St. Louis Blues’ 5 Best Moves of the 21st Century – The Hockey Writers St Louis Blues Latest News, Analysis & More

The St. Louis Blues have been a mostly consistent franchise in the 21st century, especially in the 2010s. They’ve had stability over the past 15-plus years with Doug Armstrong at the helm and have made the playoffs 16 times since the 1999-00 season.

The Blues rank fifth in the NHL since 2000 in wins, behind the Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars, Washington Capitals, and Colorado Avalanche. Let’s get into things that shaped the franchise the most over the past 25 years with their best moves of the 21st century.

Blues Acquire Keith Tkachuk From Coyotes (2001)

The Blues traded a first-round pick in 2002 (Ben Eager), Michael Handzus, Ladislav Nagy, and Jeff Taffe to the Arizona Coyotes for Keith Tkachuk on March 13, 2001. This trade was a decisive win for the Blues, who got 543 games out of Tkachuk. During his time with the club, he netted 208 goals and 219 assists for 427 points. Notably, he had three 30-goal seasons in St. Louis as well. He officially joined the Blues Hall of Fame in 2024 and deserved the honor for his impact on the franchise.

He was a great player throughout his entire career. He brought physicality and scoring touch to the table at an elite level for several seasons, especially during his time with the Blues. He was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers in 2007 for a bunch of picks, including a 2007 first-round pick that eventually ended up with the Calgary Flames and became Mikael Backlund. Either way, the Tkachuk trade in 2001 was worth it for the Blues.

Blues Land Shutdown Defenseman Jay Bouwmeester in Trade (2013)

On April 1, 2013, the Blues traded their 2013 first-round pick, Reto Berra, and Mark Cundari to the Calgary Flames in exchange for veteran defenseman Jay Bouwmeester. He spent the rest of his career in St. Louis until retiring after a heart event in the 2019-20 season. His impact on the 2019 Stanley Cup team cannot be overstated. He was the shutdown partner next to Colton Parayko and they led the defensive unit which was the identity of that team. He appeared in 490 regular season games as a Blue and 75 playoff games. He was also top-20 in Norris trophy voting in 2013-14, which was his first full season with the club. Overall, Bouwmeester was one of the Blues’ best defensive defensemen of the 21st century and had a fairly large impact on the franchise.

The Pick in the David Rundblad Trade Becomes Vladimir Tarasenko (2010)

The Blues altered the trajectory of their franchise in the 2010 Draft. They got quality NHLer Jaden Schwartz with the 14th overall pick and then nabbed Vladimir Tarasenko with the 16th overall pick. This all began with a trade.

On June 25, 2010, the Blues traded defenseman David Rundblad, whom they drafted with the 17th overall pick in the 2009 Draft, to the Ottawa Senators for a 2010 first-round pick. It was, of course, the 16th overall pick and the one they used to take Tarasenko. He turned into a star goal scorer in St. Louis. In 644 games with the club, he scored 262 goals and had a 40-goal season and five 30-goal seasons. It’s important to note that he also had 40 playoff goals and was on the top line when they won the Cup in 2019.

He will join the Blues Hall of Fame when his career is over. He’s the best pure goal scorer in franchise history outside of the legendary Brett Hull and maybe Garry Unger. The Rundblad trade was a phenomenal move by Armstrong early into his tenure as the club’s general manager.

Blues Firing Mike Yeo, Hiring Craig Berube (2018)

Another Armstrong masterclass was firing Mike Yeo in the 2018-19 season and giving Craig Berube a chance to be an NHL head coach again. He’s by far the best Blues coach in the 21st century despite the success of Joel Quenneville and Ken Hitchcock. Berube did something in St. Louis that those two didn’t – win a Cup.

Related: Ranking Blues Head Coaches Hired By Doug Armstrong

Before parting ways in the 2023-24 season, Berube spent parts of six seasons as the head coach. He won 206 regular season games and 24 playoff games. It’s not his fault that the roster got worse and couldn’t win towards the end of his run. He’s now having a lot of regular-season success in his first season with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s a really good coach and it’s a shame that he’s no longer behind the club’s bench.

Blues Acquire Ryan O’Reilly From Sabres (2018)

Prior to the 2018-19 season, the Blues traded a 2019 first-round pick, a second-round pick in 2021, Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka, and Tage Thompson. The trade was a massive success within one season for the Blues. O’Reilly tallied 28 goals and 49 assists for 77 points in 2018-19. Oh, and he also had 23 points in 26 playoff games and won the Conn Smythe trophy. He was the best forward on the 2019 Cup team by a wide margin. He was elite in every sense of the word. He became the team’s captain after Alex Pietrangelo departed and stayed consistent as a near-point-per-game player in the playoffs as a Blue.

O’Reilly was a fan favorite and contributed a lot for a player who only spent four and a half seasons in St. Louis. There’s an argument to be made that he was the club’s most impactful two-way center of this century. Thompson is a really good player, but the Blues were right to make this trade and they’d do it again.

Honorable Mentions

Though it hasn’t worked out well in the past few seasons, the Blues acquiring Brayden Schenn from the Philadelphia Flyers in 2017 for Jori Lehtera and two first-round picks was an overall good move. Those picks became Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost, who have put together solid careers, but the Blues got a Stanley Cup, multiple good seasons and named Schenn the team’s captain a couple of seasons ago. Another honorable mention is the countless times they signed David Perron in free agency. He was a major impact player in St. Louis this century.

I should also mention the Jordan Binnington decision from Berube and Armstrong, as well as the Alexander Steen trade in 2008, and keep an eye on the offer sheets from the summer of 2024 that netted the club forward Dylan Holloway and defenseman Philip Broberg. That move looks pretty savvy right now. The final honorable mentions are the trade that landed Kevin Shattenkirk and the deal with the New York Rangers to get Pavel Buchnevich for nothing (despite his current struggles).

Armstrong’s run as the club’s general manager is soon coming to an end, but he undoubtedly had a big impact on the franchise and was a huge part of the success this century. The majority of moves mentioned in this article were made by him.