue tinted glasses at the door but I’m pretty familiar with the other 31 rosters and I just don’t get the pessimism regarding the Blues. Their depth is very solid.

I can see where I can bet on who will win the Cup but is there a bet that can be placed on which teams will make the playoffs? Because my sense is that my perception is way higher on the Blues than the national prognosticators, most of which are predicting the Blues to miss the playoffs. I don’t think the Blues will win the Cup so I don’t want to bet that but betting they’ll make the playoffs seems like a pretty safe bet for good odds.

[Army's Mom]

I think the biggest difference between the consensus here and the national writers is that we tend to overstate how sure the following bets are (though, I agree in every case):

- Snuggerud fitting seamlessly in our top 6
- Buchy returning to a point per game producer
- Holloway not regressing
- Broberg not regressing
- Fowler maintaining his high level

I think we tend to take the over on each of those, whereas national publications tend to take the under. If those five players regress to their recent levels, this isn't a playoff team.

There are other questions, too:
How well will LM hold down an NHL job?
Which version of Binner will we see?
How will we improve our 6 on 5 when we lost our second best faceoff guy amd defensive ace?

I still agree with most here that our upside outweighs the down, and that we can hang with the haves in our division.

I take your point about others thinking the Blues overachieved and their true self being their first half rather than their second half, but I don't know about the "recent level" of 21, 81 and 6. Those three are all essentially debuting as Blues.

If the season hadn't ended the way it did I'd feel differently but I expect the Blues to be all about the business of winning from the drop of the gate. Kyrou's offseason is indicative.

I agree completely, but I just think we're privy to more information than the national types. They see that Holloway and Broberg hit a new level last year and wonder if they might regress. We're privy to how hard they've worked and how they've hit the ground running in preseason - but the national types aren't able to pay attention to that much detail.

Context matters, and we have a TON more context than the national writers. So, it doesn't worry me that they're sleeping on the Blues. They'll always sleep on teams that are on the come up.

[Harry S Deals]

Jim Montgomery said today the Neighbours-Suter-Joseph line was the best line in practice at 5-on-5 today. #stlblues


This is a reason why i think the Blues can be very good and dangerous. The commentary coming from the practice rink is the work rate is really high and consistent across the roster. This team has just enough speed and skill that if they are effective at forechecking and turning over pucks they are going to be a PITA team to deal with.
Getting back to the comments about Bolduc dealing dealt and not Neighbours this is a big reason why. Neighbours may be only a 20-23 goals guy but he does all the little things that leads to winning hockey.
When talking heads see the names on the Blues roster but dont see the skating, checking, etc thats probably why they are lead to believe its a 90 pt team

[seattleblue]

I think the national media is simply sleeping on the Blues. I’m trying to check my blue tinted glasses at the door but I’m pretty familiar with the other 31 rosters and I just don’t get the pessimism regarding the Blues. Their depth is very solid.

I can see where I can bet on who will win the Cup but is there a bet that can be placed on which teams will make the playoffs? Because my sense is that my perception is way higher on the Blues than the national prognosticators, most of which are predicting the Blues to miss the playoffs. I don’t think the Blues will win the Cup so I don’t want to bet that but betting they’ll make the playoffs seems like a pretty safe bet for good odds.

Some (most) places should have futures to make the playoffs, Blues being -115 at the moment

[Cahokanut]

I think why respect is may be low.
Is that we need near about career years from everyone we put on the ice. Except our Depth role players. Which I agree we have to many of.

Many Ifs. But the main one.

If Binny can play his best.
Will decide our season.