2024-25 was a solid season for the St. Louis Blues. Despite being tied with the Calgary Flames at 96 points, the Blues made the postseason via tiebreaker. Now, the focus for 2025-26 is not only to get back to the playoffs, but to get even further than last year. As St. Louis prepares for their season opener on Friday, GM Doug Armstrong weighed in on the status of veteran winger Milan Lucic.
“He got banged up last couple of games,” Armstrong said via The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford. “His PTO is obviously over. What we're going to do is we're going rehab him here and get him back health-wise to 100% and likely reconnect on an in-season PTO to get him up and running and see where he's at then.”
Last season ended in Winnipeg for the Blues, as the wild card team took the Jets to seven games before falling in overtime. This year's focus will be on not only conquering Western Conference heavyweights like Winnipeg but also getting back to the Stanley Cup. St. Louis hasn't reached the Stanley Cup Final since winning their first Cup following the 2018-19 season. If the Blues are in contention once again when Lucic gets back to full health, can the veteran help St. Louis make a deeper run when the next edition of the Stanley Cup Playoffs rolls around?
Can Blues return to the postseason once again in 2025-26?
At the moment, Lucic is technically once again a free agent. His PTO deal has expired, and the winger is dealing with a groin injury. The 37-year-old hasn't played since 2023-24 due to injuries in addition to some legal trouble. However, the long-time Boston Bruin is looking to finish his career strong. Will it be with the Blues?
For now, it looks like that is the plan. While Armstrong is certainly looking for ways to improve the roster, it could be some time until Lucic is back. Nevertheless, the Blues look locked in for Friday's season-opener against the Minnesota Wild. Will 2025-26 have an even better ending than last season? If so, then St. Louis could have another scrappy veteran like Lucic to thank.
