Nov 18, 2021; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Blues center Robert Thomas (18) and goaltender Ville Husso (35) celebrate after the Blues defeated the San Jose Sharks at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Deal done: With this amazing trade, the St. Louis Blues are continuing their journey.
On Monday, the St. Louis Blues received some clarification regarding their organization’s future. Ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft, general manager and president of hockey operations Doug Armstrong met with members of the media to go over a number of topics, including the hiring of former Blues goalie Brian Elliot in a developmental capacity, the status and strategy for pending free agents, and an update on how they will use their first-round draft pick.
The 16th overall pick in this year’s draft is owned by the Blues, who also have eight other picks. There are other options available besides drafting a top player with your first-round selection. Armstrong stated that St. Louis would only sell their first-round pick for a higher pick or a young player or group of players who may improve this team going forward.
This not only demonstrates that Armstrong is leaving a lot of possibilities open, but it also gives a fair indication of the organization’s current state.
In 2023–24, the Blues had a record of 43–33-6, finishing seven points behind the Western Conference’s final wild-card place. Since winning the Stanley Cup in 2019, they have failed to qualify for the postseason in the previous two years and have never gone past the second round.
Armstrong also acknowledged that if his team had defeated the Nashville Predators in the middle of February instead of losing five straight games and watching the Preds go on an incredible run that moved them ahead of St. Louis into a postseason berth, he probably would have approached the 2024 trade deadline differently (adding pieces).
“It probably changes my thought process at the deadline if we beat Nashville at home (on February 17) and we put them six games behind us with games in hand,” he said to reporters on Monday. But I didn’t have to, and neither did we. They now have to decide on it much more carefully.
When you combine all of this data, you get a more comprehensive image of a company that recognizes that it is rebuilding and is searching for fresh people to serve as a foundation.
