Fans questioning Jordan Kyrou’s $65 million contract witnessed its justification during the Blues' recent Western Canada tour.
Kyrou scored six goals, earned three assists and posted a plus-five rating as the Blues swept the first three games of their road trip
Yes, he still must round out his game. The fancy stats frown upon Kyrou’s defensive play, and for good reason. He must add physical strength, make better use of his play-reading instincts in his own end, win more wall battles and limit his high-risk/low-reward plays.
Those are attainable goals. They can be reached over time with the help of good coaching and strong team structure.
High-end offensive ability is much harder to come by.
Players can work with skating instructors, gaining more jump and sharpening their edge work. Daily drills can improve their stick handling and increase their shot velocity and accuracy.
But a great feel for the game's flow — vision of the ice, sense of anticipation, in-the-moment playmaking creativity — is what separates elite scorers from the National Hockey League’s rank-and-file forwards.
Kyrou is one of those special wingers who can drive play from the wing. He can burst up the ice, zig-zag through defenders, and shoot lasers.
Away from the puck, he knows when to jump into the quiet spaces. With the puck, he can hold it with poise to wait out goaltenders or allow teammates to get open for shots. He has a deft passing touch.
In short, he can slow down the game while playing at top speed.
In the 4-3 shootout victory at Edmonton, Kyrou stole the puck behind the Oilers’ net and set up Vladimir Tarasenko’s late game-tying goal from right in front of the net.
Then Kyrou scored the only shootout goal for either team by freezing Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner with a fake and then snapping a shot past him.
Kyrou’s offensive range was on display when he scored his first career hat trick during the 5-1 victory at Vancouver.
On the first goal, he rushed the puck out of his zone up the right wing and made a cross-ice pass to Nick Leddy, who was racing up the left wing. Leddy gained the offensive zone, and the Blues set up with control.
Kyrou looped to the top of the right faceoff circle, took a pass back from Leddy and snapped a shot past Canucks goaltender Spencer Martin.
On his second goal, the Blues converted a power-play opportunity. Torey Krug kept the puck in at the blue line and fed Kyrou atop the right circle. Kyrou passed the puck to Tarasenko down low on the right side and slid to his left into the high slot.
Tarasenko passed back to Kyrou, who fired a snap shot into the upper left corner of the net.
On the third goal, Kyrou raced up the left wing on a three-on-two rush with Robert Thomas and Tarasenko. Kyrou moved the puck to Thomas in the middle, and he passed to Tarasenko entering the zone on right wing.
Tarasenko pulled up high in the zone and fed Thomas in the right circle while Kyrou went to the weak side. Thomas slid a cross-ice pass to Kyrou for his one-time blast into the empty side of the net.
“He’s been playing real good hockey for some time,” Blues coach Craig Berube said after the Vancouver game. “The goals are going to come eventually. He’s too good of a player. Now, he’s capitalizing on them. His work ethic has been there the whole year, in my opinion.”
Kyrou has improved his shot rate this season, from 2.5 per game in 2021-22 to 3.5 this season. Through 31 games, he was playing 18:04 per game, up from his 16:35 average last season. Like last year, he is producing at a point-per-game pace.
Heading into Tuesday’s game, he was still underwater with goals for and against — as well as expected goals for and against — but he had repaired much of the statistical damage caused by his early season funk.
The Blues clearly missed Kyrou when he sat out their 5-2 loss at Seattle and their 5-4 overtime loss to the Golden Knights in Las Vegas with a lower-body injury.
After healing up during the Christmas break, he was excited to get back on the ice ahead of Tuesday night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
And the Blues were glad to see him. True offensive catalysts are a special commodity in today’s fast-paced game.
Look at the Toronto Maple Leafs, which signed John Tavares even though they already had Auston Matthews. They paid a premium to keep William Nylander even though they also had Mitch Marner.
Look at the Dallas Stars, which committed $67.5 million over eight years to forward Roope Hintz and $31 million over four years to Jason Robertson.
Look at the Nashville Predators, which committed $68 million over eight years to winger Filip Forsberg.
Look at the Los Angeles Kings, which committed $55.125 million over seven years to winger Kevin Fiala.
It’s hard to find forwards who make other forwards better.
That’s why the Blues gave Kyrou his eight-year extension and a matching $65 million deal to Thomas, too. These are exceptional offensive talents this team can retool around while moving forward in the new NHL.
Folks pretending otherwise should find something else to fret about.
