A Look at the St. Louis Blues After Missing the 2023 Playoffs 

Great stuff, thanks Shannon. Been an odd year for the Blues. Several notes from a local: 1. Losing Jim Montgomery ended up being a huge loss. Happy for him, and glad he got another head coaching job (going very well), but man, had no idea how badly he'd be missed. 2. Krug and Buchnevich Health: Every team deals with health issues, but when your best offensive-defenseman that quarterbacked last season's power play, and one of your point-per-game players both miss about 20% of the season, it's tough to overcome. 3. Husso: Having essentially another #1 goalie as the backup was massive last season. I'm in the camp that we need better defense... or I'm still living in the glory of 2019... 4. Perron/Defense: We absolutely needed defense in the offseason. So I understand Army's moves and decision to no re-sign Perron. But, that has been a snowball effect of handcuffing them financially and likely losing a major voice in the locker room. 5. Thomas/Kyrou: No doubting the talent. I think some of the hoosiers down highway 55 are a little more vocal in their disdain than majority of the fanbase. I'd like to see a better +/- from Kyrou, but otherwise, looking forward to seeing more growth. 6. Army: I love this man. Seeing where the season was going and making the decision to trade O'Reilly and Tarasenko likely wasn't easy. But, I respect the hell out of him for doing it (and it was the right call). The front office of the St. Louis Cardinals likes the act in the exact opposite fashion. Army is a breath of fresh air around here. Love the channel. Keep up the good work sir

Couldn't have picked a better year to miss the playoffs

From what I’ve heard from Darren Pang in interviews, he says Binnington has been much better than his stats suggest and it’s the team’s defense in front of him that keeps faltering. More importantly, Binnington doesn’t complain or blame his teammates for their awful play.

Thanks Shannon! Very well done. O'Reilly NEVER takes less money, in fact, he wants more than he's worth. Blues did well to avoid those off-season arguments. Would have loved to keep Barbashev; really really good on the Penalty Kill. And hate to see criticism of two young players, but I guess that comes with the big money. Also dream about that #1 pick, it would serve the 'tankers' right!

As a Blues Fan...I LOVE THIS! I hate that you're giving me so much hope that we could possibly get Bedard.

Thanks for the Blues recap Shannon. I've been a blues fan for years and this defense is one of the worst ever. IThe money being paid to them should bring worrd class results. None of them would clear out the crease in front of Binnington which is maybe why he goes off on people.

What's most impressive about the deadline pickups were that they cost next to nothing, and they all stepped up huge when they got to the Blues. Vrana cost a seventh rounder and half his salary is being paid by the Red Wings. Got his old form back. Kapanen was a waiver pick-up. Much better player, when people were saying he had negative value before in Pittsburgh. Being free of that contract and then the Blueger trade just to then make the Granlund deal makes it easy to understand why Hextall got canned. Blais was essentially a throw in with the return on the Tarasenko trade. It seemed underwhelming for the Blues at the time of trade, but he outdid Tarasenko in points! I'm hoping Jeremy Rutherford writes something about him in The Athletic about his time in New York and his return, and why he's been such a different player between the teams.

I agree. Despite so much fan talk about trades especially on D, I don't see any of them moving because the contracts honestly aren't that expensive compared to the 9 million needed to secure a top dman. So I don't expect to get anything better out there on free agency. We just resign the young players at budget contracts and we start being up bolduc, snuggerud and maybe some one we draft (which is ironic considering army states he doesn't understand the younger generation anymore). I feel for the blues, defense is misunderstood as a position rather than the system is actually is. As for playoffs. It's like 50/50. I don't expect to be much better as we basically have to rely on internal growth but at least they will have burden of trade rumors. Which is fine. We will make it back into playoffs when prospects are contributing positively (which may be as soon as next year or year after)

Thank you for doing this video Shannon! :) 🎉You’re the best

Biggest change to STL already happened - Mike Van Rynd was fired The biggest departure from last season was Monty leaving the bench to go coach the Bruins to the greatest regular season in NHL history. If they can get a better defensive coach who's willing to make the talent on the blue line work, I think we see an immediate step up. I don't think the defensemen on the Blues are bad at hockey, they've just been uninspired with a system/coach that don't work for them

Great Video! All signs say yes to a return to the PO. With that said, the defense has to be addressed, it was abysmal this year. Offense was actually really good this year for the majority of the time, the additions of Sammy, Vrana, and Kapanen were great moves by Armstrong. Some luck in the draft lottery would work wonders as well. Cheers from St. Louis!

