The NHL season is underway after an American triple header kicked things off on Oct. 10. As for the St. Louis Blues, their season begins on Oct. 12 in Dallas against the Dallas Stars.
Related: EA Sports NHL 24: 2023-24 Season Simulation
After a disappointing last season, the Blues are looking to return to the playoffs in 2023-24. In this article, I’ll lay out the results of my EA Sports NHL 24 Blues season simulation. Last season’s simulation was a bit inaccurate, but it wasn’t that far off overall.
Blues Player Ratings
Before I list the player ratings for the Blues, I should explain what they are and how they are determined. There is a 0 to 99 scale for each skill and player. The average NHL player in the game is going to be a 77 or above for most teams. Some of the skills that play into the overall rating include various categories.
The categories all have in-depth ratings within them with specific stats such as wrist shot accuracy and power. Those categories are puck skills, senses, shooting, defense, skating, and physical. Let’s take a look at the Blues’ ratings for this season.
Forwards
- Jordan Kyrou (88)
- Pavel Buchnevich (88)
- Robert Thomas (87)
- Brayden Schenn (86)
- Kevin Hayes (85)
- Jakub Vrana (84)
- Kasperi Kapanen (82)
- Brandon Saad (82)
- Oskar Sundqvist (81)
- Sammy Blais (80)
- Jake Neighbours (79)
- Alexey Toropchenko (79)
- Nikita Alexandrov (77)
Defense
- Justin Faulk (85)
- Torey Krug (85)
- Colton Parayko (85)
- Nick Leddy (83)
- Marco Scandella (81)
- Robert Bortuzzo (80)
- Scott Perunovich (78)
- Tyler Tucker (78)
Goaltenders
- Jordan Binnington (84)
- Joel Hofer (79)
How the Season Simulation Played Out
- Record: 43-33-6 (92 points) (4th in Central Division)
The simulation has the Blues sneaking into the playoffs with a wild card in the Western Conference. At the top of the Central Division were the Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, and Winnipeg Jets. As for league-wide rankings in the simulation, the Blues were 19th in goals scored (248) and 16th in goals against (245), and that seems mostly accurate. As for special teams, the Blues ranked 27th on the power play and 22nd on the penalty kill. Let’s look at the Blues’ individual stat leaders.
Skater Stat Leaders:
- Points: Thomas – 71
- Goals: Thomas – 29
- Assists: Kyrou – 48
The simulation was fairly accurate in the number of Blues players that tallied 60 or more points, which was four. I would be surprised if their leading goal scorer has fewer than 30 goals though. The simulation was also likely accurate with Thomas, Kyrou, and Buchnevich being their three top scorers.
Goaltending Stats:
- Record: Binnington (33-27-5) & Hofer (10-7-1)
- Save percentage (SV%): Binnington (.915) & Hofer (.906)
- Shutouts: Binnington (5)
This is a solid bounce-back for Binnington with nearly 70 games played and a SV% above .910. If Hofer only plays in 21 games, that’s a good thing for Binnington’s future. He was one of the better goaltenders in this simulation, which would be a surprise if the actual regular season played out this way.
In the first round, the Blues took on the Vancouver Canucks. They went down 3-1 in the series and couldn’t recover, losing the series in six games. The big three Buchnevich, Thomas, and Kyrou led the way again for the Blues in the playoffs, including eight points in six games for Buchnevich. This would mark the second time the Blues lost to the Canucks in the playoffs over the past four seasons if it became true.
Overall, I thought the simulation could end up being mostly accurate when the season is all said and done. I don’t think the Blues will make the playoffs, but if they do, it will be as close as this simulation showed. Either way, the hockey is back and the Blues have a chance to bounce back from a bad 2022-23 season.
