During an appearance on the 鈥淣HL Tonight鈥 TV show, forward Dylan Holloway offered a simple rationale for signing his offer sheet with the Blues.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity I鈥檓 excited for, and I think it will be good for my career,鈥 Holloway said.
Plenty of his Blues teammates feel the same way these days. Opportunity and career advancement will be overarching themes during their next two seasons.
The Blues plan a peaceful transition of power in 2026, when Alexander Steen will succeed Doug Armstrong as general manager and assumes day-to-day control of hockey operations.
Armstrong wants to hand an ascending team to Steen. To get from here to there, the Blues will give opportunities to many prospects and young veterans.
They are using all means necessary to retool. The offer sheet gambit that landed Holloway, the 14th overall pick in 2020, and defenseman Philip Broberg, the eighth overall pick in 2019, was just the latest example.
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Which players will make the most of their opportunity? Who will work their way into the nucleus forming around forwards Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou?
These are the questions the next two seasons will answer.
This retooling began in earnest during this past season. While the Blues stayed within range of the playoff race, new coach Drew Bannister also stressed player development.
Winger Jake Neighbours broke out offensively. Joel Hofer joined Jordan Binnington in a highly effective goaltending partnership. Matt Kessel emerged as a reliable stay-at-home defender. Big winger Alexei Toropchenko muscled into a more prominent role. Rookie forward Zack Bolduc made a favorable first impression.
That progress set the stage for what came next.
Armstrong realigned his roster during the offseason, creating ample salary cap space by unloading Kevin Hayes and others who fell off the pace.
He could have used his newfound flexibility to do something big, like landing Blues-killer Patrik Laine. Columbus sent him and his entire $8.7 million salary-cap hit to Montreal for the final two years of his contract.
The Canadiens, like the Blues, are in a retooling stage. Montreal GM Kent Hughes decided this was the time to add a high-scoring winger who has struggled with injuries and off-ice issues in recent years.
Armstrong took a much different route this summer, spreading his available cap dollars over several players. First, he worked to upgrade the Blues鈥 supporting cast by importing a mix of veterans young and old.
The additions up front will allow forward prospects Bolduc, Dalibor Dvorsky, Zach Dean, Jimmy Snuggerud and Otto Stenberg to develop at an appropriate pace.
Forward Alexandre Texier, who turns 25 years old next month, will get an opportunity to compete for a third-line role after getting lost in the Columbus roster shuffle. He arrived here with a right-priced salary ($2.1 million average for two seasons) and the potential to contribute 30 to 40 points and kill penalties.
Holloway, 22, was a low-risk addition for the Blues. Like fellow newcomer Mathieu Joseph, 27, Holloway will add speed, physicality and puck-hunting ability to the forecheck.
He can play center or the wing. He demonstrated offensive upside while scoring 25 goals in 63 AHL games and 35 points in 23 college games. He was stuck in a dead-end job in Edmonton, relegated to the fourth line with a three-year Oilers contract offer reflecting that limited role.
Holloway could seize a third-line role here and work into the power-play mix. He will earn $4.58 million over the next two years while bidding for a long-term role stretching well into the Steen Era.
He could be a real steal.
The Blues have accumulated quartet of good defensive prospects 鈥 Theo Lindstein, Adam Jiricek, Colin Ralph and Lukas Fischer 鈥 but none of them may be ready to contribute until 2027-28. Hence the team鈥檚 immediate need to infuse youth to the blue line.
Defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph, a 2017 first-round draft pick, will get a chance to do that. Joseph, 25, played 15 minutes per game during the past two seasons for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In addition to adding Joseph for a potential third-pairing role, Armstrong gave injury-plagued and mistake-prone Scott Perunovich still another chance to realize his potential. He could quarterback the power play if veteran Torey Krug remains out with his persistent ankle injury.
Armstrong had to do something bigger to realign his defensive corps, so he grabbed headlines while committing $9.18 million over two years to Broberg.
That is a huge overpay for what Broberg, 23, has accomplished to this point of his career. But again, the Blues鈥 themes moving forward are opportunity and advancement.
Broberg is an exceptional skater with the tools to grow into a top-four role. Like so many others, he will get every chance to blossom as the Blues try to progress.
鈥淩ight now, with all those first-round picks, I think we have a lot of pieces,鈥 Armstrong said. 鈥淣ow we have to build a puzzle, and I鈥檓 excited to have Alex Steen help me do that for a couple of years.鈥