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The St. Louis Blues are off to an underwhelming start in 2024-25, currently playing .500 hockey after two straight losses and sitting fifth place in the Central Division with a 5-5 record. It certainly hasn't been a terrible start, but not exactly what the front office was hoping for as the Blues look to rectify back-to-back missed postseasons next spring.
But the injury bug isn't doing the team any favors. Torey Krug will miss the entire campaign due to ankle surgery, a blow that is being felt significantly in the early going. And things took a turn for the worse after Robert Thomas fractured his right ankle in a 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on October 22.
Thomas blocked a shot by Jets D-man Neal Pionk, and played a couple more shifts before exiting the game. He was placed on injured reserve last Wednesday, and is expected to miss at least six weeks. That's another terrible injury blow for a Blues team that should have a tough time winning games without its best offensive weapon.
Robert Thomas injury could be devastating for Blues
Before the ailment, Thomas had amassed a goal and six points over seven games in 2024-25. He led the team in scoring by a mile in 2023-24, picking up 26 goals and 86 points over a full 82-game slate. It was the best campaign of the 25-years-old career, and makes his long-term injury even more discouraging.
“Not the news you’re wanting when you walk into the rink this morning, but he’s our best player,” said Blues captain Brayden Schenn, per NHL.com's Lou Korac. “He’s a guy that drives the bus for us, but at the end of the day, it’s part of the game and we’re going to need everyone to step up, myself included, and we’ve got to do it collectively.”
“You can’t make up for the player, but as a group, we can make up for it,” head coach Drew Bannister echoed. “It’s not going to be an individual player, it’s not going to be one player, it’s going to be going to be the 20 guys in the lineup pulling in the same direction and coming together as a team. … I think this is really a good opportunity for us to grab as a team and really come together.”
So far, life without Thomas hasn't been great for the Blues. They've lost three of their last four games, managing to score a paltry 10 goals in that span. For a club that was already having trouble scoring, losing Thomas could be devastating.
Blues' fatal flaw is lack of goal scoring
Through 10 games, the Blues are currently scoring 2.70 goals per game — that's good enough for 27th in the National Hockey League. Although things aren't much better on the defensive end — St. Louis is giving up 3.40 goals per game, that's tied for 21st — the squad's fatal flaw is certainly a shortage of goals.
Thomas did a ton of the heavy lifting last season, but this time around, not many players are producing. The Blues don't have a single skater playing at a point-per-game pace or better. Jordan Kyrou has nine points in 10 games, while Pavel Buchnevich has managed just six in the same span.
A nice surprise has been the emergence of defenseman Philip Broberg, who is just behind Kyrou for the scoring lead with two goals and eight points. That's great for the player, but not so much for the team. The top players aren't producing at the clip they should be, and the depth is being sorely tested. Guys like Brayden Schenn (four points), Brandon Saad (four points) and Jake Neighbours (five points) need to be better offensively.
Looking at the roster on paper, it'll be tough for the current players to move the needle enough to keep this club above .500. Besides the offensive woes, both Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer have struggled — that was evidenced during an 8-1 shellacking at the hands of the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
Things just look to be going off the rails for a team that was already a longshot to make the playoffs even with Krug and Thomas available. Without the pair, it could be a long campaign in Missouri. But could general manager Doug Armstrong make a move to help offset the injuries woes?
Could Blues GM Doug Armstrong make a move?
After a road game in Philadelphia against the Flyers, the Blues will return to Enterprise Center for a five-game homestand between November 2-12. That is a crucial part of the schedule for the team, and could help to determine whether they have a realistic playoff chance, or would be better off as sellers ahead of the trade deadline.
If Armstrong does decide to improve the roster, specifically adding another scoring forward, there are options out there. Two wingers on expiring contracts are Anaheim Ducks' Frank Vatrano and Winnipeg Jets' Nikolaj Ehlers.
The former has struggled this season, managing just a single goal and four points in his first eight games with the Ducks. That's coming after Vatrano exploded for 37 goals and 60 points over a full 82-game slate in 2023-24. His trade value has likely gone down the way him and his team have played in the early going, and Armstrong could explore a potential trade. That's especially true considering Vatrano is making just $3.65 million this season.
As for Ehlers, he's been phenomenal for a surging Jets team in 2024-25. Winnipeg has lost just once this season, and the Danish forward has been in the thick of it, amassing four goals and 11 points in nine games. He's been a critical part of the Jets' offense, although his expiring contract has kept his name in the rumor mill.
Neither Vatrano or Ehlers would come cheap, and Armstrong would probably have to be willing to part with some draft capital to acquire one of the two forwards. It's unlikely he's going to do that — at least not until the team has played a couple more games without Thomas in the lineup.
Still, the Blues' goal scoring struggles are not going to go away overnight. If the front office hopes to hang around the playoff picture in a crowded Western Conference all season long, it might take another piece or two.
It'll be interesting to see how the club fares over the next couple of weeks, and whether a lack of quality scoring will be the Blues' downfall in 2024-25.
