PHILADELPHIA — I’m guessing that when a few of you read the headline above this story, you said to yourself, “I could’ve written this.”
You aren’t wrong.
When it comes to the 2025-26 St. Louis Blues, we can all see who they are at this point — a team that came into the season with fairly high expectations and has fallen completely flat.
I wrote how I see the Blues’ situation last week, and I genuinely don’t want to pile on. They can’t seem to get out of their own way, and their 3-2 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday was another illustration. St. Louis played a better all-around game, but in the end, the Leafs got the OT winner when the Blues lost a 2-against-1 puck battle on the boards.
The Blues’ Pavel Buchnevich and Philip Broberg had John Tavares outnumbered on the wall, but Tavares was somehow able to kick the puck out to a wide-open middle of the ice, where teammate William Nylander scooped it up and scored.
“We doubled up in the corner and we weren’t able to win the battle,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “I know it’s a high-end player (Tavares), but we’ve got to win the battle. We had won a lot of battles during the game, and that was one that cost us the game.
“We did play with much more intention. We were much more physical, and those things are good. But we need to start winning games.”
It was fairly apropos, however, because the Blues have seemingly found a different way to lose a lot of games this season.
“At the end of the day we’ve got to find a way to start putting some wins in the win column.”
Cam Fowler, Dalibor Dvorsky and Jim Montgomery after Tuesday’s game in Toronto. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/8knWP8VOvV
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) November 19, 2025
From their squandered 4-0 lead in a 6-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 25 to giving up the tying goal to the Seattle Kraken with 1.9 seconds left in regulation and succumbing 4-3 in overtime, there have been some heartbreakers. And just when you think they’ve had more than their share, or someone will make a play to dodge another one, Tuesday’s finish in Toronto happens.
The Blues are turning into “slump busters,” too, losing to teams that were seriously scuffling when they played.
Toronto, 3-2 OT loss: The Leafs were 0-4-1 in their previous five games.
Vegas, 4-1 loss: The Golden Knights were 0-2-2 in their previous four games.
Philadelphia, 6-5 SO loss: The Flyers were 0-0-2 in their previous two games.
Seattle, 4-3 OT loss: The Kraken were 1-1-2 in their previous four games.
Washington, 6-1 loss: The Capitals were 0-3-1 in their previous four games.
If you add the combined records of those five opponents in their games leading up to their matchup against the Blues, it’s a total of 1-10-8 in 19 games. But yet, they got back on the winning track.
The Blues are 6-9-5 for 17 points through 20 games, which is essentially the quarter point of the season. While that means there are still three quarters to go, management will need to start making decisions on which direction it wants to go with the roster.
In the meantime, “We’ve got to find a way to start putting some wins in the win column,” defenseman Cam Fowler said. “No matter what it takes or how we have to do it, it’s a results-based game, and we have to figure out a way to start stacking some wins here.”
Here are a few other observations from the early part of the season.
What’s wrong with Buchnevich?
I have to admit something. I’m on a weekly podcast at 101 ESPN called “Last Minute Blues Podcast,” and at the beginning of the season, we had to predict a player who would have a great season for the Blues.
I chose Buchnevich for several reasons. He reunited with Montgomery, who was a Blues assistant coach in 2021-22 and helped Buchnevich reach a career-high 30 goals and 76 points. I also felt that having the ill-fated experiment at center over with, he could settle into his familiar position on the right wing. Playing alongside a healthy Robert Thomas can also do wonders for your numbers.
I was wrong.
Buchnevich has two goals this season, and both are on the power play. In 263 minutes of five-on-five ice time, he not only doesn’t have a goal, but he also has just three points — one primary assist and two secondary assists. His last even-strength point was an assist on Jimmy Snuggerud’s goal against the Dallas Stars on Oct. 18, so he’s gone 15 games without one.
It’s not just the lack of production — it’s the plays that have hurt, too, such as a turnover in the 6-5 loss to Philadelphia, a missed scoring chance in OT against Toronto and the aforementioned lost puck battle against the Leafs that led to the game winner.
Earlier this season, Montgomery said that when Buchnevich is smiling and having fun, that’s when his creativity on the ice comes out, and that’s when his production comes. But if Buchnevich can’t find that smile, then when will the points come?
Many Blues fans have been wondering when Buchnevich will be a healthy scratch. That doesn’t appear to be in the Blues’ plans, as he was on a line in Wednesday’s practice with Dalibor Dvorsky and Jordan Kyrou.
I wrote last week that I didn’t know what scratching Buchnevich would accomplish. To keep what I said in perspective, it was in reference to the big picture of the Blues being a bad team, and how does his sitting out help them get better? I still would ask that question if he were scratched for Thursday’s game in Philadelphia. Kyrou was scratched and came back, and the Blues are no more improved.
