Blues Colton Parayko focused on winning back fans, quieting trade talks in 2023-24

There were a lot of nights last season that St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko would stay up late after a loss and just think.

“Just lay in bed and try to figure out why things are happening,” he told The Athletic recently. “It’s frustrating individually. It was personally not my best year, and for me that was difficult. I try to come to the rink and make sure I’m always as good as I can be and help the team. But in those situations, you start thinking about it more and more and it makes it worse. I think that’s where things got a little bit off, especially individually.”

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Once part of the shutdown defensive pair that helped the Blues to the 2019 Stanley Cup, when he earned Conn Smythe votes, Parayko has been the focal point of criticism in recent years as the organization has fallen off.

People have said the 6-foot-6, 228-pound veteran is soft. He’s not a No. 1 defenseman. He’s not the “alpha male” general manager Doug Armstrong proclaimed him to be when he was promoted to the top pair.

The eight-year, $52 million contract extension Parayko signed Sept. 1, 2021, was criticized from day one, and his performance last season only re-enforced that opinion.

There was trade talk leading into the league’s deadline in March, but nothing materialized with the 30-year-old who holds a full no-trade clause.

So, for now, Parayko is staying in St. Louis and looking forward to the 2023-24 season. He believes it can be a much better year for the Blues and perhaps change some minds — about the team and maybe about him.

“I plan on being here for a long time, and I just want to show that I’m going to put in the effort and be the best version of myself and help out as much as possible,” he said. “Obviously it’s fun to have the fans and the city behind you. They spend a lot of money to come watch us play and win hockey games, so they have the right to say whatever they feel. This is a chance to get people excited, and I guess if we’re talking individually, see me play again, and hopefully I can have a good season.”

Parayko, who lives in the city year-round, has been skating at Centene Community Ice Center for several weeks and sat down with The Athletic after one of those practices. He discussed his career, his changing role, his definition of a No. 1 NHL defenseman and his thoughts on the trade speculation that has increasingly included his name.

A third-round draft pick in 2012 who was quickly seen as a steal, Parayko burst on the scene with nine goals and 33 points in 79 games as a 22-year-old rookie in 2015-16.

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In his first few seasons, Parayko was protected by top-pair teammate Alex Pietrangelo, allowing him to avoid playing against the league’s best lines. He got involved in the game offensively, even earning power-play time, and held his own defensively.

Then in 2018-19, Parayko’s role began to change, but for good reason. He was paired with now-retired Jay Bouwmeester, and in the 2019 postseason run, the two were as responsible as anyone on the roster for the team’s success, blanketing the opposition’s top offensive players.

“It just kind of clicked at the right time,” Parayko said. “J-Bo is such a good player, been around for a long time, seen a lot of things, and it was an honor not only to play with him but play beside him. It gave me the ability to play how I can play.”

Former Blues center Ryan O’Reilly won the Conn Smythe in 2019, but Parayko did receive two second-place votes and one third-place vote.

The year after the club won the Cup, Parayko averaged a career-high 23 minutes per game. He scored 10 goals, including three on the power play, and put up 28 points in 64 games. But in February, Bouwmeester suffered a cardiac episode at a game in Anaheim, forcing his retirement and leaving Parayko without his partner.

The following season, Pietrangelo signed a seven-year, $61.6 million free-agent contract with the Vegas Golden Knights, and the landscape changed even more for Parayko. He had excelled in a shutdown role, but now the Blues needed him to prioritize his play on the back end even more. And though he did get opportunities on the power play, the team had better options on the unit.

“Definitely, it’s been transitioned, which is totally fine,” Parayko said. “I’m a player that wherever the team needs me, I want to step in. So for me to be on the defensive side, I’ve just got to take pride in that and show up.”

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But it’s been a difficult challenge, which the results have illustrated.

In the three seasons in which Parayko has been elevated to Pietrangelo’s old spot, 2020 to ’23, he has played 3,717 minutes at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick. Of the 27 defensemen to play that many minutes, he ranks last in expected goals share (45.10 percent).

That might not be surprising to many Blues fans, but it also doesn’t tell the whole story.