The Blues need to address their defense if they want to make a comeback next year.

Bedard is going to Anaheim and we are all going to sit there and like it.

Three first rounders... I wish my team had three first rounders.

DA really needs to focus on improving the defense. That alone would put the Blues back in the playoffs.

i would cry if the blues got bedard and immediately would get the jersey

I think they have an underrated prospect pool at this point. Snuggerud looks like he’ll be a top 6 player, same with Dvorasky. Thomas is a star and will be a franchise player soon. Hopefully Kyrou can put it all together. I’m not worried cause the Berube system is what matters and if everyone’s bought in they’ll make the playoffs.

Love the blues I hope they bounce back 😢

in army we trust!!! the best GM in the nhl!! can't wait to see what the blues do the next 2-3 years. btw you missed out on talking about some big prospects like snuggy, dean and Buchinger.

I'm not sure Logan Brown knows what Logan Brown is.. Some nights I think "why are you on the 4th line, you should be on the ice more," others I'm thinking "why are you on the 4th line in St Louis, you should be on the 4th line in Springfield"

They are playoff contenders next season. some players just had a down year, and a few players started to show their age. It happens. They dealt with it quickly and made swift decisions. Good management. If they get Bedard they may even be a cup contender as soon as 2024. I'm not a Blues fan but last season when I was able to watch a lot of hockey, they seemed to have lost some of their defensive chemistry compared to previous seasons. If they can get that back, it's a quick turnaround, with new young players to come in. If not, maybe 2-3 years in no mans land and then a resurgence with Thomas and Kyrou at their peak. Are Krug/Parayko tradeable next season? Maybe Parayko has a comeback, he was one of the better d in the NHL a few years ago. I don't rate Binnington tbh. I think they need an upgrade in net. Not sure what Armstrong thinks. Thanks for Husso!

Could be playoff contenders again as soon as next season

St. Louis Blues jersey looks great on you. It's not surprising Blues missed the Playoffs and I'm from St. Louis. Blues GM Doug Armstrong letting Pietrangelo walk was a set back defensively for St. Louis , and I said it would set them back 5 years like a NFL team drafting a QB and it doesn't work out. Binnington at 5v5 average Shot Distance Against was 32.05, Greiss 35.30, Hofer 35.07. Obviously statistically Binnington has regressed from Stanley Cup run yet GM didn't help letting a Hands of God Defender walk. I'm from St. Louis and love the Blues yet I'm objective. Kyrou did well on the points aspect yet his defensive game wasn't ideal with his Plus/Minus tied for 2nd worst in the NHL with a -38, and there's a reason Berube and Kyrou had it out at times throughout the season. Not good timing drop back passes during pivotal moments in Games. Looking at Jordan with 55 Giveaways and 54 Takeaways, it's not surprising he was a -38. Faulk 58 Giveaways and 51 Takeaways, and Krug's size, didn't help Blues defensively. Faulk good, just not iq like Pietrangelo. Krug good just not the size you need to slow down a Jamie Benn type. Blues should be an 8th-12th team again next season unless a defensive piece that'll help facilitate the control of puck possession the way Pietrangelo did ie Nicklas Lidstrom style of iq. Won't be easy yet big upcoming year for Armstrong I feel.

The Blues told Kyrou he had to start playing winning hockey instead of junior hockey. If he listens, they have a chance. But, he certainly didn’t seem to listen this year, so I’m skeptical.

I'm looking at Faulk, Krug, and Parayko at 6.5M/year cap hits until at least 2027-2028. Those guys need to step up for them to get back into the playoffs.

Binner is good goalie who got really hot at the right time.

It still doesn't feel empty. The yearning to get back to the Cup came a lot quicker after missing the playoffs but they could never win another Cup and 2019 will never feel empty. That said, I think the fact that Blais, Vrana, and Kapanen all end their contracts next year set up Armstrong perfectly for selling them if he needs another year to retool.

