The St. Louis Blues will look to bounce back in the 2024-2025 season. After missing the playoffs last season by a total of six points to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Blues will look to make a playoff push following their retool this offseason.
The Blues have now missed the playoffs in back to back seasons, which is something that Blues fans all across the world are not entirely used to. In the Blues 56 seasons of being a franchise they have made the playoffs 45 times and won the Stanley Cup back in 2019 in one of the most famous cup runs in NHL history.
The Blues were one of the most active teams in the offseason this past year adding players Alexandre Texier, Radek Faksa, Mathieu Joseph, his brother Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg from the Edmonton Oilers, and veteran defenseman Ryan Suter.
There were also a couple of subtractions this offseason that the Blues had to say goodbye to. These players include defenseman Marco Scandella, center/winger Kevin Hayes and also fan favorite center/winger Sammy Blais. They also received the news that defenseman Torey Krug will miss the entire 2024-25 season due to a pre-arthritic condition in his left ankle that required him to get season ending surgery. Krug is hopeful to return fully healthy for the 2025-2026 season.
There are also a few prospects to keep an eye out of coming into this season. The first one is 22 year old Zachary Bolduc. Bolduc appeared in 25 games for the Blues this past season, and in that time he tallied five goals and four assists, making a solid impression. Bolduc seemingly has a really good chance to make the team out of training camp.
Another prospect that may catch some eyes this season is Zach Dean. Dean was drafted by the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round of the 2021 draft, but also appeared last season for the Blues playing in nine games and tallied zero points. Dean was acquired by the Blues at the 2023 NHL trade deadline for forward Ivan Barbashev, and the Blues are hopeful that Dean can take a step forward this season.
The last prospect to watch out for this season, and maybe the most hyped up prospect is Dalibor Dvorský. Dvorsky was drafted tenth overall by the Blues in the 2023 NHL entry draft. With the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL last season in 52 games Dvorsky put up 45 goals and 43 assists for a total of 88 points. Dvorsky who is poised to make the NHL roster at some point in the upcoming season.
The Blues will look to take this injection of young talent, mixed with the new and veteran players, as well as first full year coach Drew Bannister. Bannister took over behind the bench for the Blues on December 13th 2023 after they parted ways with Stanley Cup winning Coach Craig Berube, who was known as “Chief.”
The Blues coaching staff for the 2024-2025 season will consist of Head Coach Drew Bannister, Assistant Coach Steve Ott, Associate Coach Claude Julien, Assistant Coach Mike Weber, Skills Coach Michael Babcock, Video Coach Darryl Seward, Goaltending Coach David Alexander, Goaltending Development Coach Brian Elliott, Pres. of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong, and Special Assistant to the General Manager Alexander Steen.
The Blues will look for leadership from players, like the captain Brayden Schenn as well as Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Justin Faulk, and Jordan Binnington. Newcomer Ryan Suter will also play a pivotal role in helping the younger defenseman as well.
The Blues look to improve record wise this season. Last year they ended with a record of 43-33-6. Going into this season the Blues are projected to not only miss the playoffs but also finish seventh in the central division, with the Blackhawks the only team worse than St. Louis, according to NHLTradeRumors.com
The Blues will open up the season against the Seattle Kraken on Oct. 8th at Climate Pledge Arena. The home opener this season is Oct. 15th against the Minnesota Wild at The
Enterprise Center. The Blues have 11 Nationally televised games this coming season with most of them on ESPN. The other 71 games will be broadcasted on Bally Sports Midwest or on the NHL or Blues apps.
