The Blues want to be a more aggressive team this season, and coach Drew Bannister believes they have the horses to do so.
After an offseason overhaul of the team’s depth forwards by general manager Doug Armstrong, Bannister thinks his team is primed to play a different brand of hockey during the 2024-25 season.
“I think the team speed on our wings in the bottom six, I think that’s going to be something that’s going to change the look and the identity of our team and how we’re going to be able to skate comparable to how we skated last year,†Bannister said during a conversation with the Post-Dispatch.
“It goes back to what I talked about at the end of last year, and certainly my conversations with Doug is: We need to be a more aggressive team. By being a more aggressive team and being able to skate better, it allows us to do that in all three zones of the ice. That bottom six, it’s a totally different look than we had last year.â€
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Over the summer, Armstrong acquired a handful of wingers that will improve the Blues’ pace: Dylan Holloway (top speed in the 78th percentile), Alexandre Texier (62nd) and Mathieu Joseph (79th). St. Louis also brought back Kasperi Kapanen (93rd) on a one-year deal, and they already employ Alexey Toropchenko (81st).
Texier is the only one not in the top third of the fastest forwards in the NHL.
While Bannister said the Blues will try to be more aggressive all over the ice, it will be particularly important on the forecheck, an area of the game in which St. Louis slipped last season. Without a consistent forecheck, the Blues struggled to maintain possession in the offensive zone and were among the bottom five teams in a variety of possession statistics, according to Natural Stat Trick.
“I don’t want to put that all on our ability to skate,†Bannister said. “I think as much as it is ability to skate, it’s ability to skate to support and get into pucks. I think, at times, we were just too wide. We were disconnected on our forecheck. That’s going to be something that we have to tighten up.
“We’re going to make adjustments to the D-zone to be more aggressive and kill plays. Talking to our players, they want to go. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ want to go and be aggressive. We’ll make some adjustments there that will allow that for them. Hopefully, that’ll translate to more time with the puck and less time playing in our D-zone.â€
The Blues remained a team that could produce offense on the rush, but transition offense can be unreliable from game to game. It’s part of the reason the Blues once went 22 straight games last season without outshooting the opposition at five on five.
Bannister said he felt the Blues forecheck needed improvement “from Day 1†as interim coach.
“There was nights that we forechecked really well, but it wasn’t consistent enough,†Bannister said. “We’ve got to build that consistency through all of our systems. They have to line up. Having that consistency, asking them to be aggressive on the forecheck but also through the neutral zone, and through the D-zone, we’ll have that consistency.â€
If the Blues are able to play a more successful puck possession style thanks to a forecheck with bite, that could ask less of their goaltenders on the other side of the ice. Behind San Jose and Chicago — the two worst teams in the league last season — the Blues allowed the most high-danger chances per hour at five on five in the NHL.