2022-23 NHL team preview: St. Louis Blues

Credit: Tom Horak-USA TODAY Sports

LAST SEASON

The Blues enjoyed a significantly better season in 2021-22 than they did in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign.

The team saw breakout seasons from a handful of young players, as Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich all cracked the 70-point plateau for the first time in their respective careers. Veteran winger Vladimir Tarasenko also returned to star form after having his previous two seasons had been derailed due to injury, as he scored a career-high 82 points.

All told, the Blues finished fourth in the NHL with 311 goals, a big jump from sitting in the middle of the pack in scoring as they had the previous few years.

St. Louis’ defense and goaltending were a little bit more enigmatic, as the Blues ranked 11th in the league with 242 goals against. Jordan Binnington posted a .901 save percentage, the lowest mark in a single season in his NHL career, but sophomore Ville Husso stepped up and posted a .919 save percentage to help compensate.

The Blues went 49-22-11, good for their fourth-best season in franchise history in terms of points percentage. They got through the Minnesota Wild in six games in the first round and then got dropped by the Colorado Avalanche in a dramatic six-game series.

The Blues were the only team in the Western Conference that could win a playoff game against the Avs, as both the Nashville Predators and Edmonton Oilers got swept.

KEY ADDITIONS & DEPARTURES

Additions
Noel Acciari, RW
Matthew Highmore, RW
Josh Leivo, LW
Anthony Angello, RW
Martin Frk, RW
Thomas Greiss, G

Departures
David Perron, RW (Det)
Ville Husso, G (Det)
Mackenzie MacEachern, LW (Car)
Dakota Joshua, LW (Van)
Charlie Lindgren, G (Wsh)

OFFENSE

Scoring goals was the strength of the Blues in 2021-22, a shift from the strong shutdown team with a middling offense that they’d been over the past few years. The Blues boasted a very deep offense last season, as nine different players reached the 20-goal plateau and eight players reached the 50-point mark (with Brandon Saad coming just shy at 49 points).

Vladimir Tarasenko led the way with 34 goals and 82 points, an incredible return to stardom after his previous two seasons limited him to just 24 points over 34 games. The Blues also saw breakout performances from multiple players in their 20s, as Thomas, Kyrou, Buchnevich, and Ivan Barbashev recorded career highs in points.

The team’s biggest loss in the offseason was David Perron, who departed as a UFA to join the Detroit Red Wings in free agency following a season in which he scored 27 goals and 57 points. The Blues didn’t make any major splashes in the offseason so they’ll have to find a replacement for Perron’s production internally – especially on the power play, where he did his best work.

DEFENSE

When the Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2018-19, their strength was very good team defense, but the team’s blueline hasn’t been as effective since captain Alex Pietrangelo left the team in free agency to join the Vegas Golden Knights.

The hope was that Colton Parayko would take over as the Blues’ top defender, but he’s seen his expected goals for percentage dip in each of his past three seasons since Pietrangelo left. Parayko split his time playing with Marco Scandella and Niko Mikkola in a shutdown role last season and he’ll likely form a defensive pairing alongside veteran Nick Leddy in 2022-23.

The Blues’ best pairing last season was the offensively minded duo of Justin Faulk and Torey Krug, who outscored their opponents 48-to-23 when on the ice together at even-strength, according to Natural Stat Trick.

GOALTENDING

While Binnington struggled through inconsistency, Husso came out of nowhere to outplay him in 2021-22, ultimately taking the starter’s role for part of the season.

Husso broke out at the perfect time as he was set to become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career following the 2021-22 season. The Blues dealt his UFA rights to the Red Wings and he inked a multi-year deal.

His replacement is veteran goaltender Thomas Greiss, who inked a cheap one-year deal with the Blues in free agency. Greiss has been a strong 1B goaltender for much of his career but the 36-year-old is coming off a season in which he posted an .891 save percentage over 31 games for the Red Wings.

COACHING

Craig Berube took over a struggling Blues team in the winter of 2018 and they ran all the way to their first Stanley Cup championship in the spring of 2019. Since then, the Berube-led Blues have remained competitive, making the playoffs in each of his next three seasons at the helm.

The impressive thing about the Berube era is that the Blues have remained a good team in a tough division despite the challenges of roster turnover as multiple quality veterans have left the team in free agency. The Berube Blues have also shown versatility, moving from a defense-first team to a high-scoring team.

ROOKIES

The Blues have a couple of exciting young players who will be pushing for playing time this season.

Jake Neighbours, the team’s first-round pick from the 2020 Draft, scored two points in his nine-game cup of coffee last season before being sent back to the WHL, where he helped the Edmonton Oil Kings reach the Memorial Cup.

Defender Scott Perunovich is a breakout candidate on St. Louis’ blueline. The team’s second-round pick from the 2018 Draft had dominant numbers in the NCAA but he’s struggled with injuries since turning pro. If Perunovich can stay healthy and force his way into the lineup, he could massively improve St. Louis’ blueline very soon.

BURNING QUESTIONS

1. Which version of Jordan Binnington will show up? Ville Husso’s out-of-the-blue breakout was key in the Blues navigating Binnington’s difficult season. The Blues need Binnington to rebound this year because the 36-year-old Greiss likely won’t be able to shoulder the starting load if he doesn’t.

2. Who’s going to replace David Perron? The Blues got breakout seasons from multiple young forwards last season and the hope is that all of them can replicate their performances. But who’s going to replace Perron, a pesky veteran who’s always good for 20-plus goals? A breakout season from somebody like Klim Kostin or Neighbours would be huge.

3. What’s going to happen with Vladimir Tarasenko? Tarasenko set a career high in points in 2021-22 after having his previous two seasons wrecked due to injury. He had previously asked for a trade because of how the Blues handled those injuries but the team never found a deal. Tarasenko is set to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2022-23 season.

PREDICTION

The Blues play in the loaded Central Division, so things are never going to be easy for them. Their offense is deep and potent and their blueline is solid, but their goaltending duo raises a lot of questions. They’ll be a playoff team, but they won’t be as successful as they were in 2021-22.