The St. Louis Blues have played reasonably well, winning three of their five games, and have some great point leaders to kick off the season. One of the Blues’ top point producers, Jordan Kyrou, has recently improved compared to his start last season. So far, he’s got six points in his first five games and is progressing very well.
Let’s look at what could be his time for a season of redemption on the Blues roster.
Kyrou Can’t Stop Earning Points
Kyrou has been incredible lately, averaging 1.20 points per game over five games, leading the Blues in points. Last season, he averaged 0.60 points per game in his first five games and finished the month of October with 0.43 points per game. He has surpassed Blues forward Robert Thomas, who led the Blues with five points last season.
Thomas was the highly anticipated player that many of the Blues’ fanbase probably expected to be the top point leader for the Blues this season, but that doesn’t seem to be the case so far. Kyrou is leading on a path to a breakout season, as he’s never hit over 75 points in his career yet. At 26, however, I think much of the pressure was on him to do it sooner. Many would think he would’ve hit at least the 80-point milestone last season.
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With a wild turn of events last season by the Blues making a coaching change, Kyrou had to readjust to the new system with head coach Drew Bannister and seemed to be struggling with the grit and grind system of former Blues head coach Craig Berube despite winning the Stanley Cup with him in the 2018-19 season.
The last time Kyrou had a grand opening season start of five or more points within the first five games was in 2021-22 when he finished with his career-high of 75 points in 74 games. Realistically, Kyrou stays healthy, so if he keeps close to this pace on points for 75 games or more, he could be one of the first Blues players in the Salary Cap Era to hit 100 or more points.
Bannister Making Kyrou Feel Right at Home
As previously stated, the coaching situation on the Blues last season may have been the one thing holding him back from excelling as a player. Under Berube, Kyrou had 17 points in 27 games. Once Bannister came in as the new head coach, Kyrou started producing points at a consistent level, finishing the remainder of last season with 50 points in 55 games.
Sure, under Berube, he scored 70-plus points in two seasons; however, Bannister may be the one to bring Kyrou to the next level, and he exemplifies that through his decision to keep Kyrou on the first line with the Blues’ point leader last season, Robert Thomas. He also plays with Thomas on the first power-play unit on a Blues power play that ranks 12th in the NHL in power-play percentage (25 percent).
According to The Athletic Blues reporter Jeremy Rutherford, when Bannister was asked about the chemistry of Kyrou and Thomas, he stated, “This is a way to get them an opportunity to get on track and start playing some real good hockey for us because we need them if we’re going to have some success” (from ‘Blues’ Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas back on No. 1 line: ‘They need to be top players,’ The Athletic, 10/17/24). So, Bannister is trying to restore Kyrou to his regular line with Thomas. While things were not clicking for Kyrou in the past, Bannister sees something in that pair that could work for the team and maybe for the player.
While Kyrou and the Blues have not hit 10 games yet this season, it will be exciting to see how far Kyrou progresses at that point under Bannister and hopefully reaches a new career high in points this season.
Kyrou’s Next Step Is to Continue His Great Performance
The Blues have many surprising players in the points department, such as Justin Faulk and Philip Broberg. That said, feeding off their hot hand would be the move for Kyrou if it was in sync with their defensive pairing. Another thing is that Kyrou is also on a line with Thomas, who had 60 assists last season; taking advantage of a skilled playmaker would be beneficial since he is shooting a lot more. Kyrou is currently shooting 14.3 percent, the highest it’s been for him since the 2021-22 season.
Considering he is on the best opening season performance since 2021-22, Kyrou should be on pace for close to 75 points or more. Hopefully, even becoming the first Blues player in the Salary Cap Era to score 100 points in a season. Brendan Shanahan followed the footsteps of the last Blues player to hit 100 or more points in a season in 1993-94.
