2016-17 record: 46-29-7 (99 points)
Lost to Nashville in Conference semi-finals
Captain: Alex Pietrangelo
By the All-Star Break, the St. Louis Blues were underachievers who expedited the succession plan and put Mike Yeo in as head coach in February, replacing Ken Hitchcock. By the time the season ended, the Blues were in the playoffs and even handled themselves fairly well, advancing past Minnesota in the opening round. The task at hand for this season will be for Yeo to prove that he was the right choice to succeed Hitchcock.
The Blues have largely gone away from their bruising style of past seasons, watching both Troy Brouwer and David Backes walk prior to last season, and now, trading Ryan Reaves. The good news was that the Blues finished in the top half on offense. However, other than Vladimir Tarasenko, there was very little consistency. That was why Brayden Schenn was brought in, and he will provide more capable scoring in the middle. The defense was better after the Kevin Shattenkirk trade, and this unit figures to be better. Depth may be an issue, however, as Jay Bouwmeester is expected to miss time to start the season, so it may be sink or swim time for this unit. The Jake Allen that started the season wasn't very good, but like everyone else, the coaching change helped improve his game, and now there is no question that he is the starter that the Blues were hoping for when they traded Brian Elliott prior to last season. The special teams were great in the regular season, but they will need to figure out where it went wrong with the power play in the playoffs.
Prediction: 2nd in the Central Division
The Blues didn't do very much in the way of moves, but it is clear that they are trying to adapt to what the rest of the division is wanting to do. Whether or not they have enough to put in a deep run remains a question.
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