On balance, the Blues’ defensive corps was slightly better this season than in 2022-23 thanks to Colton Parayko’s excellent campaign and the emergence of rookie Matthew Kessel as a viable stay-at-home defender. But the advancing age and remaining contract term of the veterans remain problematic.
The Blues remained in the playoff chase this season for one big reason: Their goaltending was great. Both Jordan Binnington and his first-year backup Joel Hofer had excellent campaigns. If the Blues keep this tandem intact next season, that team strength should keep them in the chase.
Defensemen
Colton Parayko
After he led the NHL with 218 blocked shots, averaged a career-high 23:53 of ice time, shouldered a 62 percent penalty-killing share and took 65.3 percent of his faceoff starts in the defensive zone, maybe more experts will admit his contract isn’t so terrible. His cap hit of $6.5 million ties him with teammates Justin Faulk and Torey Krug, among others, for 30th-highest among defensemen. No, Parayko doesn’t play on the power play (just 7.2 percent time share this season) but he fills the challenging shutdown role without having a true shutdown partner. That he scored 10 goals was a big plus too.
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Grade: A
Nick Leddy
He spent the bulk of his career as a secondary offensive defenseman before being miscast into his shutdown role next to Parayko. His penalty-killing assignment increased from a 35.9 percent share last season to a 59.3 percent share this season. Leddy’s overall ice time increased from 21:07 to 22:22 per game and those were mostly tough minutes. He took a career-high 66.7 percent of his faceoff zone starts in the defensive zone. Leddy is not an elite defender – as his 32/38 takeaway/giveaway ratio suggests -- but heady play and his ability to skate the puck out of trouble helped him hold up OK.
Grade: A-minus
Matt Kessel
The Blues desperately needed another defenseman to emerge and take some difficult matchup minutes. That somebody turned out to be Kessel, who has exceeded expectations as a fifth-round pick making entry-level pay. He averaged 16:48 in ice time over 39 games, but 19:10 during the nine games in April as general manager Doug Armstrong sought a longer look at his younger players. No one aspect of his game stands out, but Kessel is a steady player who helped stabilize the unit very early in his career. He bounced back from a rough patch and a brief return to the AHL to finish the season well.
Grade: B-plus
Tyler Tucker
As Chicago Blackhawks star Connor Bedard discovered, Tucker will absolutely play the body. And Tucker will back up his physicality by fighting when challenged. He is a willing combatant who could add some much-needed toughness to the Blues’ back end if he could improve his skating and agility. This team welcomes his big hits along the wall, but his inability to recover quickly and defend creates problems when he goes bowling for opponents.
Grade: C
Marco Scandella
Even with Robert Bortuzzo’s exit in a midseason trade, the veteran Scandella settled into a limited role during his 65 games. His average time on ice (just 12:28 per game) fell for the fourth straight season. His penalty-killing time share fell from 53.4 percent to 22.7. Scandella was a candidate to get traded ahead of the deadline to a playoff-bound team seeking defensive depth, but there wasn’t much of a market for him. That was telling. Now he and his $3.275 million cap hit will move along.
Grade: C-minus
Scott Perunovich
Well, the injury-plagued stayed healthy for the first time since turning pro. So there’s that. But Perunovich struggled at the defensive end and didn’t do enough offensively (no goals, 17 assists in 54 games) to cement his place in the team nucleus going forward. He produced just six power play points despite getting a 40.7 percent power-play time share. Perunovich is a gifted passer, but he must put more pucks on net to keep opponents honest. His lack of size will always make defending his zone challenging, so must use his feet, his stick and his play-reading ability to kill more plays.
Grade: D
Justin Faulk
Like Leddy, Faulk moved into more of an unfamiliar defensive role when he came to ºüÀêÊÓƵ. He did OK with that difficult transition until this season, when he suffered stark regression due in part to a high ankle sprain suffered in the midseason. His time on ice decreased from 23:23 per game to 21:58 and he took a step back in penalty-killing time share (43.6 percent to 34.5), power-play time share (47.5 percent to 35.6), shot attempts (352 to 264) and shots on goal (196 to 132). His shooting percentage plunged from 9.6 percent two years ago to 1.5 percent. His scoring rate dropped from 0.61 and 0.62 points per game the previous two years to 0.50. The Blues will need a bounce-back season from him when he regains his full mobility.
Grade: D
Torey Krug
After rejecting a trade to Philadelphia during the offseason, Krug managed to remain reasonably healthy for a change. He logged more ice time (21:58, up from 18:35) than last season and set career highs for blocked shots (111) and penalty-killing time share (27 percent). Unfortunately, his defensive play didn’t improve with the increased responsibility. He is at his best as a power-play quarterback, but he produced zero goals and just 13 assists with the man advantage. His three remaining contract years with a $6.5 million salary cap hit are budensome for a franchise looking to retool.
D-minus
Goaltenders
Jordan Binnington
Binnington settled down and regained his standing as one of the NHL’s top goaltenders. He delivered marked improvement in his save percentage (.913, up from .894) and his goals-against average (2.84, down from 3.31) from last season. He ranked fifth in the league with 16.5 saves above average. His actual save percentage was 0.30 better than his expected save percentage. His .780 save percentage shot attempts ranked among the best among lead goaltenders. Binnington’s work ethic and consistency of approach allowed him to assume a greater leadership role as well.
Grade: A-plus
Joel Hofer
The easy-going Hofer settled in nicely as Binnington’s backup. Finishing 15-12-1 with a 2.65 GAA and a .913 save percentage. Like Binnington, he is an excellent and aggressive puckhandler who helped defeat the opponent’s forecheck and trigger offensive breakouts. In his 30 games he made 10.3 saves above expected. His actual GAA was 0.38 better than his expected GAA. He is a bigger goaltender than Binnington and he relieves more on sound positioning – but his end results are very similar.