An offseason checklist for the St. Louis Blues

The offseason has arrived with roughly half of the league missing the playoffs and several more having since been eliminated. It’s time to examine what those teams need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at St. Louis.

While the Blues managed to secure the final playoff spot in the West Division, it was a bit of a tough year for them. On paper, the roster was good enough to be a threat but it didn’t materialize into much success and they were swept by Colorado in the opening round. With a lot of money coming off the books this summer, GM Doug Armstrong will have an opportunity to reshape his team (or keep most of it intact if he prefers that option). Here is a look at what will be on his to-do list this summer.

Berube Decision

While we saw several teams go with a coach in the final year of their contract, that isn’t always the case as some teams want to at least get a small extension in place to avoid any potential for distraction. Head coach Craig Berube will be in the final season of the three-year deal he signed after having the interim tag removed following their Stanley Cup victory in 2019.

Armstrong will need to decide if he’s comfortable with Berube being the head coach beyond next season. If so, they may as well try to work a deal out now. Or, Armstrong is uncertain about whether Berube is the ideal long-term fit (two first-round exits could raise some questions on that front), he will need to decide if he’s comfortable starting the season with Berube on the final year of his deal. With several teams doing that this year, it will be easier to justify that option if Armstrong decides to wait a little longer before making that call.

Re-Sign Or Replace Schwartz

Jaden Schwartz has been a regular in St. Louis’ lineup for the better part of a decade now. He certainly has battled injuries at times but he has five seasons of 55 or more points under his belt and is a valuable part of their top-six. The 28-year-old is set to hit the open market for the first time this summer and his case should be one of the more interesting ones around the league.

2020-21 was not a good season at all for Schwartz. He had just eight goals and 13 assists in 40 games, per-game rates that were only higher than his rookie season when he was only playing a dozen minutes a night. That certainly doesn’t provide a great case for a raise. However, three of those 55-point or more campaigns came in three of the four previous years so there is definitely some track record of recent success.

A couple of years ago, Schwartz would have been in line for a long-term deal around his $5.35M cap hit that he had this season and probably a little bit higher.  However, the UFA market was tough on most wingers last fall and with teams in a similar cap crunch now, it seems likely that this will be the case again this summer. Now, there’s a definite possibility that Schwartz is facing a reduction in pay.

If they’re unable to come to terms on a new deal, Armstrong could pivot to someone like Mike Hoffman, another Blues UFA. It’s unlikely they’ll be able to afford to keep both but if Schwartz decides to move on, they could have his replacement in-house already.

Dunn Deal

Vince Dunn is no stranger to trade speculation. The 24-year-old has basically been involved in it for a couple of years now.  While his point total went down last season, he did quietly turn things around this year, collecting 20 points in 43 games this year, numbers that if extrapolated over an 82-game season would have been the best of his young career.