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With a dramatic late surge, the Blues avoided that fate this season while earning mostly good player grades. That success also reflected very well on the team’s ownership, management team and coaching staff.

Here is the assessment:

Ownership

Grade: A

Tom Stillman’s ownership group has allowed the hockey operations side to spend to the NHL salary cap year after year. That commitment is especially notable compared to what we see from the Cardinals, a franchise that slashed payroll this season and allowed president of baseball operations John Mozeliak to execute a muddled plan as a lame duck executive.

Stillman has worked closely with general manager Doug Armstrong to keep this franchise competitive even as it retooled. He opened the vault so the Blues could hire coach Jim Montgomery while still paying Drew Bannister to not coach. Stillman signed off on the succession plan that has Alexander Steen in line to succeed Armstrong as GM and keep the hockey operation moving forward.

Chris Zimmerman and his business team have worked tirelessly and creatively to build franchise revenues to fund the product. As a result, Blues fans have not had to endure years of mediocre hockey or worse, as fans in places like Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo and Anaheim have.

Management

Grade: A-plus

In his postseason news conference, Armstrong noted that the Blues benefited from three major moves that expedited their return to postseason play. He caught the Edmonton Oilers napping by swiping Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway with a successful offer sheet maneuver.

That plugged two more rising talents into the team nucleus that includes Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Jake Neighbours, Zack Bolduc and now Jimmy Snuggerud. Suddenly and aging team became an ascending team.

The Cam Fowler acquisition was another stunner. That was the sort of acquisition that a contender would make in-season. Armstrong believed the Blues could be a playoff team -– despite its poor start -– and he made a trade that many other teams wished they would have made. Fowler made a huge impact on the blue line with his unflappable defending and his offensive playmaking.

Lord knows what the Anaheim Ducks were thinking when traded away Fowler, a lifer with the franchise, after acquiring defensive turnstile Jacob Trouba from the New York Rangers.

Hiring Montgomery as coach was an even greater blockbuster. The minute the Boston Bruins made the mistake of cashiering Montgomery, Armstrong was on him with his sales pitch. Montgomery’s relationship with Armstrong and his ties to ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ and the Blues made him a perfect fit.

In the end, the Blues were who Armstrong thought they were: a playoff team. They took an adventurous route to get where he always thought they should finish.

Coaching

Grade: A

OK, so the Blues were terrible playing 5-against-6, closing out games against teams that pulled their goaltender. That failure ended up costing them a playoff series. That was bad. Let’s get that negative out of the way.

Otherwise, Montgomery and his inherited staff led the team on a miraculous run that should set the stage for better things to come. The Blues overcame multiple injuries, established offensive and defensive chemistry, and sustained an unlikely surge into the playoff bracket after the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

There were two huge gains from this late-season push: The Blues instilled a winning culture, with captain Brayden Schenn and other team leaders supporting Montgomery's messaging, and they made player development gains with younger players like Broberg, Holloway, Bolduc, Tyler Tucker and Snuggerud.

Now the Blues must build on that. Montgomery is locked into a long-term contract and a good nucleus is in place, so the course has been set.