The St. Louis Blues had an interesting month of December and now head into the New Year in January with a difficult road ahead.
In this edition of Blues’ 3 Up, 3 Down, I will discuss the recent play of goaltender Joel Hofer, back-to-back losses heading into the New Year, the latest from the World Juniors, and more.
Plus One: Joel Hofer
Hofer had a couple of fantastic performances to end December for the Blues. After an up-and-down run through the first two months, he’s settled into the backup role well. At 23 years old, growing pains for him were always expected, but his numbers overall this season look good. He has a 7-6-0 record and a save percentage (SV%) of .911, and those are respectable numbers in every sense of the word.
Related: Blues’ Top Line Resurgence Under New Coach Bannister
In two wins over the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers, Hofer saved 76 of 78 shots and was a huge reason why they won both games. I’ve been impressed with his overall performance and if he can continue this, the Blues have a chance to stay afloat amid the tough opponents on the schedule this month.
Minus One: Tough Losses to Avalanche and Penguins
The Blues are now 18-17-1 after back-to-back losses to the Colorado Avalanche and Pittsburgh Penguins going into the New Year. With 37 points, they are sixth in the Central Division and three points out of a playoff spot. I don’t think they played poorly in either of these games, but they didn’t get the bounces to win either game. The Blues played a tight game against the Avalanche, and that’s hard to do, so losing that game is tough. Overall, I thought the club played well in both of these games, so going 0-2-0 is brutal.
Plus Two: Jakub Vrána
Jakub Vrána deserves mention with the way he’s played since being waived and sent down to the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Springfield Thunderbirds. After several healthy scratches, struggles to fit under Craig Berube, and only scoring two goals in 19 games, the Blues had no choice but to waive Vrána.
He wasn’t claimed by any other team, so he could’ve easily been frustrated having to go down to the AHL, but he’s made the most of it so far. In seven games, he has four goals, four assists, and eight points. He played 17 AHL games with the Grand Rapids Griffiths last season and had six goals, so he’s already producing more in this stint than the other. With the Blues struggle to score and the firing of Berube, it would not be a surprise if Vrána makes his return to the lineup at some point this season.
If he continues to produce like this, the Blues will have no choice but to give him another chance. Their offense and special teams still need a boost and letting Vrána loose in the offensive zone might not be the worst possible move.
Minus Two: Fourth Line & Faulk Injury
The Blues’ fourth line of MacKenzie MacEachern-Oskar-Sundqvist-Sammy Blais has been ineffective over the past week or so. This is more aimed at MacEachern and Blais, who have both struggled to find themselves in limited ice time. Blais took nine shifts and played 6:27 against the Penguins, while MacEachern also took nine shifts and played 5:59 of ice time. With that, MacEachern was sent back to the AHL, and forward Nathan Walker was called up for the first time this season. A player like Walker could boost the fourth line with Sundqvist and Blais. He has been a constant source of energy in his multiple stints in St. Louis over the past four seasons.
Another roster move was the call-up of defenseman Matt Kessel after Justin Faulk went down with an injury against the Avalanche. Faulk has been solid in 35 games for the Blues with 17 points and a plus/minus of plus-2. Kessel played 14:32 of ice time in his game against the Penguins, and it’ll be interesting to see how that varies as he continues to play for the injured Faulk.
Plus Three: Prospects Performing at World Juniors
Going into the 2024 World Junior Championships, the Blues had seven prospects representing five different countries. Each of them has made a serious impact on their team. Jakub Stancl of Czechia scored two big goals in their takedown of Canada, Jimmy Snuggerud of the United States had a hat trick in pool play, and Sweden’s Theo Lindstein and Otto Stenberg have been elite.
General manager Doug Armstrong and staff have done a great job of adding quality prospects to the mix over the past two drafts.
Minus Three: Goal Scoring Issues
The Blues have one even-strength goal and three goals overall in the past two games. The one goal at even strength came from Kasperi Kapanen in the loss to the Penguins. The other two goals were both from Robert Thomas, who scored a power-play goal against the Penguisn and a shorthanded goal against the Avalanche. They are now 27th in goals scored this season after finishing 16th last season and fourth in 2021-22. There are far too many talented offensive players on this team for them to be this bad at scoring goals.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier, so it’ll take a lot of digging deep to figure this out. The Blues have a long road ahead of them.
