The St. Louis Blues had a summer to remember, adding some offensive talent that should go a long way in improving the team’s overall attack. With the specific addition of Ryan O’Reilly, the Blues suddenly had one of the NHL’s best group of young locked-in talent.
An article over at ESPN.com examined this fact, highlighting the teams who had the best players who are signed for at least the next three seasons and who are age 27 or under. It’s the perfect kind of article you’d expect to read during the long, quiet days of summer.
The Blues ranked third on the ESPN list, trailing just the Edmonton Oilers and the Nashville Predators. The Blues secured the third position thanks to Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz and O’Reilly all fitting within the stipulations of being 27 or younger and being signed for at least the next three years.
Tarasenko’s skills need no lengthy explanation, but the article notes that he has the second-most goals in the NHL since 2014-15 (149). Schwartz continues to be one of the most underrated players in the league, but that’s when he’s able to maintain a clean bill of health. Then there’s O’Reilly, one of the newest Blues, and his ability to change the game both through his physical play, talent on faceoffs and nose for goal.
The criteria for this list was a little arbitrary, but it does give us something to talk about. Looking ahead, the Blues have some exciting youngsters who could keep the team on a future edition of this list assuming players such as Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou pan out.
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