A month ago, the conversation around the St. Louis Blues centered on what kind of draft pick they might land. Now, with 10 games remaining in the regular season, it centers on something else entirely and whether this team can actually get into the playoffs.
The Blues enter Monday nights game against San Jose having won four consecutive games and climbing to 73 points and positioning themselves as the most dangerous team on the outside of the Western Conference bubble looking in. They sit tied with the Sharks for the sixth wild card position, one point behind the Winnipeg Jets, two behind the Seattle Kraken, and four behind the second Wild Card spot currently held by the Nashville Predators. The math remains difficult. The margin for error is essentially gone. but the Blues have given themselves a chance, and in late March, that counts for something.
The schedule that awaits them does not do them any favors. St. Louis opens the final stretch Monday night in San Jose, starting a three-game California set before heading to Colorado for a set of games against the division opponent. Getting points on that portion of the trip is critical. Colorado, having already clinched a playoff spot, is a formidable test; the Blues visit Ball Arena on April 5 and host them again two nights later at Enterprise Center. Going 2-0 against the Avalanche would be remarkable, but getting at least two of four points in that pairing is the floor requirement.
The final four games with game at Chicago, home to Minnesota, home to Pittsburgh, and a season finale at Utah, give the Blues a chance to gain points against opponents who range from manageable to meaningful. The Utah game holds plenty of weight in its own way. If the Mammoth are still fighting for home ice in the first round, that will be a charged environment regardless of where the Blues stand in the standings.
What makes this stretch so fascinating is that the Blues weren’t supposed to be here. The early-season losses piled up. The trade deadline saw Brayden Schenn and Justin Faulk dealt away with moves that looked, at the time, like the organization beginning to clear the decks for a longer rebuild. But the team didn’t collapse, they responded. Young players stepped into larger roles and didn’t flinch. Jimmy Snuggerud has been one of the better stories in the league over the past month. Joel Hofer has been remarkable as one of the leagues top goaltenders. This is a group that could have drifted quietly toward a lottery pick instead chose to fight.
None of this guarantees anything. The Blues need help from other teams to lose, need to beat direct competitors, and need to sustain a level of play over 10 games that they’ve only recently found. The standard for a successful stretch run isn’t just the final result, but whether the young core of this team proved it belongs at this level under real pressure.
By that measure, the next 10 games will tell St. Louis fans a great deal about what the Blues actually are.