After another agonizingly early playoff exit in 2014-15, the St. Louis Blues didn't blow things up like some thought they might. The changes were few, but not insignificant.
Most importantly, the Blues locked up sniper Vladimir Tarasenko long-term, handing their leading scorer an eight-year, $60 million contract. Their best offensive player isn't going anywhere for a while. However, that deal did have a ripple effect.
In an effort to shed some salary, the Blues dealt T.J. Oshie to the Washington Capitals for Troy Brouwer and goalie prospect Pheonix Copley. Moves that involve core players are never easy, especially when they take a top-six forward out of the mix.
It was a necessary move, though, and the blow was softened by the emergence of Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz as central players to the team's attack. It still takes a good two-way player who had 55 points last season out of the equation and replaces him with Brouwer, who is a better fit in a bottom-six role.
But that was really the biggest change this entire offseason for the Blues, aside from longtime defenseman Barret Jackman being let go. Doug Armstrong decided to go back to Ken Hitchcock as head coach despite another postseason failure. It's reportedly a one-year deal, so this is probably Hitchcock's last chance to get the club over the hump in the playoffs.
The pressure is on this team in a big way. They know their opportunity to win the Stanley Cup is going to be limited as other players get older and the team has to start heading in a younger direction. They have all the tools to be a contending team, but that has been true the past few years with very little to show for it.
2015-16 at a glance
New additions: Troy Brouwer, Kyle Brodziak
Key losses: T.J. Oshie, Barrett Jackman, Zbynek Michalek, Chris Porter
Top returning scorers: Vladimir Tarasenko (77 GP, 37-36--73), Alexander Steen (74 GP, 24-40--64), Jaden Schwartz (75 GP, 28-35--63)
Total salary against cap: $68,876,667
Cap space remaining: $2,523,333
Biggest question heading into the season: Who gets the net?
How many years are we going to ask this question of the Blues? The Blues have never been truly settled between the pipes. There has been battle after battle and that continues this season as both Jake Allen and Brian Elliott will once again be fighting for reps.
Elliott had the better numbers in the regular season last year, but a late-season injury allowed Allen to take the job heading into the postseason. It didn't go well. Allen posted a .904 save percentage as the Central Division champs were ousted from the playoffs by the Minnesota Wild in the first round.
The team still believes in the 25-year-old Allen and gave him a two-year bridge deal, but Elliott still has something in the tank after posting a 26-14-3 record, .917 save percentage and 2.26 goals-against average in 46 appearances. That said, Elliott's playoff numbers over his career are not great.
So the question isn't only who gets the net, but are either of these goaltenders the guy that can help the Blues break from their postseason woes? It's going to take a long time to get an answer on that second one.
Season outlook: The Blues still have one of the better rosters top-to-bottom in the league even without Oshie and with their moderate concerns in net. The top-nine forward group can do a lot of damage and did last season, plus there are good young players who can log a lot of minutes on defense.
The Blues should be expecting another big season out of Tarasenko, especially now that he's being paid like a top-end forward. Lofty expectations and big dollars create a lot of pressure, but Tarasenko has just been getting better and better since arriving. Now 23, these next few years are going to be his prime scoring campaigns. If he handles the pressure well, the rest of the league better watch out.
They already have dependable veterans in terms of production like Alexander Steen and David Backes. A bounce-back year from Paul Stastny, who underwhelmed in his first season in St. Louis, would go a long way, too. You also can't forget the breakout seasons of Jaden Schwartz and Jori Lehtera.
The guy in the forward group to watch this year will probably be Dmitrij Jaskin. The 22-year-old got into 54 games last season and put up 13 goals. Now that he has 74 games of NHL experience, he should be expected to contribute in a bigger manner in 2015-16.
Defensively, the team has a clear No. 1 in Alex Pietrangelo and one of the more underrated defensemen in the league in Kevin Shattenkirk. Jay Bouwmeester still can perform, but last season was a bit of an underwhelming one for him. There are only more questions after that as depth remains a little suspect with Carl Gunnarsson, Robert Bortuzzo and Chris Butler bringing up the rear. If their top three can adequately handle a heavy workload, it won't matter. But they showed some signs of cracking last season.
The Blues are absolutely still in position to contend for another Central Division title, though. On paper, they can match up with the likes of the Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings. But the entire regular season will be viewed with guarded optimism considering how this team has crumbled in the playoffs. The biggest concern this team has can only be fixed by changing the now-familiar script with their play on the ice come spring.
