Top Five Second Half Goals for the St. Louis Blues

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

1. Stay Healthy, But be Prepared for Injuries

Whereas the Blues’ biggest rash of injuries came during the late part of the season in 2013-14, the team experienced plenty of injuries during the first half of this season. Due to the fact that injuries often come in waves, the Blues surely would like to believe that the worst of their injury concerns are behind them for 2014-15.

With that said, the team has three sets of back-to-back games within a month of the All-Star break, and they have four four-game weeks before the end of March. It will be crucial for the Blues to be cautious with injuries and make sure that their more fragile players are kept well-rested during this high-intensity portion of the schedule.

The Blues should be relatively well-protected on the blueline if they need to give anyone time off or address injuries, as they already have a capable seventh defenseman—the odd man out among Ian Cole and Chris Butler—and they have Petteri Lindbohm, who has already seen action in the NHL this season, waiting in the AHL.

If there’s a need for extra depth at forward, however, the circumstances may be more dire. Chris Porter is expected to eventually return from his ankle injury, though he can only do so much if he’s asked to take the spot of a top-nine player. The team’s more viable offensive options at the AHL level are heavy question marks; Ty Rattie, who has 17 goals and 10 assists in 41 minor-league games this year, has yet to register an NHL point through two games, while recently-demoted Magnus Paajarvi has been sporadic offensively during his time with the Blues, and it’s looking more like he’ll never reach the offensive potential that was envisioned for him when the Edmonton Oilers took him 10th overall in the 2009 NHL Draft.

Ultimately, the Blues are just going to have to hope for better luck with health than they had a year ago and try to prepare their depth players as thoroughly as possible in the event that some of them are pressed into action down the stretch.

Next: Blues' Brian Elliott Selected for 2015 NHL All-Star Game