Blues Views

Toronto and San Jose have won the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery.

Barring a trade-up, this will be the 18th straight season without a single-digit draft pick (top-9) for the Blues. That’s the longest active streak in the NHL, and it’s not even remotely close. It’s almost unheard of for a franchise to go this long without landing a high-end draft pick, but the Blues always find a way.

On one hand, it’s a badge of honor that they’re consistently competing and never fully bottoming out. On the other hand, it’s incredibly frustrating to miss out on elite talent year after year, even in disappointing seasons where they were at the bottom of the league since the beginning and playoffs were never very realistic (like this season). It’s definitely not the easiest way to build a true contender. Since 2002, every Stanley Cup winner has had at least one top-5 draft pick on its roster. Every one of those teams since 2009 drafted that player themselves, except for Vegas, who ironically had the last Blue drafted in the top-5, Alex Pietrangelo.

With all that said, the Blues still have plenty of opportunities to do damage with their draft picks this year. They currently own picks 11, 15, and another selection somewhere between 27-31 depending on Colorado’s final placement. There appears to be a drop-off after the first 5-6 picks in this draft, but the Blues have consistently found value in the first round. They’re coming off Jiricek and Carbonneau selections that already look like potential steals at their draft positions. There’s always a chance they package picks to move up, but getting into that true “elite” tier likely requires an overpay. They could also package one or multiple picks to acquire a proven “win-now” player if the right opportunity becomes available (Tkachuk?).

At the end of the day, all we can do is trust the scouting department to find more gems, and Steener/Army to search for potential trades. It’s a huge draft coming up, arguably the most important in recent Blues history. Let’s Go Blues.

Time to get lucky.

The 2025-26 season comes to an end tonight.

It’s a strange year to evaluate. On one hand, it’s arguably the most frustrating season possible. The Blues started terribly, they were never really in the playoff hunt, and yet ended the year on a 15-4-3 run, going from the third worst team in the league at the Olympic break to potentially falling out of a top-10 pick (8th to 11th depending on tonight). Barring a lottery miracle, St. Louis will once again end in the mucky middle, missing out on the highest-end talent in the draft.

On the other hand, this season’s result is a lot better than some outcomes that might’ve looked solid on paper, (like hanging around all year and sneaking into the playoffs). Because the Blues struggled, the trade deadline turned into a huge success. They moved Faulk for the 15th overall pick, (1.1% chance of it jumping to 5th), and will land a 27th-31st pick for Schenn, two contracts that are great to move off the books. Add in a few more picks and prospects, and STL made the most of their situation. Plus, publicly making everyone available lit a fire under the roster, something that could carry into next year or lead to changes in the offseason.

I’ve been quiet recently because I didn’t want to be the angry tank guy getting frustrated by the maddening, meaningless wins/points , even though there were a lot of positives down the stretch. Holloway-Thomas-Snuggerud turned into one of the best lines in hockey post-Olympics, driving play at 5-on-5 (59.6 xGoal%), and combining for 33 goals in 22 games since March 1st. Theo Lindstein was maybe the nicest surprise, stepping in and looking comfortable at 21 y/o while averaging 15:46 a night. Logan Mailloux showed flashes, especially offensively, and you can see the upside. Dvorsky and Stenberg proved they’re smart players who should be solid middle-sixers next year. And Joel Hofer looks ready to take over.

The Blues will have options this offseason. They could continue getting younger, stay patient and add around the edges, or push more aggressively toward competing. The Central isn’t getting any easier, but there’s a path back to the playoffs next year if they choose.

Let’s Go Blues.

Happy Opening Day to all that celebrate…

This might sound a bit crazy, but I’m looking forward to this season more than any Cardinals season since 2022. Yeah, it’s likely to be ugly. Yeah, they’re almost certainly a bottom-5 team in baseball. But there’s a beauty in having zero expectations. For the first time in a decade, the Cardinals aren’t pretending to be something they’re not. The goal isn’t 85 wins and sneaking into a playoff spot. They’re not selling us on Kyle Gibson as the missing piece, and they’re not running out a $35 million Nolan Arenado to weakly pop out with the bases loaded. The Cardinals are telling us they’re going to struggle, and honestly, there’s a peacefulness in that. St. Louis is actually rebuilding for the first time in my lifetime, and I’m excited to watch it begin.

