With the 2019-20 NHL season on hold we are going to take a look at where each NHL team stands at this moment with a series of posts examining their season. Have they met expectations? Exceeded expectations? Who has been the surprise? All of that and more. Today we look at the St. Louis Blues.
St. Louis Blues
Record: 42-19-10 (71 games), first in the Central Division, first in the Western Conference
Leading Scorer: Ryan O’Reilly - 60 points (12 goals and 48 assists)
In-Season Roster Moves:
• Acquired Justin Faulk and a 2020 fifth-round pick from the Carolina Hurricanes for Joel Edmundson, Dominik Bokk and a 2021 seventh-round pick.
• Traded Robby Fabbri to the Detroit Red Wings for Jacob de la Rose.
• Acquired Marco Scandella from the Montreal Canadiens for a 2020 second-round pick and a 2021 fourth-round pick.
Season Overview:
If you expected the Blues to be battling a Stanley Cup hangover, you were wrong.
The defending champions have put together another impressive season in 2017-28. Not bad for a team that was bashing bodies on the ice until June. And it’s not like they didn’t have to face a little adversity along the way either.
For starters, sniper Vladimir Tarasenko went down after just 10 games (he collected 10 points in those contests). He had scored at least 33 goals in each of his previous five seasons. Losing that much offense would hurt any team, but the Blues found a way to keep pushing.
Did you expect the clock the strike midnight on Jordan Binnington?
Well, that didn’t really happen either. Sure, he didn’t replicate the incredible numbers he had last season, but he still found a way to help the Blues get to the top of the Western Conference standings. At the pause, he had a 30-13-7 record with a 2.56 goals-against-average and a .912 save percentage.
St. Louis’ key to success isn’t dependant on one player. So they can lose a Tarasenko and Binnington’s play can dip a little and they won’t miss a beat. This is a club that is reliant on their overall depth.
Their leading scorer, Ryan O’Reilly, has 60 points through 70 games. That’s not a remarkable amount for a team leader, but the numbers being posted by some of the players around him are pretty impressive.
David Perron (59 points), Brayden Schenn (57 points), Jaden Schwartz (57 points) and Alex Pietrangelo (52 points) all have at least 50 points. That’s pretty balanced. Had Tarasenko been healthy, he likely would’ve been right near the top of the leaderboard in this category, too.
The Blues, unlike a lot of the other top teams, don’t get the job done with one or two elite players. Head coach Craig Berube has something special here and it’s all about balanced scoring.
Now, there is a massive question mark heading into the off-season. Will they be able to retain Pietrangelo’s services? He’s scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and it doesn’t look like they have the money under the cap to bring him back.
General manager Doug Armstrong has made some bold moves the years, but getting his captain to accept a deal that’s team-friendly enough will be tricky.
Highlight of the Season:
There were so many memorable moments on and off the ice for the Blues in 2019-20, but the fact that they put together two eight-game winning streaks was so impressive.
MORE BLUES:
• St. Louis Blues biggest surprises and disappointments
• Blues’ long-term outlook
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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.