from Jeremy P. Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

It would be a difficult sell for the Blues to open training camp in September with the same group that made its fan base soon forget a Central Division championship by bowing out in a six-game loss to the Wild. And now that Armstrong has, in part, absolved Hitchcock, the pressure will shift on the GM to see what he can do to alter the club’s composition.

“I don’t see it that way,” Armstrong said. “I think it’s a good coaching staff, that’s why they’re coming back. I know there’s going to be four or five changes already just based on free agency and the age of players. The team that wins the Stanley Cup is probably going to have four or five roster changes. It’s just the nature of a salary-cap system. So we are going to have a different look.”

Much of the fan focus has been centered on disassembling the Blues’ core, a group that many identify as including David Backes, Alexander Steen, T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund and Barret Jackman.

Backes has one season left on his five-year contract, while Steen, Oshie and Berglund each have two years remaining on their deals. Jackman will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

In reality, this is not the club’s complete core, but a mixture of a few key players and a collection of the old guard that has been involved in the string of postseason failures.

more