With just three games left on the schedule this season, St. Louis Blues winger Jordan Kyrou is on the prowl for a second straight 30-goal season. Amid a season where he had rough stretches, it’s somewhat remarkable that he’s tracking towards 30 goals again after tallying 37 last season.
People can say whatever they’d like about him, but there’s no denying the production over the past three seasons. Let’s discuss Kyrou and what the future might hold.
Kyrou Has Been Underrated This Season
It feels like a long time ago, but it’s been less than four months since Kyrou was viciously booed by Blues fans after his comments on the firing of head coach Craig Berube. Of course, he responded exactly how fans wanted him to, so it was forgotten quickly and the sides moved on. With all the craziness that has occurred this season, I believe he’s been underrated by far too many people. He can be a frustrating player to watch at times, but the production speaks for itself.
Not only is he nearing the 30-goal mark, but he’s also been much improved in several areas of the game this season. There’s no denying that the eye test has shown far better effort in being a better two-way player. There is also evidence that suggests he’d be a 40-goal scorer if it weren’t for a cold streak that plagued him early in the season.
He’s one of the best players on the team and anyone that believes otherwise is wrong. There’s no reason to believe the Blues should trade him in the summer. If anything, they should attempt to build around Kyrou and Robert Thomas, which was likely the plan when they extended them on eight-year deals. It’ll be difficult with the salary cap issues, but this season has shown us the value of these two. With the cap set to increase, their cap hits of $8.125 million each will look like steals.
Blues’ History of Consecutive 30-Goal Scorers
With one more goal, Kyrou will become the 18th player in franchise history to record multiple 30-goal seasons. Also of note is that Pavel Buchnevich needs three more goals to join him on that list. Recently, Vladimir Tarasenko tallied six 30-goal seasons across 11 total with the franchise. Kyrou would join a list of Brad Boyes, Doug Gilmour, Joe Mullen, Pierre Turgeon, Red Berenson, and David Backes with two apiece. That’s solid company to be in.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he eventually catches up to Tarasenko with several seasons remaining to play in St. Louis. He has far too much skill to not continue to pile goals up.
What Does Kyrou’s Future Look Like?
As mentioned above, Kyrou has seven years left on his contract after this season. There have been rumblings about the club possibly trading him sometime before his no-trade clause kicks in next summer, but I don’t see that happening. Unless the right opportunity presents itself, it’s not something I expect general manager Doug Armstrong to seek out. He wouldn’t have extended Kyrou if he didn’t want to build around both him and Thomas. Neither one of them has proven him wrong about that as they’ve produced quite a bit in the first season of their deals.
Either way, I believe Kyrou is an important part of the future, and tallying another 30-goal season is tremendous. Even with several rough stretches and a career-low shooting percentage, he’s right on the cusp of doing it again. Blues fans should celebrate him rather than criticize him but to each their own.
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