The Blues ranked 25th in the NHL in scoring this season, and their lack of firepower up front played a big role in that. There was more regression than progression this season among the forwards. The players who did well as stopgap additions last season flopped this time around.
Robert Thomas
He enjoyed the breakout the Blues hoped for while becoming one of the best all-around centers in the NHL. Thomas closed with three points and nine assists in his last seven games to finish with 26 goals and 60 assists. He played 20:58 per game, up 1:37 from the season before. He shouldered a 40.8 percent share of the penalty-killing load. He put his improved shot to work, firing 2.1 shots on goal per game – up from 1.5 the season before. His 326 shot attempts were a huge leap from 175 in 2022-23.
Grade: A
Jake Neighbours
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Yes, even he was surprised that he emerged as a 27-goal scorer in his first full NHL season. His average ice time jumped from 12:26 last season to 15:42 in this campaign. Neighbours earned the net front role while commanding 2:12 per game on the power play. His shooting percentage improved from 11.3 last season to 18.6 this year with so many of his shots coming in tight. He carried a third-line draft projection into the NHL, but he proved he can fill a Top 6 role when placed in a suitable line combination.
Grade: A
Alexey Toropchenko
While the supporting cast forwards were disappointing overall, Toropchenko was the positive outlier. He used his speed to create opportunities off the rush. He used his size to convert around the net. Toropchenko scored 14 goals and landed 165 hits while playing 12:31 per game. His long reach and willingness to battle along the walls made him a penalty-killing asset as he handled a 23.4 percent load share.
Grade: A
Pavel Buchnevich
He enjoyed career highs in time on ice per game (19:49), power-play time share (61.5 percent) and shot attempts (390). But Buchnevich fought the puck for stretches of the season, resulting in a decline in shooting percentage (21.3 percent down to 13.0) and scoring rate (1.06 points per game down to 0.67). His sturdy play in all game situations should earn him a contract extension offer from Doug Armstrong, but his offensive regression combined with his advancing age (he just turned 29) could impact negotiations.
Grade: B
Brandon Saad
He got rolling in the latter stages of the season while scoring 13 goals and adding nine assists during his last 31 games. Saad finished with 26 goals despite seeing reductions in ice time (16:39 per game to 15:30) and power-play role (38.4 percent time share to 32.7 percent). He bounced up and down the top three forward lines while remaining a skate-and-shoot threat. While he tends to score in streaks, his overall play remains sound and predictable. He produced a 33/17 takeaway/giveaway ratio a plus-6 on-ice goal differential.
Grade: B
Nathan Walker
He added speed and energy to a team needing both during the stretch run. In 45 games he scored seven goals, earned six assists, blocked 35 shots and landed 95 hits while playing 10:49 per game. Walker filled in a bit at center and chipped in by winning 47.6 percent of his draws. He is one of the team’s few agitators and he can punch above his weight. His unique personality made him a positive fit into the team chemistry.
Grade: B
Zack Bolduc
Predictably, it took him a while to get up to NHL speed just as it took him time to adapt to playing against men in the AHL. He scored three goals and earned two assists in his last five games after producing just two goals and two assists in his first 19 with the Blues. Bolduc made strides with his play away from the puck, but he will need further improvement to earn a regular role with the team next season.
Grade: B
Brayden Schenn
Armstrong admits he put Schenn in a tough spot by making him a first-time captain on a team in transition. Schenn is a heart-and-soul player and the team’s early struggles — and subsequent coaching change — weighed heavily on him. That burden had an adverse impact on his play. Schenn finally got rolling late as the team came together; he had seven goals and eight assists in his last 16 games. Overall he suffered notable decline in scoring rate from last season, 0.79 points per game to 0.56, despite producing his highest shot total (170) since 2017-18. He missed the net on 34.4 percent of his unblocked shot attempts. Expect Year 2 of his captaincy to go much better.
