The St. Louis Blues are right around the middle of the National Hockey League pack through 14 games, sitting right at .500 with a 7-7 record. It hasn't exactly been an encouraging start — the Blues have lost five of their last eight, all in regulation — but the club is still hanging around a wildcard berth in the Western Conference.
The injury bug has not been kind to the squad in 2024-25 as they look to rectify back-to-back missed postseasons next spring. Torey Krug hasn't played a game this season and likely won't after ankle surgery, while Robert Thomas fractured his right ankle against the Winnipeg Jets on October 22 after blocking a shot.
Krug's absence has certainly been felt in the early going, but for a team that is having a ton of trouble scoring goals, Thomas' injury is even more concerning. He was originally expected to miss at least six weeks, meaning it could be another month or more before he's back in the lineup. That's brutal considering he was St. Louis' leading scorer last season, and has emerged into one of the best players on the team.
Robert Thomas' absence has been glaring for Blues
Before getting injured, Thomas had chipped in a goal and six points over seven games. He led the team in scoring by a mile in 2023-24, reaching a career-high 86 points over a full 82-game slate. It was the best campaign of the 25-year-olds career, making his long-term diagnosis even more discouraging for the Blues.
“Not the news you’re wanting when you walk into the rink; he’s our best player,” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said shortly after the injury, 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,” echoed head coach Drew Bannister. “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.”
The Blues had enough trouble scoring goals with Thomas in the lineup, and they haven't been doing a great job without the Aurora, Ontario native.
St. Louis having a really tough time scoring goals
STL has scored just 20 goals in its past eight games, and the team has fallen down to 23rd in the NHL in terms of goals per game. The Blues are scoring just 2.64 GPG, and that pace is unlikely to get them into the postseason next spring. It's also been an underwhelming start for a couple of key pieces who are relied upon to provide offense.
There's not a single player on the team playing at above a point-per-game pace; Jordan Kyrou is first with 12 points in 14 games, while the next two leading scorers are defensemen. Colton Parayko being second with nine points in 14 games is good for the player, but not a great sign for the team. Pavel Buchnevich has managed just nine points of his own, while Dylan Holloway and Jake Neighbours have added just six each; Brandon Saad and Brayden Schenn, five.
It doesn't help that Philip Broberg, who had amassed nine points in his first 12 games with the Blues, is also on the shelf and will miss 4-6 weeks with a lower-body injury suffered at the beginning of November.
The way things are going, it's very possible that Blues general manager Doug Armstrong could be selling at next year's trade deadline — especially if the roster continues playing .500 hockey. But if the longtime executive wants to improve the club, he should look into acquiring Frank Vatrano from the Anaheim Ducks.
Blues GM should consider Frank Vatrano trade to improve team
The Blues are currently strapped tight to the salary cap, per PuckPedia, and absorbing Vatrano's $3.65 million would only be possible if salary was being sent back to Anaheim. But Thomas could be a candidate to go on LTIR, meaning the team would get $8.125 million in relief until he's ready to return.
If Armstrong wants to improve the squad and add more goal scoring, Vatrano could be a great option. That's especially true if the Ducks were willing to eat some of his salary, considering Anaheim currently has $20 million in cap space of its own, per PuckPedia.
Vatrano hasn't been nearly as good as he was in 2023-24, when the veteran put up 37 goals and 60 points over a full 82-game slate. In fact, he's managed just a single goal and four points over 12 games with the flailing Ducks. It's almost certain that the 30-year-old will be traded this season, considering both that his contract is expiring and the fact that the Ducks are looking like they'll be far out of a playoff spot by the trade deadline.
Right now, Vatrano's trade value is nowhere near as high as it was last season. The Ducks' brass is hoping he will pick things up in 2024-25 to increase that value as the campaign goes on.
But how things are going, the Blues look like a longshot to make the dance in a crowded Western Conference playoff picture. In the quest to improve — at least in the short term — Armstrong could bring Vatrano into the fold, getting the veteran a change of scenery and opportunity to play on the top line and with the first powerplay unit.
The Blues' fatal flaw in 2024-25 is a lack of goal scoring. Whether the front office will try to fix that problem as the campaign goes on is up in the air, but if they don't, it's going to be difficult to be one of the last eight standing in the West. It'll be interesting to see if Armstrong tries to shake up the roster as the year goes on.
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