I'm one of the Binnington Defenders and I believe with him if they can fix their D core and get into the playoffs they will have a chance. The Binnington haters will attack me for his numbers but I'll say I've watched every single blues game from the 19-20 season onward and I have seen Binnington play poorly in a multitude of games at different times in all seasons. Last season especially, and the season before that he was mediocre also. This season, he was motivated and he was a major difference in games he had no business being. You can't do that 82 games realistically, but especially not with this defense in front of him. Endless tap ins and backdoor plays undefended no matter who is on the ice, it was disgusting to watch. Doug Armstrong said as much in his exit interview for the season, "You can make 8 great saves but allow 2 tap ins and you've got an .800sv%". His numbers do not reflect his play. Fix the D core, they have a shot to be a contender in my opinion. Whether that's systems or personnel that's up to management to figure out. In the playoffs he's our best player every year except the bubble year though, with that and a good team in front you always have a shot. There's more talk to be had about Kyrou/Thomas' role but the D is the biggest and most urgent issue imo.

The Blues have a decent enough core to stick with just need to add to it. They can do a bit of selling and do a retool and be fine in 2 to 3 years. Odds are they make drastic moves to get back to the playoffs and idk if that’s the play

Shannon thank you for not wearing that hideous Yellow 3rd jersey

One more down year next year for them and then the young talent they’re developing starts kicking in. They’ll be back in the playoffs in 2024-25.

nice yellow tshirt to coordinate your oufit....

Hey Shannon, here's a thought for summer vids. Huge moments in franchise histories. One good - one bad. Eg.StL Good- Cup of course. Bad- Yzerman getting the turn over from Gretzky and ending the dream w that slapper past Jon Casey. Check that, Ralston Purina skipping the 83 draft and the team almost relocating to Saskatoon Saskatchewan.

The back end including the goaltending needs to improve. Hofer backs up binner next season and I envision more of a partnership there like with husso and binner from 2022. If the blues can move one of those defensive contracts (krug, faulk, parayko) they will be in real good shape for next season

It is conceivable that the Blues miss the playoffs next year too, and not because they got worse, but the competition in the West Conference is pretty strong. Of the 8 playoff teams, who takes a step back next year that the Blues can pass? Winnipeg, perhaps? At this stage, I can't say they would be better than Colorado, Minnesota, Dallas, Edmonton, Vegas, LA or Seattle. And teams like Calgary, Vancouver and Nashville are also trying to move up. The Blues could be better next year, and still be treading water.

for more defense, can try to get Pesce from Carolina or Hannifin from Calgary?

A lot of the problems the Blues have right now can be traced back to losing Pietrangelo. But it wasn’t only mistake the team made following the Stanley Cup win.

It’s interesting that you leave out the defenseman as far as them being key players on a team.

1. Injuries of course, less of that please. 2. Thomas has to shoot more. Ill never understand the mindset of nhlers who are within 20 ft of the net, with no one around them, and dont shoot. 3. Kyrou needs to play defense. If you have to bench him a game to get it in his head you do it. 4. I hope as binny gets older he looses his temper. I want a confident goalie who fights for his crease, but the scoreboard is where you win those battles. In the words of dangle, tend the goal. 5. Paraykos back. I havent heard much about this but he has not been the same since. He never became the beast his huge frame would let him be, but now he cant even play defense consistently. Very concerned. 6. Coaching. Mactavish? Never liked it, and ditching van ryn is about one year too late. Berube was ok, but really...from not signing perron to lackluster asst coaches to some players not playing 200 ft, only so much a guy in a tie can do. 7. Agree with one more year. Go over basics, whole year with vrana and kapanen, see what happens. Blues miss again, fire sale. 8. If we win the draft and get bedard, i think the city will implode. We finally got our cup, dont think the hockey gods owe us anything, but ill take christmas early.

"Nobody could have believed how this day was ever gonna end. And guess what. It's. Not. Gonna. End."

