The St. Louis Blues will have a bit of a different roster in 2024-25. They’ve added multiple players to their forward group and blue line this summer via both free agency and trade. Overall, I expect that to be healthy for the future of the franchise and the team on the ice this season.
However, the club’s most important players are ones who were on the roster last season, in my opinion. Let’s take a look at the three most important Blues in 2024-25.
Pavel Buchnevich
I thought about putting Robert Thomas here, but he’ll be as good as the club needs him to be. A massive factor in this season will be the play of Pavel Buchnevich, who could find himself playing in the second-line center role. If he can be an effective center, this team could be much better than expected. In his first two seasons in St. Louis, Buchnevich was elite, scoring 143 points in 136 games. Last season wasn’t as good as the two seasons prior, but he’s still a good player and I’d bet on him to rebound in 2024-25. He has the passing and scoring ability to work as a center. I expect him to play a major special teams role this season as well.
One of the most important things for the Blues this season will be center reliability behind Thomas, and Buchnevich may be thrust into that role. General manager Doug Armstrong invested in him after extending his contract for six more years. He has to be both versatile and productive this season.
Justin Faulk
I wanted to choose at least one defenseman for this article, so I went with Justin Faulk. Another option could be Colton Parayko, but I believe Faulk is the right choice. The Blues desperately need him to return to the form that he had a couple of years ago. He could not stay healthy last season after being mostly available in his first four seasons in St. Louis.
The Blues need him to be both a point producer and a solid defender. His best seasons with the club featured those two things. If he can return to 2021-22 form, where he scored 16 goals and was a plus-41, the defense will be in a good spot.
Related: Blues Adding Oilers’ Broberg & Holloway Changes Expectations for 2024-25 Season
I presume he’ll be paired with either Nick Leddy, Philip Broberg, or Ryan Suter to start the season, which should put him in a solid spot. Of course, I think he’d fit better with Broberg or Suter, but that’s for the coaching staff to decide.
Jordan Binnington
This team needs good goaltending and that’s what they got from both Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer last season. Choosing Binnington here is the most obvious choice yet. When he’s on, the Blues can be very hard to beat. Last season, he went 28-21-5 with a .913 save percentage (SV%) and a goals against average (GAA) of 2.84. A big reason why they finished with a winning record was the work of Binnington in net.
Binnington can be one of the best goaltenders in the league. Last season was proof that he’s still got the same level of talent and swagger that he had in 2019 when he helped lead the Blues to the Stanley Cup.
These three picks were easy to make. The Blues will be near the playoff line or in the playoffs if Buchnevich, Faulk, and Binnington perform well. Head coach Drew Bannister has a lot of lineup decisions to make before the season gets underway and I think that’s a good thing. The Blues will have their hands full with a far more balanced Central Division in 2024-25.
