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Now, entering a new season on Thursday in Dallas, they are hoping a tweak to their defensive zone coverage can help better protect the slot, keep scoring chances down and goals off the scoreboard.

So what’s the main adjustment?

“Really protecting the slot area and not, I guess, running out from it so quickly,� Blues coach Craig Berube said. “People have their own quadrants that they’re responsible for, and it’s a real simple way to play. This is your job right here, and when the puck moves, you just get back to your position. It protects the net area and protects the slot area. We’ve been doing a pretty good job of it.�

If the defensive zone is split into four areas, it’s easy to assign them to players on the ice. The two defensemen each have half of the ice closest to the net. The two wingers each have half of the ice closest to the blue line. The center protects the slot, assists in wall battles and supports the puck all over the ice.

Players are supposed to return to their responsibility after defending the puck, and be the “second quick� to battles in order to end plays and get out of the defensive zone.

“It is a zone to a certain extent,� Berube said. “Coming into D-zone coverage, we want to be aggressive right away and win those battles, get numbers in there. There are certain areas we want to get numbers in there. Somebody — our D or our low forward — is in a battle and he pins that guy, or creates contact, we want a second guy in there quick to get that puck.�

Last season, the Blues were one of the worst teams at protecting the front of the net. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Blues allowed the third-most expected goals per 60 minutes at five on five, despite allowing the 11th-most shot attempts. In other words, plenty of the opposing shot attempts were high-quality looks.

According to MoneyPuck, almost a fifth of ºüÀêÊÓƵ’ goals allowed at five on five came on rebounds, which was the highest rate in the league.

The new approach should create layers for opponents to go through, as a forward would probably have to beat two defensemen and a center in order to get inside the inner slot area. It should keep shots to the perimeter, and while opponents might own more of the puck, they’ll do so from less dangerous areas.

Over the summer, the Blues hired assistant coach Mike Weber to coach the defense after firing Mike Van Ryn at the end of the 2022-23 season.

“We’re not leaving good ice, which I think will help us keep our Grade-A chances against way down,� Blues defenseman Torey Krug said. “It’s a D-zone that I’ve run pretty much my whole career, and I feel pretty strongly about it. I’m happy with the switch.�

During Krug’s last three years in Boston, the Bruins led the NHL in goals against at five on five and were second in expected goals against.

Nick Leddy said it’s a defense that he ran during his time with the Islanders. In Leddy’s last three seasons in New York, under coach Barry Trotz, the Islanders allowed the eighth-most shot attempts per hour at five on five but the third-fewest goals.

He said it’s “not a huge adjustment to me, just changing routes a little bit and staying at home.�

“You might frustrate teams, maybe they take a chance here and there and we can get a line rush out of it or create something off it,� Leddy said.

Justin Faulk, meanwhile, said he’s played a lot of man-to-man coverage in his career, but this approach is still familiar because “it’s something that you play when you get beat and you can’t get out to a guy, you resort back to the net, so it’s not necessarily anything new that we haven’t done while you play hockey.�

“We’re just really trying to protect the front of the net, have three guys in front, outnumber them and let them have the high ice up by the blue line,� Faulk said. “They’re not too dangerous up there, so if we can protect the front (we’ll be fine). Yeah, there are quadrants, but it’s mainly, ‘Don’t chase, don’t get running away too far from the net if you don’t have to.’�

For centers (or whichever forward is playing low in the zone), the system requires a lot from them, Berube said.

“They’ve got to work,� Berube said. “Your low forward’s got to work. He’s dot to dot, board to board. He’s got to skate and he’s got to work back into the hole, then maybe get to the other side. But there’s a lot of work there that they’ve got to skate and work.�

Robert Thomas is expected to receive many of the difficult defensive matchups this season, and he said: “We’re kind of playing hockey rather than just playing a system. I like that a lot, and read the play, always in the middle of the ice supporting the puck and breaking up plays.�

Here are a couple examples from the Blues preseason.

The first is from Sept. 26 against Columbus. Leddy and Marco Scandella are the defensemen on the ice, with Brayden Schenn as the center.

Scandella defends the puck along the wall and then returns to the slot when the puck is put below the icing line, when Schenn defends on the boards. Wingers Brandon Saad and Isaac Ratcliffe sink to the hashmarks to support and pressure the point when the puck is moved to the blue line.

When Scandella pressures on the wall, Leddy remains at the net front and vice versa. All the while, Schenn is constantly working through the zone until the Blues recover a loose puck and escape the zone.

The second is from Saturday’s finale against Chicago. Krug and Calle Rosen are the defensemen, with Kevin Hayes as the center.

Following an easy zone entry from Andreas Athanasiou, Jake Neighbours defends him by the point before passing him off to Rosen down the wall. As the puck gets circled back into the corner, Hayes comes for support and Krug stays at the net front to defend against a centering pass.

When the puck goes to the other side of the ice, Jakub Vrana pressures Kevin Korchinski down the wall as Hayes arrives again to support the puck. Krug thwarts an attempt to get inside and Vrana collects the loose puck (before turning it back over), all with Rosen at the net front.

“If you were to separate the whole zone into quadrants, own your quadrant,� Krug said. “When it comes down into your area, you’ve got to take over and take over with authority. That way the rest of your teammates can anticipate the next play.