The up-and-down season continues for the St. Louis Blues after going 2-2-0 over the last week with wins over the Arizona Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks, and losses to the Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild. All four matchups were against Central Division foes, so they are now 4-6-1 against their divisional opponents this season.
In this edition of Blues’ 3 Up, 3 Down, I will discuss a big promotion for a young forward, lingering goaltending issues, production on the rise for a star, and more.
Plus One: Promotion To Top Line for Neighbours
Blues 2020 first-round pick Jake Neighbours has shown ample growth this season. Recently, he’s received a promotion to the top line with Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich. He’s played as hard as any other Blues forward this season and production is starting to come with that, so he earned this promotion.
In 21 games this season, Neighbours has seven goals, which is second on the team behind both Thomas and Buchnevich with eight. He has gotten over 15 minutes of ice time in each of the last three games and has three goals in those games. He has four goals and an assist in his last five games. On top of increased offensive production, Neighbours is still doing the little things with 15 blocked shots, 35 hits, and 13 takeaways on the season. He’s becoming a quality two-way forward and at just 21 years old, there is even more room to grow. There is zero doubt that this is a well-earned promotion for him.
Minus One: Goaltenders Being Pulled Far Too Often
Blues goaltending hasn’t been that bad overall this season, but they have pulled a goaltender out of the game in three of their last seven games. Goaltender Joel Hofer was pulled in their losses to the San Jose Sharks and Predators, while Jordan Binnington was pulled in their win over the Coyotes. Part of it is the play in front of them being poor and the other part is their lack of making saves when needed, which has been an issue in a few of the team’s losses.
Related: 3 Takeaways from Blues’ 8-3 Loss to the Predators
However, this can be corrected with more consistency from the team overall. The stats for both Binnington and Hofer aren’t bad, but they’ve both had struggles over the past few weeks. Binnington is 6-6-1 with a save percentage (SV%) of .910 and a goals-against average (GAA) of 2.91, while Hofer has a .905 SV% and 3.03 GAA. They have 12 total quality starts in 21 games after having just 36 quality starts in 82 games last season. They’re on pace to easily surpass 36 quality starts this season. Either way, they must find a way to not come out so flat in some of these key games.
Plus Two: Buchnevich’s Production on the Rise
Buchnevich had just two points in his first seven games this season, which was a far cry from his previous seasons of production with the Blues.
He’s been on a tear since his first seven games with 14 points in the last 12 games, including seven goals. He has three of the Blues’ six power play goals on the season and two short-handed goals to go along with it. He has 16 points in 18 games and a plus/minus of plus-3. The Blues’ most lethal combination right now is Buchnevich and Thomas, and it’s not particularly close.
Buchnevich recorded over a point per game in each of his two seasons with the Blues, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he does it again this season.
Minus Two: Scandella Still a Regular on Blue Line
It boggles my mind that Marco Scandella has played in nearly every game for the Blues this season. He’s playing fewer than 14 minutes of ice time per game, including fewer than nine minutes in their 3-1 loss to the Wild. He’s in the final season of his contract and making $3.275 million, which is way above his actual value on ice. I don’t get the point of him playing over blueliners like Scott Perunovich, Tyler Tucker, or Robert Bortuzzo.
He turns the puck over a lot and does not look comfortable defensively in most situations. He looks a step slow and his numbers on the surface don’t tell the entire story of how he’s performed this season. I just think that a blueliner like Bortuzzo has earned an opportunity to play more on the third pair with a younger defenseman like Perunovich or Tucker. I just find it bizarre that Scandella is playing every game, but not getting much ice time whatsoever.
Plus Three: Three Centers Showing Prowess in Faceoff Circle
The Blues have three centers who have won greater than 50 percent of their faceoffs through 21 games this season. Those three are Thomas, Kevin Hayes, and Brayden Schenn. They’ve all taken the most faceoffs out of anybody on the roster so far as well.
Looking at their faceoff numbers, Hayes has won 59.2 percent of faceoffs, Thomas has won 57.4 percent, and Schenn has won 50.8 percent. The Blues as a team rank 11th in the league in faceoff win percentage (51.8) with these three leading the way. They were 24th last season at 48.5 percent, so a big part of their growth this season has been Hayes’ dominance as a newcomer and Thomas becoming even better at winning draws.
Minus Three: Constant Struggle To Find Consistency
The Blues have been as up and down as any team this season with a record of 11-9-1 this season. Their longest winning streak is three games and their longest losing streak is two games. It’s been less extreme than last season through 21 games, but they still struggle to find consistent success. I don’t think they’ll find the consistency they need this season, but they still could be a fringe playoff team.
Their upcoming schedule won’t make it any easier either with two of their next four games being against the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights. They have a fairly difficult schedule in the month of December, so they could sink if they don’t perform well. The next 30 days or so will be quite telling for the 2023-24 Blues.
