Season Review:
St. Louis had a very up & down season. After breaking a stretch of 15-20 straight years of making the playoffs and selecting the 1st pick overall last year (Eric Johnson), the only place a team can go is up. The Blues signed a lot of veteran UFA's in the offseason (Guerin, Weight, Legace, & others) with hopes of doing better. St. Louis was playing better than last season, but not well enough to prevent a change of coaches. With a new coach (Andy Murray, I think?), St. Louis played extremely well at the end of the season (going something like 15-5-5).

Offseason Needs:
one word: offense. St. Louis didn't have any player score close to 70 points. Their leading goalscorer, Bill Guerin, was traded from the team in March at the deadline. Coincidentally, the Blues are looking to resign Guerin, among other players. St. Louis needs top six forward talent and in a big way. Besides Boyes and Stempniak, there aren't many NHL-ready youngsters on St. Louis who can fill a top 6 role. Their goaltending is good enough and they have a solid blueline.


Next Season Outlook:
Armed with a lot of cap space and many high draft picks, St. Louis has its eyes set on the playoffs again. Although they face stiff competition in the Western Conference, St. Louis should improve significantly under their new coach. However, they lack the scoring depth to make a huge splash in the standings (think of the Blues as a poor-man's Dallas Stars, but with less offense). They should finish 3rd in their division ahead of Columbus & Chicago, but behind the Wings and Preds.