I understand the frustration with the organization. After an incredible run from 2004 to 2015, when St. Louis set the standard in baseball, the Cardinals have just one playoff series win in the last eleven years. It felt like management made the wrong move time after time, and even while “competing,” they were never truly a World Series threat.

But this is a new era. The Chaim Bloom era. It’s going to come with growing pains, no doubt, but there’s finally a clear long-term vision for greatness. That starts with the teardown we saw this offseason. Instead of settling for “good enough,” the organization is trying to build something real again. It might take three, four, five years (or more), but this is the process that needed to happen. There’s a new voice leading the way, and as a fanbase, we need to buy into it. St. Louis has a top-5 prospect pool in baseball, and this season will show which young roster players (Walker, Gorman, etc.) are part of the future, and who isn’t.

We call St. Louis “baseball heaven.” Let’s show that it still is. Respect the process. Understand the process. It might be ugly, but now isn’t the time to check out. It’s the time to lean in. When they’re contenders again in 2031, it’ll all be worth it. Go Birds.

Now that the dust has settled, let’s talk more about the trade deadline as a whole.

The returns on Friday were excellent. Faulk getting a 1st and 3rd was about what most people expected, but the addition of Buchelikov is a smart, high-upside move. Schenn’s return was slightly above expectations as well. A 1st rounder (Colorado’s, so somewhere in the 28–32 range), a 3rd rounder, and a 6-foot-7 goalie prospect who’s probably nothing but you never know with goalies. The addition of Drouin and Holl are mostly cap dumps, but the Blues save $9.0 million next year and $13.0 million in 2027-28. Overall, moving both players was the obvious call, and Army held his ground, worked around the partial NTCs, and seemed to maximize value.

Where I’ll give him and the organization extra props is the vision they clearly showed in the trades that didn’t get completed. If you move past the ironic, frustrating NTC issues, the fact that St. Louis was willing to move off Parayko for futures is a very encouraging and relieving sign. The same goes for the HEAVY Thomas rumors that were reportedly very close to being completed. There were also several reports suggesting other major deals were likely rejected by NTCs, with some “fierce” conversations between player/agent/GM. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and it appears Army attempted a bunch of different routes to blow things up.

While it’s a bit disappointing we reached this point with the roster, at least it shows a real openness to shifting direction and making adjustments to correct past errors. The front office was willing to lean into more short-term pain for long-term gain IF the right future assets were on the table, (and the players approved). That’s not an easy decision for a franchise to make, and the Blues deserve some credit for being willing to explore it.

Now there’s an entire offseason to reassess. They may circle back and see if a team is willing to mortgage their future for Thomas, Kyrou, or Parayko. Or they could stay the course, continue slowly clearing cap, and hope our prospects develop and meet/exceed expectations. It’s a very intriguing summer ahead. A lottery pick would do wonders.

The Justin Faulk era has come to an end…

I’m not gonna lie, there is a piece of my soul that feels healed because Justin Faulk is off this hockey team. Not because I dislike the person. Not because he isn’t a solid player. But because I have a deep resentment toward what Faulk’s addition represented to this franchise.

On September 24th, 2019, when the Blues traded Joel Edmundson and Dominik Bokk for Justin Faulk, I was originally very excited. It was another addition to the blue line that could help STL make a run at another Cup. The immediate extension was a bit confusing, but I was too naive to understand what it really meant. In hindsight, it was a protection plan and a threat to Pietrangelo. Armstrong was essentially saying, “we have your replacement. We don’t need you. Take our strict deal or we’re moving on.” And unfortunately, that’s what Faulk always represented to me. He was Pietrangelo’s lesser replacement.

It’s not his fault he was given an eight-year extension. It’s not his fault that a big portion of the fanbase compared him to our former engine. That’s simply the unfortunate result of a questionable move by management that reshaped the last decade of Blues hockey. In reality, Faulk largely lived up to his contract and expectations. There were definitely some rough patches, but he was never a player who should have been expected to be a true top-pair defenseman. He was paid to be a solid 2nd-pair guy, and that’s exactly what he was for the majority of his run in St. Louis.

