The Work Ahead: What Has to Change for the St. Louis Blues This Offseason

The final horn sounded Thursday night in Salt Lake City, and with it, the St. Louis Blues’ 2025-26 season came to a close at 37-33-12. With 82 games played, 86 points accumulated, and for reasons outside of pride and preparation for next season, not a single one of them earned in April when it mattered. 

The season told a consistent story once you stepped back far enough to see it clearly. A minus-27 goal differential, a swing of nearly 50 goals from the positive mark the Blues posted a season ago, shows a team that was regularly outscored by its opponents over a full schedule, not a team that ran into bad luck. They ranked 24th in the league in goals per game. They dug an early hole by going 0-5-2 over a seven-game losing streak in October that proved impossible to fully escape. 

The foundation of something real is present in St. Louis. The structure built around it is not yet good enough, and the offseason is where that gets addressed.

Doug Armstrong will spend his final summer as day-to-day general manager until July 1st before Alexander Steen formally assumes the his heir. The resources available are to the upcoming NHL Entry Draft: three first-round picks, significant mid-round capital, and over $20 million in projected cap space. How aggressively those resources are deployed will define Steen’s early tenure and signal which direction this organization is moving.

The crease is the most pressing decision, and the most contractually layered one.

Joel Hofer was the clearest bright spot of the 2025-26 season. He finished 24-13-5 with a 2.61 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage, and six shutouts. He carried the team through stretches that would have buried a lesser starter, and at 25 years old, the franchise starting job is his without serious debate. What remains unresolved is what the organization does with the veteran behind him.

Jordan Binnington is signed through the end of the 2026-27 season at $6 million per year, and his modified no-trade clause transitions this offseason from a 14-team list to a 10-team list, a reduction that expands the range of willing trade partners considerably. He struggled this season by most standard measures, but his Cup championship pedigree and back-to-back strong performances on the international stage should still help draw interest from contenders whose crease situations remain unsettled. Even if one does not present itself this offseason, the Blues return next season with two viable goaltenders knowing that one could be moved ahead of the deadline as a rental piece. However, the offseason market, with more teams having cap clarity and time to evaluate, figures to be more productive than the deadline environment was. 

The second item is the situation that defined the deadline and could be re-visited.

The Blues and Buffalo Sabres agreed to a trade that would have sent Colton Parayko to the Sabres before Parayko declined to waive his no-trade clause.  The reported return had included a first-round pick and Sabres defensive prospect Radim Mrtka. The Blues launched an internal review into how the deal became public before Parayko had consented, and the episode left both the organizational relationship and Parayko’s public standing in an uncomfortable position. 

Setting the circumstances aside, the hockey picture is straightforward: Parayko is 32 years old, signed through 2029-30 at $6.5 million per year, just become the newest player in Blues history to play 800 games with the organization, and appears to be in line to play a depth role to that of emerging defenseman Logan Mailloux. His desire to stay in St. Louis has been genuine throughout his career,  and his no-trade clause makes any move entirely contingent on his willingness. Whether the decision looks different in a quieter offseason setting, one without the deadline’s noise and public scrutiny, is the question the Blues have to answer through private conversation. There is no forcing this one. But the return that was nearly in hand in March is the kind of asset accumulation that still makes sense to pursue.

The forward group is where the season’s central failure lived, and where the most significant external change likely needs to happen. Robert Thomas finished at 64 points in 64 games, a healthy, elite pace that shows both what he is and what the structure around him is not. Pending RFA Dylan Holloway added 51 points in 59 games, and Jimmy Snuggerud closed his rookie campaign with 51 points and the kind of finishing stretch that announces a player as a legitimate top-six piece for years to come. Those are encouraging data points. They are not, by themselves, a group capable of ranking anywhere other than the bottom quarter of the league in scoring. The Blues need a forward capable of operating as an independent offensive threat, someone who produces on a line of his own rather than as a complement to Thomas. Whether that comes through free agency, a trade involving the draft capital accumulated at the deadline, or some combination of both is the central roster question of the summer. The lack of secondary scoring became a focal point for this Blues team down the stretch and should be a major focus in the coming weeks and months ahead. 

The draft itself adds optionality rather than complicating the picture. Three first-round picks in a strong class give Armstrong and Steen flexibility that most rebuilding organizations do not have: the ability to stockpile high-end prospects, package picks for an established NHL contributor, or do some version of both depending on how the board falls. That flexibility has real value with the organization not locked into a single path.

The coaching staff may change after the offseason. Montgomery returns as head coach, but his supporting staff’s performance will be scrutinized. The Blues ranked near the bottom in goals per game and struggled to build a consistent defense. The power play finished well below league average without a reliable identity. These areas fall within the assistant coaches’ purview. Names like Claude Julien and Mike Weber’s roles may be reassessed as Steen looks to reshape the staff around Montgomery. The coaching group may look different when training camp opens in the fall.

What the Blues need most from this offseason is clarity on the crease, on the blue line, on where the next meaningful offensive piece comes from. The pieces to build something real are present. Montgomery’s message heading into the final game centered on urgency and avoiding this same feeling next spring.  The offseason is where that urgency either becomes action or doesn’t.