The list of maladies afflicting the Blues this season is long and not very hard to assemble. (There is not a place in the modern hockey world where 3.92 goals allowed per game, which is what the Blues are at right now, is a positive sign.) But amid all that has gone wrong so far, there's one thing that is both unexpected and uncharacteristic: The quiet of Jaden Schwartz.
Schwartz has been, over the course of his years with the Blues, one of the team's most dependable players, an engine that drives the team both offensively and defensively with his relentless puck pursuit and steady two-way play. Last season, it was the unexpected departure of Schwartz that derailed the Blues' season. The team was sailing along until he took a puck off the skate in Detroit and missed 20 games. At the time, he had 14 goals and 21 assists in 30 games and was plus-23. The team's offense never recovered.
This season, Schwartz has played in all but two of the team's first 12 games -- he took another puck off his skate -- and something has been missing. After having assists in two of the Blues' first three games, he has one goal and one assist in the seven games since he has returned from the injury. He's minus-4 in those seven games and for the first time since his first season in the league, his Corsi percentage is below 50 (though by a hair's breadth), meaning the Blues are less likely to have possession of the puck when Schwartz is on the ice. He knows something is missing and he knows what it means.
"I haven't been playing my best," Schwartz said Monday. "There were flashes of it, certain games have been better than others, but consistently, I think my game isn't where it needs to be at. Obviously I can try to work on getting some momentum that way and helping us win games."
And with the Blues having sunk back into their early season quicksand with Saturday's 5-1 loss to Minnesota, the revival of Schwartz, who last season had seven goals (including a hat trick) and seven assists after 10 games, is essential.
"You can put your finger on a few things," Schwartz said. "I think puck touches haven't been there, not enough zone time. That's a key factor, making plays when they're there. Sometimes you're overthinking a little too much. When things aren't going in, you might be gripping it a little bit. I've been in this situation before and you go through these different phases throughout the year and hopefully I can climb out of it here."
The track record of Schwartz says he will climb out of it. Since he became an NHL regular in 2013-14, his points per game has been at least 0.67 over a season, and right now he's at 0.40. His shooting percentage is 4.8 percent, well off his career number of 13.4. The Blues just have to find a way to shake him loose.
"Obviously we need Schwartzie to be involved in the offense the way we know he's capable of," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "I think confidence is a big part of it for Schwartzie right now. You can tell that he's pressing. You can see it in his game. He tries so hard out there. He puts so much effort into every shift that he plays that I think he's grinding mentally. It will come, I'm not worried about Schwartzie."
To try to get Schwartz on track, the Blues plan to play him alongside Ryan O'Reilly, who has been the team's best center so far this season and has a seven-game point streak, on Tuesday against Carolina. (That move was made easier by Brayden Schenn being questionable for the game with an upper body injury.) They also plan a power-play tweak that would put the puck on his stick more.
"I've been through this before," Schwartz said. "When pucks aren't going in, you seem to grip it a little bit and things aren't bouncing your way. Mentally you have to stay with it and try to work on a few things and make a couple adjustments. I don't ever like to let my work ethic deviate. I like to always keep that, but I still think offensively ... there are different holes I can jump or more plays that can be made. I'm not a flashy player, so I think I have to keep it simple and be harder on the puck and be around the net. I think that's where I score most of my goals."