He ends his Blues career with 56 goals and 232 points in 482 games. In 30 playoff games, he recorded 3 goals and 12 points, with most of that production coming during the 2022 run where he played very well. He stayed healthy, was relatively consistent, and seemed to go about his business like a true pro. I’d be lying if I said I’ll miss him, but he deserves credit for what he gave this organization. Plus, his strong play this year helped net the Blues a 1st round pick, a 3rd round pick, and a solid prospect.

Thank you, Faulk. Good luck in Detroit. But not too much luck, we need that 1st round pick to be as high as possible.

Brayden Schenn is a Stanley Cup champion.

I can still clearly remember the moment the Blues traded Jori Lehtera and two first-round picks to Philadelphia for Brayden Schenn at the 2017 draft. It was a relief that St. Louis had finally addressed its desperate need for a top-six center. Little did we know he would go on to become a nine-year veteran with the franchise, a future captain, and a Stanley Cup champion.

While his early extension was always a bit perplexing, and there has been a clear skill decline over the last few seasons, you could never question the player’s heart. Schenn gave everything he had every shift. He was always willing to drop the gloves to spark the squad, and he consistently said the right things about the team and the city. He was an incredible soldier for this organization, and Blues fans owe him a tremendous amount of gratitude for his time in St. Louis.

Schenn ends his Blues career with 650 games played, 181 goals, and 465 points. He was a consistent force, putting up 16+ goals in eight straight seasons which includes five 20+ goals campaigns. He was rarely injured, playing in every single game over the past four seasons - something rare in today’s NHL. In the playoffs, he tallied 10 goals and 29 points, including 5 goals and 7 assists during the 2019 playoff run.

His 3-0 goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final is one of the greatest goals in Blues history and a moment this city will never forget. On top of that, he scored a massive Game 6 goal in the clincher against the Sharks, and maybe the most underrated goal of that entire run: the tying goal in Game 5 against the Jets.

Thank you for everything, Schenn. Best of luck on Long Island.

Here is the official and full trade deadline for your St. Louis Blues:

OUT:
Brayden Schenn
Justin Faulk

IN:
F Jonathan Drouin (1 year left at $4 Million)
D Justin Holl (Pending free agent)
G Marcus Gidlof (5th Round pick in 2024)
F Dmitri Buchelnikov (22 y/o with 13G, 23P in KHL)
2026 1st rounder (Colorado)
2026 1st rounder (Detroit)
2026 3rd rounder (San Jose)
2026 3rd rounder (New Jersey)

Quite the rush in the final hour. A week full of teasing and disappointment ends with burst of joy. Overall, it finished pretty much right in line with pre-deadline hopes and expectations. The Blues move out two veterans for 1st round picks+, clearing cap future cap space, and giving room to younger players. Drouin will fill a forward spot for this year and next, and Holl will likely see NHL action the remainder of the season. The Blues get worse on paper for the time being, which should help the tanking efforts in the final 21 games.

The returns for these players were positive and right in line with rumored value. Teams will always pay a decent price for proven veterans, but credit to Doug for finding landing spots, adjusting around both players’ partial NTCs, and getting a proper, strong return. It took until the final buzzer, but he got it done.

These moves keep open plenty of options for the offseason. The Blues could stay the course, flip some picks for young proven players/prospects, continue a minor tear down, or even use their cap space to spend/buy (not my first choice). A lot may depend on the rest of the year and the lottery.

Overall, I’m just relieved deals got done. Best of luck to Schenn and Faulk. Good job, Army. Never a doubt. Let’s Go Blues.

Justin Faulk is officially headed to the Detroit Red Wings. The early reported return is a 1st, 3rd, and Justin Holl.

More updates to come on this trade too. But after a week of waiting, the Blues get it done in the final hour. Two veterans out for 1st round picks+. Way to go, Doug. You appear to have redeemed yourself. Let’s Go Blues.

Brayden Schenn is officially headed to the New York Islanders. The return is a 1st (Colorado’s 🤮), 3rd, Jonathan Drouin (signed through next year at $4M), and Gidlof (goalie prospect). Solid return. More details still to come.

They’ll be more about Schenn later, but he was a great player and person for this organization. His trade in 2017 was the start of a center overhaul this team desperately needed. Thank you for everything, Schenner.

Now it’s time for more action. 30 minutes til the deadline. Trade Faulk and I might be able to sleep tonight.