The St. Louis Blues are in the bottom 10 of the league in goals scored. Despite that, they have five players who have tallied over 20 goals this season. It’s hard to imagine where the team would be without these five 20-goal scorers. It’s not to the level of the 2021-22 Blues, who had nine 20-goal scorers, but it’s pretty good. Let’s discuss the five players and how they’ve performed this season overall.
Thomas Has Been Elite
Robert Thomas has reached 20 goals for the second time in his career this season. He has been elite in every sense of the word this season and earned his first career NHL All-Star appearance. Although his scoring has slowed down a bit over the past month, he’s had a major impact on the club this season.
Thomas previously reached 20 goals in the 2021-22 season and his tally of 23 this season is a career high. The biggest difference for him this season has been shooting the puck more. He’s got 154 shots on goal through 74 games this season. Before this season, he had 106 shots on goal last season in 73 games and 115 in 72 games the season before. A more assertive Thomas is better for the Blues.
Kyrou Hits 20 Goals Again
This has been a rollercoaster season for Jordan Kyrou, who has reached the 20-goal mark for the third season in a row. He has 25 goals with eight games left and could reach 30 goals for the second straight season. He has struggled with consistency this season, but the overall production is still solid. A big difference from his 37-goal campaign last season is he has six fewer even strength and power-play goals each this season. I’ve liked his growth as a two-way player, but part of that emphasis to improve in that area of the game has probably affected his production slightly.
Kyrou’s speed and skill are still on point and the Blues need him much more than people want to admit. While his contract and salary cap hit of $8.125 million is steep, they still need a forward who can drive offense the way he does. It would not surprise me if he eventually scores 40 goals in a season.
Buchnevich Tallies Fourth Straight 20-Goal Season
It was an unorthodox start for Pavel Buchnevich this season, but to the surprise of nobody, he’s reached 20 goals again. he missed nearly 10 days with injury and had just one goal in his first 10 games. He didn’t reach 10 goals until his 27th game of the season. Fast forward to now, he is tied for the team lead in goals with 26. His point production has been lower than the first two seasons he spent in St. Louis, but his impact has been above average.
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In 2021-22, Buchnevich became the first Blue not named Vladimir Tarasenko to score 30 goals since Alexander Steen in 2013-14. He could reach 30 goals again in the final two weeks and change of the 2023-24 season. Despite all the trade rumors surrounding him this season, he kept his head down and captured his fourth 20-goal season over the past five seasons. It’s going to be a big summer for Buchnevich as Blues general manager Doug Armstrong could once again explore trading him.
Neighbours and Saad Have Been Clutch
The final two 20-goal scorers to discuss are Jake Neighbours and Brandon Saad. Let’s start with Neighbours, who has broken out in a big way for the club this season. He’s had an enormous impact for the Blues as a net-front presence. He has 26 goals in 74 games, including 18 even-strength markers.
Neighbours has scored a ton of important goals this season and ranks third on the team in game-winning goals with four. On top of his scoring, he also has thrown 132 hits and has 39 takeaways to just 16 giveaways. His impact at 21 years old has been gigantic and something that the Blues should feel great about moving forward. As for Saad, he’s been the most clutch goal scorer on the team with six game-winning goals. He has 24 goals overall, which ties his 2021-22 total, which was his first season in St. Louis. Overall, it’s safe to say that Saad has been both an underrated and productive signing for the team.
Despite the team’s overall scoring issues, these five 20-goal scorers have had quality seasons. The club will need to find more goal-scoring next season and hope that players like Thomas, Kyrou, and Neighbours continue to climb the ranks. A huge summer lies ahead for Armstrong and the Blues.
