St. Louis Blues’ Wild Draft Week Shows They’re Not Willing to Bottom Out

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Working his final full week as the St. Louis Blues GM, arguably nobody in the NHL has been busier than Doug Armstrong. Before moving up in the organization and giving up the title to Alexander Steen, Armstrong made one thing certain — the Blues are not rebuilding.

The Blues got rid of one roster player, brought in at least three and looked to have filled in some gaps in their prospect pool. Between moving up to pick No. 2 and targeting Jason Robertson, the team was involved in all sorts of rumors throughout the week. When it was all said and done, the Blues left the week as a much different hockey team.

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Blues Give Jordan Kyrou a Change of Scenery

Figuring out a plan for Jordan Kyrou always seemed like the first order of business this offseason. The Blues made their decision on a wild Tuesday across the league, sending him to the Washington Capitals for F Connor McMichael, prospect Milton Gastrin (drafted 37th in the 2025 Draft) and pick No. 16 in Friday’s Draft.

Kyrou had reached his peak in St. Louis and could easily reach new heights in Washington, who also brought in Alex Tuch from Buffalo. For the Blues, while it’s a shame that things didn’t work with a player of Kyrou’s potential, this is a strong return for a player coming off of a poor season.

McMichael has played C for the Capitals, but could make the switch LW going forward. The 2019 first-round pick took a step back in 2025-26 after putting up 25 goals and 57 points the year prior, largely due to his shooting percentage dropping from 14.7% to 9.9% in 78 games. He is also a pending restricted free agent. Gastrin played in Sweden for MoDo Hockey, putting up 24 points in 39 games before coming over for one Calder Cup playoff game with the Hershey Bears.

Adding pick No. 16 gave the Blues four first-round picks — 11, 15, 16 and 29. Nobody believed that all of them would be used by the Blues, and they were right.

Armstrong Gambles on McTavish’s Potential

Friday morning, reports surfaced that the Rangers and Blues were both looking to acquire C Mason McTavish from the Ducks. Midway through the first round of the draft, the Blues got it done in exchange for picks No. 15 (via Detroit) and 29 (from Colorado via New York Islanders) in the first round. On the surface, this is a large price for a player coming off a down season who has flaws on the defensive side of his game.

This is a gamble, without a doubt, but it’s a worthwhile one for the Blues. The team needs star power and McTavish, picked third overall in the 2021 Draft, could bring that more than the picks they gave up. The Blues have largely succeeded with first round picks, but recently they’ve had dozens of mid-to-late-round selections. Depth is great, but it doesn’t top star power. Picking four times in the first round would give them more of what they already have — a prospect pool that’s solid, but not scaring other teams.

McTavish Needs to Put Pieces Together

As mentioned, McTavish had a nightmare season for his standards. He missed much of training camp negotiating a new contract and didn’t earn the trust of head coach Joel Quenneville, even getting scratched in the playoffs. McTavish has a lot of tools the Blues like. He’s got a big frame who can hit and put up points in bunches. He needs to continue working on his 200-foot game, and for the Blues to give up what they did for him, there’s little doubt they will get to work on refurbishing his game.

One thing that’s important to remember with this situation is the Blues’ recent hiring of Greg Cronin as an assistant coach. Cronin was the Ducks’ head coach for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, McTavish’s two best seasons in the league. Cronin didn’t have a great reputation among the players in Anaheim, but he seemingly got the best out of McTavish. It’s hard to imagine he and former Duck and current Blues D Cam Fowler weren’t asked their thoughts on the player before making this trade.

Blues Bolster Right Side of the Defense

Early in the second day of the draft, Armstrong made another move. The Blues acquired D Brandon Carlo from Toronto in exchange for two third-round picks, No. 71 and 76. Carlo has one year left on his contract, with the Blues owing him $3.48 million.

Carlo had a nightmare run in Toronto after being moved from Boston in a lopsided 2025 trade deadline deal. The defenseman has played in 692 NHL games, and was part of the 2019 Bruins that lost to the Blues in the Stanley Cup Final. He has a history with head coach Jim Montgomery, playing under him for over two seasons for the Bruins.

This is not a sexy move for the Blues, but it provides depth and stability at a position of need. Carlo is a big body with a defense-first mindset. He immediately slots into the Blues’ penalty kill and the third pair.

The Blues Will Have Internal Competition

Adam Jiricek, the Blues’ 2024 first-round pick, is coming off of an impressive season and will be contending for a roster spot on the blue line. With Carlo in the mix, it creates a healthy internal competition without forcing Jiricek or Theo Lindstein to play a role they may not be prepared for.

Last year, when the Blues acquired D Logan Mailloux, they treated him as an everyday player from the start of camp. Then Mailloux started to struggle mightily, getting sent to the AHL for a stint. Part of the issue was that the Blues did not have a fourth right-shot defenseman behind Mailloux, Colton Parayko and Justin Faulk. With Parayko seemingly staying put, the defense core has depth they didn’t have last year. If things change and Jiricek earns a roster spot in camp, the Blues won’t complain at all.

Blues Fix Weakness With First Round Picks

After all the moves, the Blues held onto picks No. 11 and 16 on Friday. Even though the Blues reportedly were willing to move off pick No. 11, they had to be happy that they kept it. The Blues selected C Tynan Lawrence from Boston University. Lawrence was in top-five pick conversations earlier on this season before a slow start when he made the transition to NCAA hockey. Still, he brings a strong 200-foot game and skating that will serve the Blues’ middle-six for years to come.

With pick no. 16, the Blues went a little off the board with the selection of F Maddox Dagenais from the Quebec Remparts. The 6-foot-4, 198 pound is a high-energy power forward with a solid scoring touch, notching 30 goals in 62 QMJHL games. ESPN’s Meghan Chayka compared Dagenais to Owen Tippett during Draft coverage.

What Is the Blues’ Outlook?

It’s safe to say that the Blues improved their depth both next season and going forward. They likely added two players to a second line that needed reshaping, along with a stable veteran presence on defense. It’s unclear if they did enough to survive in the Central division.

It’s hard to judge where Armstrong and Steen see this retool heading, especially in this division. The Blues finished fifth in the division last year, but none of the top-four teams appear to be taking a step back. The Mammoth, who finished fourth, look to have fixed a weakness by acquiring G Sebastian Cossa. The Central is a gauntlet and the Blues are having a tough time breaking into that top echelon.

The Blues are in a tough spot right now. They’re too good to bottom out but not good enough to be a contender. They are a team that wasn’t as bad as they started the 2025-26 season. They were also not as good as how they ended. Armstrong’s mindset is clear on one thing — they aren’t willing to bottom out.

The NHL landscape has changed so that players have more say over where they go than ever before. The Brady Tkachuk and Robertson situations are showing it firsthand, and teams are realizing it. Having a vision is great, but players want to go where they know they can win.

With Armstrong watching from a different perspective now, it will be up to Steen to turn the Blues into a team players want to join, and that has a chance to win.

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