ST Louis Blues: If the Blues handed

ST Louis Blues If the Blues handed out a comeback player of the year award, Colton Parayko would be a strong contender.

The defenseman, who is still one of the Blues' younger players but is definitely a veteran after seven seasons in the NHL

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did not have a strong season in 2020-21. Parayko was not at his best due to back problems that limited him to only 32 games

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His ice time decreased for the first time in his career. Parayko responded admirably in 2021-22 after an offseason of

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rest and recovery establishing himself as the Blues' finest shutdown defenseman. Last year, with everything that

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was going on, I thought it was really tough," he stated last week. I felt a lot better even just heading into this year, which

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was wonderful. I was still in a great mood. And I thought it was certainly a tremendous step forward for me personally from

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the prior year, simply based on everything that was going on, and I was obviously thrilled to be where I am now

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Throughout the year, I was in a good mood. It's just tiny things here and there, but I suppose everyone gets

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aching backs or anything even in a typical season. But with an 82-game season it's nothing new, and it's held

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up admirably. From a purely defensive sense, Parayko is the best option. was the Blues' best defenseman, a fact

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