The offseason provides a tall refreshing glass of optimism for teams and fans that still may have a sour taste of disappointment from the season before. The St. Louis Blues might have ordered a double extra large with a chaser of enthusiasm after another frustrating playoff exit.

Ken Hitchcock’s club raced through the regular season with reckless abandon before a late stumble saw the Colorado Avalanche overtake them for the division title. The trade deadline acquisition of Ryan Miller offered even more hope that THIS was the year that the Blues would bring St. Louis its first Stanley Cup.

With a new playoff format in place, St. Louis’ late season collapse cost them a wildcard opponent and replaced the Minnesota Wild with the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.

Plagued with injuries throughout the year, Chicago had rested injured stars Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa for another playoff run. With a playoff spot secure, the Hawks coasted into the postseason confident with any matchup ahead of them.

A brutal seven-game series with a motivated division rival proved to be too much for St. Louis as Chicago moved on and the Blues were left wondering how another promising season got washed away. A quick glance at the roster would give reason to believe that the Blues could have been a postseason favorite against almost anyone.

However, the cruel nature of playoff hockey gave Hitchcock and general manager Doug Armstrong reason to question the personnel and some decisions down the stretch. While Chicago was probably the most difficult of any potential first round opponent, the Blues could just have easily advanced with a good bounce here or a bad bounce there.

At the conclusion of the season it was made quite clear that Miller would not be back in St. Louis. With his open market value considerably higher than Armstrong was willing to go, the Blues resigned Brian Elliott and gave a vote of confidence to their goaltender of the future, Jake Allen.

The entry draft provided the Blues with some optimism as they picked up forwards Robby Fabbri and Ivan Barbashev in the first two rounds. After a three-year stretch without a drafted player breaking into the roster, St. Louis’ first two picks in 2014 have good chance to end that run. The Blues also pulled off a one-sided trade with Toronto, stealing Carl Gunnarsson from the Leafs for Barret Jackman and $200,000 of Gunnarsson’s cap hit.

When free agency kicked off on July 1st, the Blues had only a single target. With the Western Conference full of elite center men, St. Louis felt that this was the area that they could directly attack in with a free agent signing. After David Backes the Blues were glaringly thin up the middle.

Armstrong and Hitchcock got their man in Paul Stastny with a four-year deal at $28 million, plucking the former Colorado Avalanche center early on the first day of the open market frenzy. The Blues have been dormant since signing Stastny, but have they done enough to get “over the hump” in the playoffs, or at least out of the divisional round?

The answer is a definitive, wishy-washy “Who knows?” The Blues are a team that could possibly go sideways next season. They have enormous talent and depth on the blue line, going five deep before there is any significant talent dip. St. Louis will lean on them heavily to help the goaltending.

Re-signing Elliott was as much a gamble as it was to trade Jaroslav Halak for Miller in the first place. Elliott has been a tale of two careers, struggling in Ottawa before finding his groove in the Gateway City. His numbers have been fantastic since he arrived in St. Louis, but he’ll be the man shouldering the burden, until Allen is ready to step in.

Offensively the Hitchcock’s teams have always been known as “score by committee”, so there is rarely a standout individual on offense. Alexander Steen was the closest thing that St. Louis had to a sniper, starting off the 2013-14 season on a ridiculous pace. He cooled off considerably down the stretch, but still finished the season with career highs in goals (33) and points (61).

Stastny will help take the faceoff burden off of Backes in the center as he finished the year among the leaders in faceoff wins. He won’t put up elite level offensive numbers, but he is a solid performer at both ends of the ice.

Overall, the Blues got better this summer. Ryan Miller was declining and was not the answer in goal. If Elliott holds up, and Stastny develops some good chemistry with his new teammates, the Blues have a shot at the Central Division title. The variables are real however, and the window is closing for the Ken Hitchcock and St. Louis.