Somehow, that happened. The St. Louis Blues were less than two seconds away from pulling off a monstrous first-round upset, only to allow the Winnipeg Jets to tie Game 7 and eventually win the series in double overtime. Putting themselves in a position to nearly knock off the President's Trophy winners in the first round was extremely impressive, although the final result will sting for a while.
Even with the first-round exit, this season was a resounding success for the Blues. They went from a team that seemingly had no direction to one that has found its long-term head coach and one that has many players to get excited about.
With that being said, changes will be made this offseason as the Blues try and take another step forward. Those changes will involve these three players suiting up for other teams.
3) The Blues will almost certainly elect to move on from Ryan Suter
Part of what made this season such a success for St. Louis was their ability to get this far without one of their best defensemen, Torey Krug, who missed the entire year with an ankle injury. Krug's injury opened up a spot for Ryan Suter over the offseason that might not be there next season.
Suter signed a one-year deal with the Blues over the offseason to add more depth, and he played well, but he's also now 40 years old, raising the question of how much good hockey he has left in him.
The Blues have enough defensive depth to move on from Suter without skipping a beat, whether Krug returns or not. With other teams needing defensive help more than they do, Suter landing elsewhere feels like a foregone conclusion.
2) Nick Leddy could be the odd man out in a crowded defense corps
Even with Suter gone, the Blues find themselves in a sticky situation. With Krug, the Blues will have seven defensemen under contract, six of whom will be making at least $3.9 million. With St. Louis only projected to have $7.75 million in cap space according to Spotrac - the least in the NH - they're going to have to get creative if they want to make legitimate upgrades.
One way they can get creative is by trading veteran Nick Leddy away. Leddy is a solid bottom-pair defenseman, but he's also set to make $4 million next season, a good amount for a player who saw the least amount of ice time on average that he had seen in over a decade this past season.
While Leddy has value to St. Louis, the money they'd gain from trading him might end up being more valuable for the organization. Given that, it wouldn't be surprising at all to see him get dealt to a team in need of a defensive boost.
1) Radek Faksa is not worth the money he will likely command
This one might hurt, because Radek Faksa was extremely important for St. Louis in the playoffs. He scored a goal and racked up five points in the seven-game series, and averaged over 15 minutes of ice time per game, way up from his regular season average of 13:01. While Faksa did step up in the playoffs, his lack of regular season production could be what seals his fate.
In 70 games, Faksa had just five goals and 10 assists, totaling 15 points overall. Yes, he provides defensive value and played on their first penalty kill unit, but 15 points in 70 games is tough to ignore.
While passable for a fourth-liner, will Faksa really be paid like a fourth-liner? He made $3.25 million this past season, and given his stellar postseason, he'll make around or maybe even more than that next season. For this cash-strapped team, it just doesn't feel like bringing Faksa back for what he'll likely command makes much sense.