Edmundson: Blues are top-5 team following offseason makeover

Joel Edmundson likes what he sees.

The St. Louis Blues defenseman, fresh off a one-year, $3-million extension, is so impressed by general manager Doug Armstrong's summer shake-up that he's confident the club will be one of the league's best in the coming campaign.

"We think we're top-five in the NHL right now," Edmundson told Louie Korac of NHL.com. "We want to come into camp and from camp on, we want to be one of the top teams in the league. We were middle of the pack last season, but with the team we have and the confidence we have, we're excited to come to camp with a new team, new look."

St. Louis was a middle-rung team last season before a costly year-end skid saw them win just one of their final six games, ultimately missing the postseason by a single point. The hope is that the new faces, including free-agent additions Tyler Bozak, David Perron, and Patrick Maroon, plus big-time trade acquisition Ryan O'Reilly, will help prevent a similar outcome in 2018-19.

As for Edmundson, he's coming off a career-high 17 points, while his nearly 21 minutes in average ice time ranked third on the Blues behind only captain Alex Pietrangelo and Colton Parayko. The 25-year-old is likely to play alongside the captain again next season, and improved numbers should only help his cause when he's due for an extension again next summer.

"The second half of the year and the start of summer, I was thinking long term," Edmundson said. "But then I saw the trade they made and guys we signed and then my agent said it could be one year and it could work out better for me, so I had no problem signing for one year."

Edmundson won't have to wait much longer to see if the Blues can live up to his offseason expectations, as St. Louis opens the season Oct. 4 against the Winnipeg Jets.

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