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Matthew DeFranks: Hello! Good afternoon. Sorry for the late start. It was an ill-timed and lengthy update for my laptop that took longer than expected. But I'm here now, so let's get to some questions.

Tylerg: Matty D, you are enjoying the off season with friends and family. 2 questions A lot of Faksa, Sunqvist talk, but I sort of see a Trent Frederic acquisition this summer. A tad more expensive, but a few years younger than Faksa and Sunqvist, a decent center, hometown guy, plays a grinding style but can score. Idk it just seems like a fit, what are your thoughts?

Matthew DeFranks: I am enjoying the offseason so far, and spending it as a new father, which is also why I wasn't around that much during the Winnipeg series.

As for depth forwards, I can see the fit with Trent Frederic, particularly with the hometown angle and the Jim Montgomery angle as well from their time in Boston. This season's production likely lessens Frederic's price tag, which is helpful, but I guess we'll see how the rest of his postseason goes with Edmonton.

Tylerg: Question 2. Are you coming back next season? I like your articles/takes, they are objective. Curious if we get more Matty D content and info. Thanks man!

Matthew DeFranks: Yep, I will be around this summer, next season and everything. Just with the timing of the birth of my child, I've been a little scarce.

DenMizzou: Hello, Mr. DeFranks. Thank you for the chat. I don't think defensemen Faulk and Leddy played very well this past season, though Montgomery seems to like that pairing. Should the Blues try to move on from both Faulk and Leddy this off-season, or would that leave them too exposed on the blue line? Any chance of upgrading from either of those two? Thank you.

Matthew DeFranks: Faulk and Leddy didn't really play together in the playoffs. It was almost exclusively Faulk with Broberg and then Leddy with Suter or Tucker. But regardless of that, there should be room to move on from them if the Blues want to pursue that aggressively.

Both Faulk and Leddy's full no-trade clauses will drop to partial ones. Faulk is a 15-team no-trade list, and Leddy is a 16-team no-trade list, according to PuckPedia. So that will provide more flexibility for Armstrong to navigate trade protection.

If we look at the Blues defense next season, there's Parayko, Fowler, Broberg, Faulk, Leddy, Tucker and Kessel. They would need a lot of bodies on the blue line if they get rid of both Faulk and Leddy. Even if we think back to the start of this season, they had Perunovich, P.O Joseph and Suter. The Blues like depth on defense, and I expect Armstrong to keep doing that.

Dr. Girlfriend: Does DA take a shot at either K'Andre Miller or JJ Peterka as RFAs? Based upon draft capital they have enough on hand for the $7 million dollar range (1st and 3rd in the 2026 draft). I think Buffalo would match, but I wonder if New York would.

Matthew DeFranks: I think I've learned not to rule anything out with Doug Armstrong, particularly after his last calendar year of moves. But I don't know if we'll see more offer sheets out of him. It took him until his second to last summer as GM to orchestrate two of them, and he's repeatedly said how many different factors went into them: Oilers cap space, players they liked, Blues cap space, Blues draft capital, timing in the summer, Oilers FA additions, caliber of player.

I will say that I don't watch a lot of Rangers games, particularly this season. So I'm not entirely up on the state of Miller's game and what he would provide to the Blues. Even so, the Blues would need to move some money out to make that sort of thing happen.

Tommy Pham: I will word it like this - In your opinion who do you think was the most overall improved player for the blues and who do you think has the most opportunity to improve? Thanks!

Matthew DeFranks: I think Dylan Holloway is the easy answer for the most improved player. He might be one of the most improved players across the entire NHL, to be honest.

As far as room for improvement, I take it to mean the player that has some upside to their game. Part of me wonders about Alexandre Texier with the flashes he showed at times, but he disappeared a lot too, and will be 26 in the fall, so he might be what he is.

So I'll go with Zack Bolduc. At times, electric. At times, maddening with some of his decision-making. There seems to be something there, especially under Jim Montgomery. They'll need more consistency from him.

Joe 99: How do you think Edmonton, and the other GM's in the NHL for that matter, feel about the Blues' "heist" of Broberg and Holloway? Did the Blues pay Edmonton back enough to unruffle the feathers? Or are they seen as rogues like the Blues of old when they signed Brendan Shanahan long ago (and were punished severely by losing Scott Stevens, arguably a much better player than Shanahan, by an unabashed very partial arbitrator)?

