Are The St. Louis Blues The Sleeper Team In The NHL's Western Conference?
With the roster shakeups that occur during the NHL off-season, there are always one or two teams that emerge as ‘sleeper' teams.
The biggest sleeper team in the league this coming season could be the St. Louis Blues, a team that has made several major moves this off-season, starting with Alexander Steen replacing Doug Armstrong as GM, who was promoted to president of hockey operations.
The Blues are a team in transition, as their days as a high-end team in the highly competitive Central Division ended years ago. But Steen and Armstrong have done their best to get St. Louis back as a year-in, year-out playoff contender, and next season, they're tracking to be at least as competitive as they were last year.
And yes, they're a prominent ‘sleeper' team.
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In addition to the players the Blues acquired, youngsters like Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway, Jimmy Snuggerud, Dalibor Dvorsky, and Joel Hofer are a year older and more experienced, and they're all coming off solid seasons. Jake Neighbours is also a likely candidate to bounce back, while Logan Mailloux flashed real NHL skills as the season went along.
St. Louis also has several first-round picks aiming to enter the lineup, including Otto Stenberg, Theo Lindstein, Adam Jiricek, and Justin Carbonneau. There's a solid foundation in place for the Blues' long-term future, and while the Blues could still use a generational talent or two, Steen and Armstrong are doing well at improving the overall depth of the organization.
With Robert Thomas leading the charge offensively, the Blues only need a bit of depth scoring.
In fairness, the Central is a stacked division. The Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild almost certainly will be the Central's top three teams next season, and the Utah Mammoth and Winnipeg Jets will be fighting it out for a wild card berth. Even the Nashville Predators have improved. So St. Louis' goal of being a playoff team in 2026-27 is not going to be easy to achieve.
However, the Blues might prefer it if nobody predicts them to be a playoff team next season. St. Louis can operate under the radar with lesser expectations than teams like the Avs, Stars, and Wild. If Blues coach Jim Montgomery can squeeze out a handful of additional wins this coming year, that may be all it takes to get this St. Louis team back into the post-season.
And once they get there, the Blues could ride a wave of momentum and shock teams in the playoffs.
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The St. Louis Blues' prospect pool remains strong, as four prospects are featured in The Athletic's top 100 NHL-drafted prospects.
So don't sleep on the Blues next year. They've got an improving foundation, and they've got $4.3 million in salary cap space to address any in-season issues. St. Louis will need good luck on the health front as well as a bit of puck luck, but if they can get those two things, there's no reason why the Blues can't take a step forward next season.
St. Louis is trying its damnedest to transition into a prosperous new era. But with the changes they've already made, the Blues are a sleeper team that's going to be in position to climb the ranks of the Central next season and evolve into a perennial Cup threat.
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This story was originally published July 18, 2026 at 1:55 PM.