Who is the Blues' next face of the franchise?

Going into the 2026-27 season, every expectation was that Robert Thomas would be the star of the Blues team this year, but his slow start raises two important questions. Who will be the best player on this team by the year’s end? And does this team have the star power necessary to win a cup?

Who will be the best player by the end of the year?

No player has built a stronger case to be the face of this team than Philip Broberg. Broberg was coming off a career-high 34 points and a respectable plus-16 rating. However, he has already broken out with 13 points in his first 20 games while leading the team with nearly 25 minutes per game.

Broberg has become the first true top-pair defenseman the Blues have had in years. He was also named an assistant captain and is in the first year of his six-year extension. At just 25 years old, Broberg has put himself in a prime position to be the face of the franchise going forward.

The other notable player who has exceeded expectations so far has been Jimmy Snuggerud. Following a 21-goal, 51-point rookie season, expectations were high for Snuggerud, but he has surpassed them, putting himself on pace for more than 40 goals this season.

At just 22 years old, it is tempting to hope he can blossom into a star. However, Snuggerud has benefited greatly from being in the right place at the right time, and he still has some holes in his skating and strength that could hold him back.

Then, of course, it is important not to count Robert Thomas out. Despite what has seemed like a disastrous start, Thomas is still tied for the team lead in points.

Though it is absolutely possible, and honestly probable, that Thomas will once again be considered the team’s best player by season’s end, there is still concern about his ceiling and whether he can be a star player on a Cup-contending team.

Does the best player need to come from outside the organization?

Since the Cup run, the Blues have pursued several big-name players, including Matthew Tkachuk, Noah Dobson, and Jason Robertson. For one reason or another, all of those deals fell through, leaving the Blues without a true star for the past several seasons.

The Blues currently do not have a single player in the top 100 in points, and no team has ever won a Stanley Cup without one. Only two teams in NHL history (2022-23 Vegas Golden Knights and 2002-03 New Jersey Devils) have won without a top-50 scorer, a feat that seems like an uphill battle for any current Blues player.

Trading for a player with point-per-game-or-better potential is a near-impossible task. Dylan Larkin is widely seen as the top available player, but he has never eclipsed 80 points and is now 30 years old with a large contract. On top of that, the Blues are not on his list of teams he is willing to be traded to.

There is no easy answer outside the organization, but with a strong pipeline, it is possible the Blues are waiting for the next Tkachuk-type player to hit the open market.

Whether the answer comes from inside or outside the organization, the Blues’ star player and face-of-the-franchise role remains open—a position they have found themselves in for much of the time since the 2019 Cup win.