Matthew DeFranks: I think that Edmonton feels better about the summer with how their postseason has gone so far. And getting a series-winning goal from Kasperi Kapanen!

But I don't think anyone can look at how Holloway and Broberg played this season and blame the Blues for what they did. Those contracts were overpays for what those players were, and then they overperformed them and turned them into bargains.

I do think that the sweeteners that the Blues sent to Edmonton (Paul Fischer and a 2028 third) helped because that was the additional price that the Oilers wanted to not match the offer sheets.

Dr. Girlfriend: Does Toronto hunt around the Blues this Summer to get Berube some players he's comfortable with? You could tell in that Florida series that Toronto has very few players that really fit Chiefs style. I could see Walker or Torpo as guys that Chief would want, besides Schenn.

Matthew DeFranks: Walker and Toropchenko feel like pieces worth more on the Blues roster than the sixth-round pick or whatever that would come the other way.

But I do wonder if the Leafs come back to the Schenn discussion in the summer after the reported interest at the trade deadline. This summer, Schenn's full NTC drops to a partial one, and it's possible that was a real roadblock to a potential deal in the spring.

Mike: Matt, congratulations on the baby! Could there be interest in giving Hofer an offer sheet, and would the Blues be inclined to match it? And if Hofer is gone, any thoughts on who are candidates the Blues would look at. Thanks!

Matthew DeFranks: Looking at RFA goalies, I think there would be interest in Hofer for sure. Lukas Dostal is the best option on the RFA market, but he'll make a decent amount of money and the Ducks have plenty of cap space to match.

With Hofer, would think his number lands around $3M. That's above Kochetkov at $2M, which I'm sure will be a comp for a young backup, but with a higher cap percentage. Gustavsson ($3.75M), Oettinger ($4M) and Knight ($4.5M) provide different comps, but bigger roles on their teams.

So if Hofer's market value is presumed at $3M, teams would have to overpay in order to land Hofer. The upper limit at $4.68M would require a second as comp. If a team did it, I would guess that number.

Easy Ed, fan since 1967: Matt, congrats on the little one. Walker got an A on the NHL ratings and Torp at least a B+. Faulk got bad ratings from a number of sources. Can he recover? Was his year that bad? Also, when the playoffs started, I said I'd be thrilled if the Blues won one or two games vs. Jets. Well, they were within 2 min.s of an upset. I'm very proud and happy about that, and not losing sleep. In fact, I'm dying to see what the brilliant Army pulls off. He had three stellar moves this year, the Oiler kids, Monty, and Fowler, and should be the exec of the year. Be well and see if you can get some sleep.

Matthew DeFranks: I think Faulk didn't have the best season, but I don't think he had the worst either. I think we forget about the start of the season, when Broberg-Faulk was the team's best defensive pairing. Sure, Faulk had that massive point drought in November, too. There were also high points for Faulk coming back from 4 Nations, and when he was a top-pairing defenseman again when Parayko went out.

The production doesn't match the cap hit, and the age isn't ideal, but I do think Faulk was better this season (and healthier!) than he was back in 2023-24.

I think Blues fans should take solace in the fact that they were not going to be beating this Stars team anyways. If the Jets went on to win the Cup, there could be some forlorn moments. But now? I think you can understand what a true contender looks like, even if getting to the final eight would have been a major accomplishment for this group.

Phil: Do you see the Blues targeting a top goal scorer this summer, or with projected salary increases and available cap space, will they look at Holloway's development as their investment in higher scoring next year, and more of their moves will be on complementary pieces and depth additions?

Matthew DeFranks: The Blues have a lot less cap space than you'd expect after the cap increase this summer. They already committed to raises for Jake Neighbours and Pavel Buchnevich. Not to mention the performance bonus overage from Ryan Suter's bonuses that will roll over to next season. And the Joel Hofer raise, too, that has not been signed yet.

