It’s hard to pin down the St. Louis Blues heading into the 2023-24 season. They are coming off a disappointing campaign, which saw them miss the postseason and draft Dalibor Dvorsky with the 10th overall pick. Now, with few changes to the roster, it’s unclear what the team will be this season. But the Blues’ Twitter account sparked some conversation this week when they asked this question: “Fill in the blank: ______________ will be the Blues’ MVP for the 2023-24 season.”
The Blues have some clear candidates for MVP: Robert Thomas, their top young player. Jordan Binnington, their goaltender, desperately needs a bounceback season to keep the Blues in the playoff race. But in this article, we’ll focus on three less obvious candidates for Blues’ MVP. And we’ll start with the only true new face in town.
Kevin Hayes
The Blues’ lone significant move of the offseason was their trade for Kevin Hayes. General manager Doug Armstrong dealt a sixth-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers to get the veteran center. The Flyers retained half of his salary as well, which speaks to how effective Hayes has been over recent seasons. His defensive metrics are poor, and he got into a public feud with John Tortorella, the Flyers’ head coach, which helped lead to his ouster.
But even during that turmoil, Hayes managed 18 goals and 54 points last season. He is still a solid middle-six center. And in a new environment, he might be motivated to engineer a comeback and regain the form he had during the 2018-19 season. At that time, he was stellar at both ends of the ice, and his play with the New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets led to the big contract he signed with the Flyers.
If Hayes can regain some of his two-way game and continue to put up points, he will bolster a Blues’ attack that is already strong. Moreover, he will provide value at an extreme discount, both because of the price the Blues paid to get him and because of his low salary. Hayes is a leading candidate to be the team’s MVP this season if he can rebound from a bad stretch of play.
Torey Krug
Now, let’s turn to a player who was once expected to be part of the trade for Hayes. At one time, the rumors suggested the Blues were working on a bigger trade with the Flyers, one involving defenseman Torey Krug — who utilized his no-trade clause to block the deal. It’s easy to see why the Blues might want to trade Krug: he’s part of a nightmare network of contracts on defense, and he has an obvious younger, cheaper replacement in the form of Scott Perunovich. Plus, Krug has struggled to establish himself since signing with St. Louis in 2020.
Related: Blues’ Defensive Nightmare is Mess of Their Own Making
Last season’s minus-26 plus/minus can’t happen again. But if Krug can return to the power play quarterback and 50-plus point scorer he was with the Boston Bruins from 2016-2020, he can become a major player for the Blues. Moreover, the impact that might have on morale is incalculable. A player on the fringes who invokes his no-trade clause could become a pariah amongst fans and could have the wrong attitude entering a new season. If Krug puts all that aside and has his best season yet with the Blues, he will be one of the team’s most valuable players by default.
Joel Hofer
We’ve already touched on Binnington’s role as the starting goalie and how important that will be for the Blues’ success. But if he falters, as he has in recent seasons, rookie netminder Joel Hofer could bail the team out much like Ville Husso did two seasons ago. Then, Husso rose as the clear best option in net for most of the second half of the season and entered the playoffs as the starter. Blues fans will hope that Binnington is steady and the same opportunity won’t arise again, but if it does, an even less-experienced goalie will have to rise to face it.
Fortunately, Hofer has thrived under pressure in the past. He first rose to prominence when, as a third-string goaltender entering the tournament, he was thrust into the role of starter for Team Canada’s World Junior Championship squad in 2020. He seized the opportunity, playing six games with a 1.30 goals-against average (GAA) and a .946 save percentage (SV%). He led his nation to a gold medal and was named the tournament’s best goaltender. Then, in 2022, he started 10 games in the American Hockey League (AHL) playoffs with the Blues’ affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds. He had a .934 SV% and a 2.56 GAA, and helped the Thunderbirds reach the Calder Cup Final.
Hofer seems to be the kind of goalie who loves an unexpected spotlight. So perhaps he would thrive if Binnington falters or is injured this season. If that happens, the Blues won’t have a choice but to give the reins to Hofer. If he takes the ball and runs with it, he, like Binnington before him, might have an incredibly memorable rookie season.
Who Is Your Pick?
Do you like the names on our list? Do you have one of your own? Let us know in the comment who your pick for Blues’ MVP this season will be. Whoever it is, St. Louis will need several players to perform much better than last season if they want to avoid the same fate and make the playoffs this season.