It's not Binnington...It's MAINLY the terrible defensive play of the forwards...including several that made that white board with a 'good year'. Kyrou and Thomas are a GIANT defensive liability.

For the love of humanity... keep parayko. I know there is so many fans who want parayko gone, I am not one of those fans

Losing Petro was a massive blow to the Blues defense.

#50 has been OK last coupla seasons needs a little more focus/consistency to help the team get to the post season.

Kyrou had a good OFFENSIVE year. I like him, he's a good player, but on any given night he's a Minus -2 to -4 waiting to happen. Go re-watch the Nashville game from April 1st. A 6-1 drubbing and he was horrible,

Berube officially on the hot seat. Look for him to get the hook if they get off to a slow start next year.

Krug is more derisive in St. Louis than Binnington

Do you think Kyrou and Thomas can get to 100 points as they mature more? They’re still in their early 20s

This team is bound to have some tough times ahead. Blues have 76 Millions on the book for 23-24 already, 3 first round picks (Stl, NYR and Tor) in 2023 and a couple of AHL'ers coming up. Should be in the wild card race but big questions marks for that D core4 that cost them 23.5 millions until 25-26 (you can add 6m per year for Binnington too). can theses players play better next year?

only thing you forgot to mention was the NTCs on all those D players. I'd like to think that is the only reason Leddy and Parayko are still on the team - but that could just be me.

Try your hardest to dump 2 of the dmen

I think they could be a playoff team but not a legitimate contender next season. If they get lucky and win the lottery who knows, Bedard is a special kind of talent.

Simashev at #10 in draft to bolster defense?

Blues should get the #1 pick they were robbed of draft picks in 1983.

Dallas and Minnesota breathe a sigh of relief lol

I wish they had kept Petro or Vince Dunn and let Parayko go

If St. Louis rolls in to next year with the same lineup and can dump Krug or Parayko's contract and acquire an effective physical defensive defenseman they should be competitive. Additionally, they will need to draft 2 defensemen in the draft because Perunovich and Tucker are really the only D prospects. One is always hurt and the other is fringe NHLer at this point.But yeah STL is likely looking at a 3-4 year reboot similarly to LA.

The loss of Petro has been huge. Until the hole created that needs to be filled with a true #1 defenseman they are lost on the back end. Parayko is not that guy, but he is a top 4 dman. Faulk is their best dman right now. Toropchenko will have a breakout year next season. Kyrou needs to seriously dedicate himself to getting stronger this summer. Hofer will push Binner but when he's on, Binner is one of the best. Good luck to Vrana staying well. Army has a lot on his plate to do this summer, and he will.

I recall Sabres fans upset when Buffalo was traded Tage Thompson instead of Robert Thomas in that infamous O'Reilly trade. Don't think many folks in Buffalo are upset that Tage was the prospect included anymore.

💙💙🖤🤍

1/2000 levsa games selk way if playing

Do you play pro line

I don’t necessarily agree with the statement that Blais shouldn’t have left St. Louis. New York was terrible for him but he was never as good as people hoped during his first stint in St. Louis. I think he might have languished on the 4th line if he hadn’t come back to a team that needed him to play a more prominent role.

6.7million les goals blocakge

The problem with the Blues is that they can't do anything with their current blue line situation, but all of their contracts are unmovable.

Blues lost Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester and Edmundson from that Stanley Cup team and still haven't replaced them. They still need a shutdown defensive defenseman to replace Bouwmeester. Binny is a good but not elite goalie who is ultra competitive so plays well in big games.. Montgomery was a huge loss. Still a team loaded with potential and should be a lock to make the playoffs nest year

Love to win the draft, but I see him in either Chicago or San Jose. Those big TV markets will be appeased.

If you watched Jordan Kyrou on a night in and night out basis I don’t know how you conclude he had a “good year”. Talk about a motor that runs hot and cold, Kyrou is the definition of that guy. To me, for someone to qualify as “having a good year” you have to be able to judge accurately whether they brought it on a night in and night out basis and Jordan Kyrou did no such thing. Dude is soft. Jordan Binnington has more grit in his pinkie finger than Kyrou and Thomas put together. And yes the defense is an absolute horror show.