Grade: B
Jordan Kyrou
He had two seasons: A poor one under Craig Berube and a strong one under Drew Bannister after Armstrong cashiered Chief. Kyrou started badly (four goals in 24 games) and finished on fire (six goals in his last eight games). While Bannister implored the Blues to have a shot mentality, Kyrou didn’t need to read that memo — he launched 506 shot attempts this season. But he had 141 shots blocked and 31.2 percent of his unblocked shots missed the net. His overall competitiveness and defensive detail improved as the season progressed, but his game still has room to grow.
Grade: B-minus
Oskar Sundqvist
Fortunately he agreed to his contract extension before suffering a serious knee injury that will sideline him into next season. Despite getting some power-play action in the net front role, Sundqvist produced just six goals and 15 assists in 71 games. His career-long struggles in the faceoff circle continued (41.9 percent), but he still shouldered a 33.2 percent share of the penalty-killing duties. With 62.9 percent of his faceoff zone starts coming in the defensive end and the Blues’ bottom six forwards struggling to score, his on-ice expected goals differential was minus-21.8.
Grade: C-plus
Sammy Blais
After coming back from the New York Rangers last season, Blais found his previous Blues form while scoring nine goals and earning 11 assists in 31 games. Alas, that success did not carry over to this season. Blais was as physical as usual, landing 194 hits in 53 games. But he didn’t do much else while scoring one goal and earning six assists in 9:43 per game. Blais finished with a minus-11 on-ice goal differential as part of the team’s insufficient supporting cast.
Grade: D
Kevin Hayes
Last season he had another solid offensive year in Philadelphia while scoring 18 goals and adding 36 assists. Armstrong took on the final three seasons of Hayes’ contract with the Flyers eating half of his $7.143 million salary cap hit. He proved to be no bargain while suffering declines in ice time (17:34 per game to 14:28), shots on goal (209 to 153), shot attempts (387 to 271) and power-play points (16 to 5). At least he won some faceoffs (57 percent) and contributed some puck possession. Hayes is popular with his teammates, but he needs to produce more than 29 points in 79 games to justify his cap hit.
Grade D-minus
Nikita Alexandrov
The Blues didn’t want to expose him to waivers by keeping him on the AHL shuttle. But he didn’t do much to earn Blues playing time this season after his 2022-23 breakout at Springfield of the AHL (19 goals, 19 assists in 41 games). So he mostly served as a practice player while pulling his NHL salary. He wasn’t tenacious enough to fill a checking role or skilled enough to play an offensive role. In 23 games he had no goals and two assists while playing just 8:32 per game.
Grade: F
Kasperi Kapanen
Last season he offered a solid third-line production (15 goals, 19 assists in 66 games) for the Penguins and Blues. He proved worthy of his waiver claim from Pittsburgh by producing 14 points in 23 games in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. But this season Kapanen became a waste of his $3.2 million salary cap hit while scoring just six goals and adding 16 assists in 73 games. He chipped in on the penalty kill (26.7 percent time share), but his 5-on-5 metrics were poor.
Grade: F
Jakub Vrana
This highly skilled winger had a solid offensive season with 16 goals and 20 assists ... for Springfield of the AHL. Vrana did little during his stints with the Blues (two goals, four assists in 21 games) this season. Last season he scored 10 goals and added four assists in 20 games after coming over from the Detroit Red Wings organization. He was worth the flyer the Blues took with the Red Wings retaining some of his salary. Now the Blues will be glad to get their share of his $5.25 million salary cap hit off the books.
Grade: F
Zach Dean
Under normal circumstances, Dean would not have received his first call-up this season. But Armstrong wanted to take inventory of his long-term assets while giving youngers player more NHL work late in the season. Dean was just starting to gain traction in the AHL when his premature promotion came. Overall he produced just nine goals and five assists in 49 AHL games and no points in nine Blues games. To earn his projected checking role at this level, Dean will need to play with more tenacity.