The 2022-23 St. Louis Blues season is officially over. They missed the playoffs for the first time since 2017-18. They followed that season by winning the Stanley Cup in 2019. However, this season looked different than it did in the 2017-18 season. They are not currently in a position to compete for a trophy in 2023-24. Obviously, they were only a few players away after the 2017-18 season, so that was the difference.
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here in hockey bookOur Blues Mike Meyer, Stephen Ground, and Marcus Ashbaugh made our own preseason predictions. I’m here to review them as the season winds down. I’ll admit they’re not great, but none of us expected the Blues to be so mostly uncompetitive this season. Let’s take a look back.
The Blues’ leading point scorer
Pre-Season Predictions – Ethan & Stephen (Jordan Cairo), Mike (Vladimir Tarasenko) & Markus (Pavel Bukhnevich)
Actual Commander – Kyrou
While Jordan Cairo led the Blues in points, I don’t think he was their best player. Pavel Bukhnevich was second behind him and I think he was the best player in the Blues overall this season. But Keiro beat him by six points with 73 points in 79 games.
Kyrou was an easy prediction. He had a great season in 2021-22 and is poised to be even better in 2022-23. He didn’t score as many points as last season, but he scored 37 goals overall. He scored the most goals for a Blues player since Vladimir Tarasenko netted 39 goals in 2016-17. This is the second season in a row that the Blues have scored 30 goals. Tarasenko was not called in as Bukhnević did last season. As for Mike predicting Tarasenko, it wasn’t a bad choice. He had 82 points last season, but this season he has struggled a lot and has been Traded to the New York Rangers in feb.
Overall, our expectations for the top scorer weren’t bad. Stephen and I had it right, and Marcus’ pick of Bukhnević finished second on the team with 67 points.
The most valuable player in the Blues
Pre-Season Predictions – Ethan (Bukhniewicz), Stephen (Jordan Bennington), Mike (Bryden Sheen), Marcus (Robert Thomas)
There is a lot to unpack with this one. There really isn’t a high-value player on this team, and I’d sound biased if I said it was Bušenvić. I think most Blues fans would say it’s him, but I think there are a few other players who might deserve the honor. I chose Bukhnevic because I think he is the best player overall in this team. He not only kept himself fully healthy and played 63 games, but scored more than one point per game.
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Stephen’s casting for Jordan Bennington turned out to be amusing. There are a number of Blues fans who believe he could be their most valuable player this season. However, I will not argue with that. While it’s not all on him, his numbers are pretty awful. The Blues’ defense sucks, but Bennington isn’t the same goalkeeper he was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Mike’s choice of Brayden Sheen is solid. Shane is a leading candidate for the vacant Blues captain’s role and has played 82 matches this season. I understand that plus/minus isn’t the most important stat, but Shane has been minus 27 this season. He was a valuable player for the Blues, but not the most valuable.
I’m surprised Marcus’ choice of Robert Thomas wasn’t any better. It was a strange season for him. His overall numbers were strong, but down from last season. He scored 1.07 points per game last season, but it’s down to 0.89 this season. There was also The whole ordeal Between coach Craig Berube and Thomas after Berube called up the team’s best players. It’s just been a weird season for Thomas and I think he wants to get behind it. His eight-year contract extension begins next season, so it should be a big year for him in 2023-24.
The most amazing blues player
Pre-Season Predictions – Ethan (Tore Krogh), Stephen (Brandon Saad), Mike (Josh Leveaux), Marcus (Logan Brown)
This was a tough set of predictions to look back on. Heading into the 2022-23 season, there has been a good argument for offering any of the four selections. I’d say Mike had the best prediction here. My pick for Torey Krug wasn’t a good one because he only played in 63 games and had 32 points. He was also under-26 and struggled defensively. Stephen’s casting for Brandon Saad was good, but not enough to write home about. He had 24 goals in 78 games last season and followed that up with 19 goals in 71 games this season. It was a completely normal season for Saad. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either.