Kyrou does not know what Defense is. Sure, he can score. But when his line gives up more points than they can score, that's not a winning combo. No matter how it's sliced. Thomas ... he passed up open shots in the slot at a rate of about 3 per game. If he does not shoot the puck and keeping the other team honest, they will cheat on his passing attempts like they did all year last season. Thomas fans are completely blinded about this... oh he's a point per game they proclaim. Anytime you hear "I need to do more" it translates into "I care more about my game than the TEAM winning." I really can't wait for his 8 years to be over. Binner... he just needs to stop pucks. Stop crying. Stop chirping. JUST STOP PUCKS Finally, Parayko can go. He's a big dumb ox that cannot stop a puck at his feet. Toropchenko, Neighbors, and Tucker are all solid.

Kyrou had the worst plus/minus in the league...and he's often in Berube's doghouse.

i'm a blues fan and i dont see stlouis bouning back into the playoffs next year. the defense nedds a lot of work and they need a whole seond line. binnington also has to find a way to be consistent. too many players living off cup glory. trade schenn, saad leddy and parayko while and if you can

Give me a break the blues are a joke. They have money and years on average defense men. While Thomas and kyrou are worth their contracts they aren't superstars and they won't be able to bail this team out. Bennington is a good goalie but not elite. The blues can win with JB but they need good defense and some pop on the offenses. Other than his second year JB's sav percentage is consistent with the blues getting worse defensively and that was the strength of this team.

Do you think the Team Canada sexual assault scandal effected the play of Thomas and Kyrou or the atmosphere of the locker room ?

Trade binnington

Should have Kept Husso instead of Binnington! If Binnington does not get his fricking act today, the blues are screwed!

saad needs to go , cant stand him.. 35 pts as a top 6 at 4.5? another assinine move by armweak #firearmy

Too many ads! It’s ridiculous for such a short video to have 30 seconds of ads at the start AND have more ads less than six minutes in. I love your stuff but I’m watching less and less because of the ads. Yours is the only channel I see this happen so I know you have some control over this. Please stop the mid-video ads. Thank you.

You still don't pronounce Vrana(Vra-nuh, not Vran-ah) correctly and way to just speed by him on your list. Not sure why I give you my time. But I keep coming back for more disappointment. 😂

Get rid of Binnington and they'll be fine. But goodluck doing that lol.

Blues fan here. .... gonna get A LOT of hate for this but here it goes: Kyrou - when you give up more goals THAN YOU SCORE, you lose. He couldn't defend a wet paper bag. You have to at least stop the puck... Thomas - needs to shoot the puck MORE. 3-5 SOGs per game and he will be a 100 point scorer. BUT HE HAS TO SHOOT THE DAMN PUCK!!!!!!! When Defensemen leave the slot open for Thomas and he STILL passes the puck, this is a bad thing. It's not good, Thomas lovers... his defense got better this year...I'll give him that. Binner - needs help. Needs to keep his cool. When he keeps his focus, he's good. Distract this guy and he's trash. Needs a good backup. Glad O'Reilly, Tarasenko, and Barbachev are gone. Parayko and Scandella can both go Really like Tucker, Neighbors, Hofer, and Alexandrov. Buch is worth his weight in gold. Saad is solid. Schenn is Schenn... needs to retire as a Blue! Blais is a Blue, simple! Viana and Kapinen stopped the bleeding for the bad season. REALLY glad McTavish is gone! ..... sorry but Kyrou is the worst. Dude needs to be stronger on the defensive side. He is turnover prone too.

We need a solid defenseman and get rid of Bennington for the love of god. I was so upset when we traded Ville Husso (sp?) last offseason.

Blues need a roster shake up. Krug, Saad and Brown need to go. Hope GM Armstrong makes room for young guns Perunovich, Tucker, Neighbours, and Alexandrov. Its a long shot but I hope Zach Dean and Zach Boulduc can challenge for a NHL roster spot too. They may need a season in the A tho

Awful defensive pairings, combined with banking Binnington's cry baby antics, and Kyrou as a lead goal scorer is not a great team combo

Trading Husso and keeping Shittington was a mistake

Thank you for doing this video Shannon! :) 🎉You’re the best