Blues early powerplay struggles may be a red flag

The St. Louis Blues kicked off their 2026-27 season with a statement road win over the Dallas Stars: Joel Hofer made 25 saves in a shutout, and Mason McTavish had exactly the kind of debut you would hope for. So far, so good,

Then, the Blues followed up that victory with a devastating blowout loss to the Colorado Avalanche. That loss may've signaled the beginning of the end for Jordan Binnington's tenure in St. Louis. Another red flag was raised, too: the anemic power play.

Preseason woes carry into regular season

In four preseason games, the Blues went 0-for-18 on the power play. Granted, that's the preseason, so it wasn't a reason to hit the panic button, but now we're two games in, and things haven't improved much.

The Blues went 0-for-4 against the Stars, and then 0-for-2 against the Avalanche. Failing to convert on the man advantage against the Stars didn't much matter in that win, but it might've made the Colorado game a little closer. In the Blues' defense, both teams had strong penalty kills last season: the Avs were first in the league with an 84.6 percent success rate, while the Stars weren't too shabby with an 80.3 percent penalty kill--good for 13th in the league.

There are three games on the docket for the Blues this week, against the Chicago Blackhawks, San Jose Sharks, and Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blackhawks had a surprisingly effective penalty kill last season, but the other two teams were woeful--this week presents an opportunity for the Blues to try and get their power play right.

Possible fixes

Aside from "play better," there are only two real fixes for the power play: time or a personnel change.

It's early in the season, so it's unlikely we'll see the unit change much. McTavish will be given some runway to gel with his new teammates, while Cam Fowler will have the chance to prove he can still be an effective NHL power-play quarterback. McTavish's spot is likely safe for some time; we're less confident in Fowler's ability to hack it.

In Anaheim, Fowler wasn't particularly effective on the power play; it wasn't until he joined St. Louis that his power play scoring chance generation ticked up, and that's likely a product of playing with a better, more experienced team. The power play is not Fowler's forte, though, and at 34 years old, it's fair to question what the Blues have to gain with him on the top unit.

Enter Philip Broberg. To date, the power play hasn't been a strength of Broberg's game, either--but he hasn't been afforded a ton of opportunity on the top unit, either. Sure, he got a decent look last season after Justin Faulk was traded to the Detroit Red Wings, but it's surprising he's not held onto the role. He's younger than Fowler and signed a longer term--why not get Broberg some reps on the man advantage?

While the power play's ineffectiveness is a concern, it has been only two games; by this time next week, the Blues could go 6-for-8--who knows! If they continue to struggle, though, expect some changes--and we'd bet Broberg swaps in for Fowler.