As Blues players conducted an autopsy on the carcass of their lost season, it was apparent they’d been thinking about a cause of death for quite some time.
From the eight-game losing streak in October and November, to the post Ryan O’Reilly trade malaise, the Blues have had a long time to diagnose exactly where things went wrong. For the first time since 2007-08, the team finished below .500. The Blues missed the playoffs for just the second time since 2011.
The end result was a 28-point tumble from a 109-seaosn in 2021-22 to an 81-point campaign in 2022-23. It was the second-biggest drop in the league, behind only Florida (from a Presidents’ Trophy-winning 122 to a Wild Card 92 points).
