It’s tough to evaluate the Blues’ off-season moves without leading off by talking about Matthew Tkachuk. Fans were banking on Armstrong trading for him to shore up the Blues’ offense, but no one was expecting the Florida Panthers to offer up Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar in return for Tkachuk. There was no way for the Blues to match that offer without making both their offense and defense measurably worse, so Tkachuk is going to South Florida.
That out of the way, the Blues appeared to have limited paths to improvement this summer, victims of the salary cap.