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But the other Western Conference teams will push hard to reach the playoffs next season. There are 14 teams bidding for eight postseason berths, and the battle begins this summer.

Coaching changes and big trades already have changed the competitive landscape. More activity is coming Friday and Saturday around the NHL draft, then all heck could break loose when free agency opens July 1.

So how do the Blues fit into all of this?

General manager Doug Armstrong sees his team in the upper reaches of the middle tier, still trying to rise toward the top tier.

He is seeking a solid middle-six forward, preferably a center, to fit into the nucleus of young veterans. If he sees a way to upgrade his defense, he will do that too — although he seems comfortable with his incumbents.

Armstrong won’t stand pat. He knows climbing the conference ladder will become even tougher next season.

Look at the Anaheim Ducks. After finishing 35-37-10 last season, they hired coaching legend Joel Quenneville, acquired power forward Chris Kreider and offloaded enigmatic forward Trevor Zegras to create salary-cap space for further change.

“I look at a team like Anaheim who went out and hired in my estimation a Hall of Fame coach,” Armstrong said Monday during a media session. “You make those additions because you want to move forward.”

Other Blues rivals are looking to do the same.

“Calgary had a very good year; I assume they don’t want to go backwards,” Armstrong said. “Vancouver is a team that had an excellent year two years ago. Last year, they didn’t have the year (they wanted); I assume they want to get back in it.

“Utah is another team, they’ve now moved from Arizona to Utah. (General manager) Bill Armstrong had a very active summer last year bringing in NHL-caliber players. Just from what I read, likely they are going to stay on that path.”

The Vegas Golden Knights reached the postseason again, but that ever-ambitious franchise didn’t enjoy its second-round exit. Expect more activity from that team too.

“Edmonton, I don’t see not making the playoffs,” Armstrong said. “I don’t see LA not making the playoffs. I don’t see Dallas not making the playoffs. I don’t see Colorado not making the playoffs.”

Oilers management is under duress after the Men of Oil fell short in the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight year. Connor McDavid is entering the final year of his contract. He will gladly re-sign in Edmonton IF he believes this team can win the Cup.

If he doesn’t see the Oilers in that light — well, team management doesn’t want to go there. Expect more change in Edmonton.

The Dallas Stars fired sourpuss coach Peter DeBoer after failing, again, to reach the Cup Final. DeBoer doomed himself by yanking goaltender Jake Oettinger as his team sank, then ripping him in his postgame news conference.

The Stars locked in superstar addition Mikko Rantanen and point-per-game forward Matt Duchene to new deals, so their resulting salary-cap crunch shouldn’t cause too much pain.

The Minnesota Wild overcame myriad injuries to reach the playoffs last season. Aggressive general manager Bill Guerin now has the salary-cap space needed to make upgrades.

After the Seattle Kraken fell out of the playoff bracket this season, they embarked on wholesale changes in management, coaching and personnel. Adding Stars cap casualty Mason Marchment makes the team tougher, and subtracting disappointing Andre Burakovsky creates more cap space.

The Nashville Predators flopped this season after making bold and expensive changes last summer. They, too, will want back in the chase — although we expect general manager Barry Trotz to shop more carefully this time around.

Many Western Conference teams could jump into the Mitch Marner sweepstakes when the market open. He could become a team-changing catalyst, especially if he signs with an emerging team like Anaheim or Utah.

So you can see why Armstrong expects big challenges in the 2025-26 campaign. Conference rivals are either looking to hold them down or pass them.

Armstrong knows he can’t simply go on crazy spending sprees, like when Mike Shanahan, Jack Quinn and Ron Caron did when the Blues went rogue back in the day and forced true free agency to the league.

The Blues aren’t equipped to make another big offer-sheet play like the one that brought Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg from the Oilers last season to join Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Jake Neighbours and Zack Bolduc in the new nucleus.

But Armstrong would be willing to trade his first-round pick to add another good young veteran to his group. While he won’t deviate from his overall team-building plan, he won’t sit still during his final summer as general manager.

Stay tuned for an interesting summer as the Western Conference competition intensifies.