So if the Blues want to chase a big scorer, they'll need to move pieces out. The easy answers would be Mathieu Joseph or Alexandre Texier. The more impactful moves could be Nick Leddy or Justin Faulk, as mentioned before.

gern: Matt: Speaking of Holloway, it came out after the Blues were eliminated that he was never coming back for the playoffs, no matter how far the team went. Is it for sure he's going to be ready to start next season?

Matthew DeFranks: That's what Doug Armstrong announced at his season-ending press conference. That was also the expectation for Oskar Sundqvist last year, and he missed a few weeks.

GoThunder: Hi Matt. Congratulations to your family. My question is, who would want want Justin Faulk? He is an offensive defenseman who doesn't score and soft as your new baby's bottom around the net. The Blues can't expect to get a decent return for him, so it would basically be a salary dump if they move him, no?

Matthew DeFranks: I think everyone's minds would always go to the usual cap dump suspects: San Jose, Chicago, etc. But those teams could very well end up on Faulk's list of teams that he cannot be traded to. I honestly don't know what the trade market for him would look like.

We'll do about 15 or 20 more minutes if there are any more hidden questions out there.

GSW: Hi, Matt - congrats on the new addition, and hello from your old stomping grounds of Dallas. I'm curious about how you see covering the Blues as opposed to the Stars (really enjoyed your work for DMN, by the way). Stars are obviously a lot further along than the Blues, but the Blues are a much bigger deal in STL than the Stars are here. So . . .

Matthew DeFranks: The best way I know how to explain it is the bumper sticker test. In Dallas, I would see a Stars bumper sticker and think "Oh look a Stars fan." In Ó£ÌÒÊÓƵ, I see one and have to remind myself that everyone is a Blues fan in Ó£ÌÒÊÓƵ.

I do think that each team I covered had more of a fanbase than the previous one. From Florida to Dallas to Ó£ÌÒÊÓƵ.

Tommy Pham: I just want to say, man I wanted the blues to advance, but that game 7 against Winnipeg was till FUN. Even tho we lost I will always cherish watching it with my dad.

Matthew DeFranks: Sports are about winning and losing, obviously. But they are not only about winning and losing. If they were, it would make for a lot of miserable seasons. Glad you got to enjoy that night with your dad.

AZRay: Just curious if Dalbor Dvorsky could be the 200 foot player DA is looking for?

Matthew DeFranks: Eventually, I think so. But hard to bank on that for next year.

DCG: Hey Matthew: hold on. I just joined, I have a question!

I was reading Jeremy Rutherford in The Atlantic about possible Blues moves over the summer. One thing he mentioned was the possibility of looking to move Faulk. He framed in a way that made Faulk sound like a bit of a drag on the team. For instance, "If there’s no trade partner, the Blues might have to keep rolling with Faulk, barring a buyout, which doesn't seem likely." I know Faulk has been up and down in STL, but I thought he settled in the second half of this season and was pretty good on D. He isn't producing offensively the way he once did, but to men, if his defense remains solid, he's an asset at his price given that the cap is about to go up quite a bit. Am I wrong?

Matthew DeFranks: We touched on Faulk a little bit earlier in the chat. I don't think he was as bad as everyone thinks he was. I think back to a few times this season when he delivered what was asked of him: at the start of the season, when Broberg-Faulk was the best pairing. After 4 Nations, when Faulk was driving offense. After Parayko's injury, when Broberg-Faulk became the top pair in usage.

The point drought in November hurt. And some of the errors hurt, too. Remember the puck into the bench at the end of the Vancouver game? The production doesn't match the cap hit, and the age isn't ideal. But it's not the worst deal in the league.

DCG: Skimming over the questions, I know everyone wants to speculate on how the Blues upgrade at center, that "200 foot' player. It seems like the options are pretty limited. I've gotta think it's more likely that DA stays the long term course and they give Dvorsky a test ride during the season to see what they have there and set their sights on the summer of '26 to really decide what final push they want to make to get the club back in Cup contention.

Matthew DeFranks: Possible. I just don't think they can rely on Bolduc, Snuggerud and Dvorsky to be consistent contributors throughout an 82-game season. And next year is the last one with Holloway and Broberg on sweetheart deals, so that cap increase will largely likely go to them anyways.

Looks like that's everything. Have a great week everyone!

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