Over that span, Parayko ranks No. 3 in the league in total defensive-zone starts. The No. 1 player on that list, the Los Angeles Kings’ Vladislav Gavrikov, was one of the top targets of the trade deadline last season but has a 46.22 percent expected goals share over the past three seasons.

What that means is that Parayko doesn’t have the luxury many other top defensemen do of starting too many shifts in the offensive zone. In fact, of the 27 defensemen who have played as many five-on-five minutes as he has in the past three seasons, he has the lowest percentage of offensive-zone starts (36.77).

And by the way, the Blues’ Nick Leddy, Parayko’s current defensive partner, has the second-lowest percentage on that list (40.76).

Perhaps not coincidentally, Parayko’s offense has been limited over the past three seasons, with a combined 12 goals and 74 points in 179 regular-season games.

“If it’s the same, I’ve just got to just embrace it and have fun,” he said. “You do get a lot of D-zone starts, but it gets you excited for every game because you have to play against all the top guys every night. To do it in the best league against the best players is never easy, but it’s rewarding when things go right.”

As far as fans, and others, saying Parayko is not a No. 1 defenseman, he doesn’t disagree. But he’d like to know the definition.

“Everyone is going to have a different opinion — if you ask Doug (Armstrong) or if you ask anyone else,” Parayko said. “Is it your guy that puts up 80 points a year? Is it your guy who can play offense and defense at the same time? Or is it your guy that’s going to shut down (the Edmonton Oilers’ Connor) McDavid and those guys every night? Or do you have a well-rounded group of guys and, instead of Nos. 1 or 2, everybody has their role?

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“For me, I know I play a lot. I know that I’m a player that’s relied on a lot. But everyone has a job to do. There’s guys on the power play, on the penalty kill, and everyone has their role. The way I’m looking at it, ‘Am I doing what’s best for the group?’ I’m not really looking at it like, ‘Am I a No. 1?’ I think if I’m doing that, then that’s benefiting the team. That’s how I look at it myself.”

For the most part, Parayko feels he’s done that over his eight-year career. He hesitated to label 2022-23 his only tough season but doesn’t think there have been many.

“I don’t know if you want to put it in terms of one of eight years, but it’s a small percentage,” Parayko said. “Obviously you want to be as consistent as possible, but 82 games is a lot and you’re going to have some road bumps along the way. That’s just part of the sport.”

Parayko career stats

Parayko’s production began to dip in 2020-21, which, in addition to Pietrangelo’s departure, was the year he began to deal with a serious back issue.

“I’m definitely over that now, so that’s good,” he said. “Just got to make sure I take care of it. But no, no problems or anything.”

Parayko is not pointing to the fact that, since Bouwmeester left, he’s had several defensive partners, including Marco Scandella, Niko Mikkola and Leddy — none of whom seem to be true top-pair guys.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to have good enough partners,” he said. “Those guys are good skaters, have been around for a long time and part of winning organizations. They’re guys you can trust.”

Parayko also isn’t focusing on the tweaks the Blues made to their defensive system last season as a reason for his sub-par play.

“We didn’t change it enough for it to make that big of a difference,” he said.

Reflecting on the season, Parayko thinks he was just … thinking too much.

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“You’ve just got to know that you’re a good player and rely on your abilities,” he said. “When I’m watching the video, I can just tell that I’m hesitating. I’ve been in this league for a long time. I’ve been lucky enough to win with a good team. I mean, with all that, you’ve got to remind yourself that you’re a good player.

“Things are still going to go bad. Things are going to go sideways a shift or two, but just put those shifts behind you and keep pushing forward. I know I can bring more. I know what it’s like to be a Blue and show up and put in the work.”

Parayko wants to remain a Blue, and though he has a no-trade clause, he realizes that won’t stop the chatter.

“The last few years, I’ve always been in the (trade talk) mix,” he said. “I personally never heard anything around here, but obviously people are talking. That’s part of the gig. It’s pro sports and people are traded and obviously where we were last year at the deadline, things are always getting talked about.

“I don’t think much about it. This is where I want to play, and (with the no-trade clause), it’s always going to run through me. Like I said, I never heard anything like that, or at least it never got to that point. If it gets to that point, you have to start thinking about it. So I’ll just continue to do what I can for this organization while I wear the Blue Note.”

(Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

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