The St. Louis Blues didn't just miss the postseason for the first time in five years in 2022-23 — they put together their worst regular season in recent memory, winning just 37 games and failing to advance by 14 points in the Western Conference. The Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019, beating a juggernaut Boston Bruins in their own building in Game 7, but it's been tough sledding since.

St. Louis has won just a single postseason round since that historic run, defeating the Minnesota Wild in six games in 2022 before bowing out to the eventual champion Colorado Avalanche in similar fashion in Round 2. Things really went off the rails in 2022-23; the team battled injuries, multiple slumps from top players and abysmal goaltending from Jordan Binnington.

It seems clear that the Blues are headed for a retool, with not a ton of cap space to work with. They weren't able to make too many moves in NHL Free Agency, only trading for Kevin Hayes, reuniting with a piece of the Stanley Cup team in Oskar Sundqvist, and adding a few depth forwards in MacKenzie MacEachern and Alexei Toropchenko. None of those transactions figure to move the needle too much when the 2023-24 season gets underway, and it's hard to think this iteration of the Blues will be back in a playoff spot next season.

Blues have multiple roster concerns

Admittedly, the Blues do have some glaring roster problems headed into next season. The defense is a question mark after Torey Krug had a down year and declined a potential trade to the Philadelphia Flyers. Nick Leddy will be back for the second season of his four-year, $16 million deal, but the veteran also had a difficult season last year. Although Colton Parayko and Justin Faulk are solid, the D-core is a shadow of what it was in 2019, and it showed on the ice last year, with the team giving up multiple high danger chances night in and night out.

What doesn't help that is a goaltender who had one of his worst NHL seasons. Jordan Binnington will be back for the third season of his six-year, $36 million pact. He will need to be much better than his 3.31 goals-against average and .894 save percentage if the Blues hope to return to the dance in 2024. He played a career-high 60 starts last season, and it seems very likely that St. Louis' brass will dial that back to help get him back to his 2018-19 form.

The offense in St. Louis is still very solid, at least at centre and right wing. Robert Thomas will finally (well-deservedly) slot in at 1C, with Brayden Schenn and new addition Kevin Hayes likely rounding out at 2C and 3C. The right wing is deep with the team's best player in Jordan Kyrou, relatively new add Jakub Vrana, who was solid in his brief showing with the team, and Sammy Blais. Blais has bounced between the Blues and New York Rangers, but has proven himself as an excellent third line player who can bring toughness and energy but also put the puck in the net. The fourth line will be deep, with significant competition heading into training camp, from Oskar Sundqvist, MacKenzie MacEachern, Alexei Toropchenko, Jake Neighbours, Nathan Walker, Nikita Alexandrov and Zach Dean. There's no issue there.

The main problem with the team, besides the defensive and goaltending troubles which were glaring last year, is the left wing.

Blues' biggest roster concern: left wing depth

The St. Louis Blues lack a bona fide top-line left winger. Pavel Buchnevich is an excellent player and has been over point-per-game the last two seasons after being traded from the Rangers, but the left shot is more comfortable on his off-wing. Still, with how good he is, the team doesn't have much of a choice but to slot him in at 1LW, especially if that means he can round out a line that also features Thomas and Kyrou. It has potential to be a phenomenal top line.

Buchnevich has proven he can excel at left wing, but if you asked him, he would almost certainly say he prefers the right wing. After that, things get dicey. Brandon Saad could slot in at 2LW, but he is best suited to the third line, and would look much better with Kevin Hayes than in the top-six in his age-31 season.

After that, it's anyone's guess. Neighbours could potentially play on the left, as could Vrana, as could Toropchenko, but none of those options are ideal in the top-six. The Blues lack bona fide left wing talent, and have spent a lot of time moving players outside of their most comfortable position. There isn't much GM Doug Armstrong can do here, strapped to the salary cap as the team is, except move guys around.

Still, if a few players can bounce back next season, the Blues could certainly push for a playoff spot next season. But if things don't go well right from the jump, they could be selling when the trade deadline comes around. That's how tight the NHL's Western Conference will be next year.