That said, Buchnevich may need a personal reset for his own good. I’ve covered a few players in the past who care more about helping the team than he does. When I watch practice, Montgomery and Buchnevich are constantly having conversations on the ice about what to do in specific situations. It usually ends with Buchnevich nodding his head “OK” and applying what he learned.
“He wants the Blues to win, and he wants to be an impact player for us,” Montgomery said. “There’s no doubt about where his heart and head is. But right now, it’s a tough time. It’s a tough time for the team, and a tough time for him.”
You wonder, though, not because anyone thinks Buchnevich will sit out a game or two and suddenly he and the club will figure things out, but because catching his breath could be beneficial for the short and long term. He’s in the first year of a six-year, $48 million deal, so his future with the organization is something that needs proper attention and both sides working together.
Can they keep overplaying top 4 D?
Through 20 games, the Blues have played their top four defensemen a lot. Justin Faulk leads the way with 23:25 of ice time per game, followed by Colton Parayko (23:19), Broberg (22:56) and Cam Fowler (22:47).
To put that into perspective, 263 defensemen have played in the NHL this season, and the ice time of each of the Blues’ four defensemen ranks among the top 44 in the league: Faulk No. 29, Parayko No. 32, Broberg No. 37 and Fowler No. 44.
“I don’t think it’s a big concern,” Montgomery said recently. “I think in the last little while, they’ve played a little bit more.”
Granted, there have been a few overtime games in the last stretch, but Faulk has played over 24 minutes in seven of the past 10 games, Parayko and Broberg five of the last six and Fowler over 23 minutes in four of the last six.
The reason for this is simple: The Blues are limiting the ice time of their third pair, whether it features Tyler Tucker, Matthew Kessel, Hunter Skinner or Logan Mailloux, who’s currently in the AHL. All four of them are averaging less than 12:33 per game.
“Our bottom pair, we as a coaching staff need to show more confidence in them to handle bigger minutes, and we’re going to start using them a little more on the penalty kill as well,” Montgomery said recently. “That should build up their minutes.”
The reason the Blues traded for Fowler was that Blues general manager Doug Armstrong didn’t believe that the ice time of the team’s top-four defensemen was sustainable. This is very familiar to that situation. With the club already allowing an alarming rate of goals this season, it may only get worse if they aren’t able to take some of the load off the top guys.
Why can’t Blues win in overtime?
After the Blues’ 3-2 overtime loss to Toronto, they are winless in five games that have gone to overtime or a shootout this season. They are 0-3 in 3-on-3 overtime and 0-2 in shootouts. They’re just one of two teams in the league without an OT win, including the Pittsburgh Penguins (0-4).
The Leafs ended Tuesday’s game with Nylander’s goal 4:06 into OT, after the Blues had possession of the puck for 2:45. Despite that opportunity, though, they were not credited with an official shot on net.
The 3-on-3 unit has been guilty of regrouping too often and allowing the opposition to change and put fresh bodies on the ice. While the Blues regrouped a few times Tuesday, the problem wasn’t allowing the Leafs to change as much as it was not being aggressive and setting up quality shots at the net. When they did, with Broberg setting up Buchnevich for a Grade-A chance, Buchnevich couldn’t handle the pass.
That brings up another potential concern regarding OT. Should Montgomery give some ice time to other players?
Here are the overtime shifts and ice time from Tuesday’s game: Thomas 3 (2:17), Broberg 2 (2:08), Kyrou 2 (1:52), Buchnevich 3 (1:19), Dylan Holloway 2 (1:18), Parayko 2 (1:06), Jimmy Snuggerud 2 (:34), Brayden Schenn 1 (:28), Fowler 1 (:28), Oskar Sundqvist 1 (:24) and Faulk 1 (:24).
Seven players didn’t see any ice time, including rookie Dvorsky. It’s understandable with Dvorsky, a rookie who’s played just 12 NHL games and hasn’t been involved yet in OT. But with his skill level, perhaps he’s someone whose number may get called, considering the team’s lack of success.
Why is Bjugstad a healthy scratch?
Nick Bjugstad, 33, signed a two-year, $3.5 million free-agent contract with the Blues last summer with the thought that he’d give the team more depth at center and in the bottom six.
Bjugstad has done so, posting four goals and one assist in 18 games in which he’s averaged 11:14 of ice time. However, he’s been a healthy scratch in two of the last three games, and could be sitting in the press box again Thursday in Philadelphia.
“Defensively, I think he’s done a lot of good things,” Montgomery said recently. “He’s just not having the same impact he was having. I don’t mean scoring, I mean building the team game, building momentum for our team.
“A lot of times when we talk about a good shift, it’s not what you actually did, it’s what you leave for the next guy going on the ice. You can have two scoring chances, and then you play five seconds in your D-zone and have a bad change. That’s how you want to try and build — good changes, good rhythm for the game.”