Like I said above, I think Mike made the best choice here. Josh Leveaux wasn’t expected to do much for the Blues this season. He played 51 games and rotated between all four lines throughout the year. He had four goals and 12 assists for 16 points. He has also been one of the blues’ most consistent checkers. I thought he held up well when he played and will be a deep forward to stay next season. Marcus’ choice of Logan Brown wasn’t a good one. It became abundantly clear that he is not the third line center for this team. It may not be the center of the fourth line either. He has struggled mightily this season in 30 games. It didn’t work out for him after he was traded by the Ottawa Senators to his hometown Blues.
I would argue that the most surprising Blues player was someone who wasn’t in the organization when the season started. Sammy Place returned to the Blues in a Tarasenko trade and had a great last few months of the season. I was surprised to see how well he researched the blues. He played the last 31 games of the season, scoring 20 points. He also received a one-year contract extension as well. Blais will be a big part of the Blues’ attacking squad next season. As for other, more surprising player picks, I think Calle Rosen would also fit in.
The Blues’ most disappointing player
Pre-Season Predictions – Ethan (Ivan Barbashev), Stephen (Colton Parayko), Mike (Clem Costin), Marcus (Nick Liddy)
Let’s start with my choice. The basis was simple as she explained, “I’m not saying Barbashev is going to have a bad season, but he’s not going to do what he did last season. His role will likely remain the same as the versatility of a third line forward. However, I think his production will drop to what it was.” He’s on him ahead of his breakout season in 2021-22. Barbashev won’t be seen as a bad player, but it would be disappointing to see his production drop that low.”
Barbashev’s production declined, and that was to be expected. before it was Traded to the Vegas Golden KnightsHe has 29 points in 59 games. His points per game increased from 0.74 last season to 0.59 this season. He didn’t play as well as 2021-22, but he didn’t deserve to be the most frustrating player.
Stephen’s choice of Colton Parayko was a good one. Expectations for him continue to drop each season. He had another rough season in 2022-23. He struggled defensively and played several minutes. The Blues defensive unit as a whole struggled, and that ties into Marcus’ choice of Nick Lady as well. Lady and Paraikou both had disappointing seasons. In fact, every Blues defenseman outside of Rosen and Tyler Tucker has been a disappointment.
Mike’s choice of Clem Kosten never played out the way it did Trading in the Edmonton Oilers In early October before the season starts. Other favorites would be Ryan O’Reilly before he was traded and goaltenders.
Final Blues Score
Predictors – Ethan (104), Stephen (99), Mike (101), Marcus (103)
Actual score – 81
Our predictions here were not very close to the actual outcome. The Blues entered the 2022-23 season having amassed 109 points and advancing eventual Cup champions Colorado Avalanche to game six in the second round. Stephen was the closest, but he didn’t expect the Blues to be that bad, “The Blues will take a big step back overall and they’ll be in the playoff bubble this year.” [David] Perun really hurts. losing [Ville] Hosu really hurts. They didn’t add anything of interest. On top of that, they had absurdly high shooting percentages across the board last season.” This season has been more than disappointing.
Prediction of the playoffs for the Blues
Predictors – Ethan (2nd round loss), Stephen (Wild Card Bubble/1st round exit), Mike (1st 2 round loss), Marcus (2nd round loss)
None of us expected the Blues to go this deep into the playoffs, but to miss out entirely by 14 points is deeply disappointing. Stephen ended up being the best predictor of all of us when it came to the outcome of the 2022-23 season. It wasn’t all that high on them, and rightfully so, looking back. It will be interesting to see if we can do better with our predictions for the 2023-24 season, but I have a feeling it will be hard to predict.
Huge offseason in front of the blues
It’s not as if the Blues will turn back into cup contention overnight, but there is a lot to accomplish this summer. They currently have three first-round picks and five draft picks overall in the first three rounds. They will also look to add a third line center to boost their depth and rid themselves of the knots from the blue line. Stay on the lookout for our Blues report cards, draft coverage, free agency predictions, and more all summer at hockey book.