ST. LOUIS — It’s amazing what one preseason win can do.
In their first three exhibition games, the St. Louis Blues were 0-3 and had scored just three goals. There was a fourth goal, but the Utah Hockey Club put the puck in its own net.
“We’re 0-3 in preseason, and it’s time now to start preparing ourselves, earning our spots, earning our jobs, earning our ice time to get ourselves ready,” Blues coach Drew Bannister said at the time. “I feel like guys were kind of dipping their toes in … come Saturday, we can’t be easing into games anymore.”
On Saturday, the Blues were down 2-0 to the Chicago Blackhawks, but rallied for a 3-2 win on newcomer Dylan Holloway’s second goal of the game.
“I felt like tonight, a lot of guys stepped up and showed they want to be St. Louis Blues,” Bannister said.
The Blues have three more preseason games remaining before their 2024-25 regular-season opener in Seattle on Oct. 8. On Sunday, they trimmed their training camp roster to 36 players by reassigning 14 to the American Hockey League or junior hockey, including 2023 No. 10 pick Dalibor Dvorský.
So we’re getting closer to the Blues’ final 23-man roster.
Veteran forward Brandon Saad will be on the roster, but he may not be on the ice when the season begins after announcing Friday that his wife Alyssa will soon deliver the couple’s third child. He could miss the team’s three-game road trip in Seattle, San Jose and Las Vegas.
“She’s due right around the time we’re going to be on that trip, so it doesn’t seem like I’m going to be making the trip, but you never know when (the baby is) going to come,” Saad said. “She could (deliver) any day, so it’s not really ruled out. It’s kind of just up in the air and taking it day by day.”
This week, Bannister split the Blues still left in training camp into two groups, and with Saad in the non-NHL group, we got a sneak peek of what the lineup could look like against the Kraken.
“We’re at a point in training camp, we want to start putting some lines together, so we’ll go in a different direction with our lines as if he wasn’t able to play for us,” Bannister said.
In The Athletic’s first roster projection on Sept. 19, we broke down the roster by position. This time, we’re going to lay out the potential line combinations and defensive pairings. Before we do, here’s a revised depth chart.
Neighbours-Thomas-Kyrou
It’s looking more and more like Jake Neighbours will be on the top line with Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, which gives this group a winger who can play in front of the net.
There hasn’t been too much said about Kyrou this preseason — not because he isn’t playing well, just because there hasn’t been anything out of the ordinary until now.
“Just watching him out on the ice, I’ve been extremely happy with him and his competitive level, staying in battles and using his speed — all the things that we know he’s good at,” Bannister said. “I see a more focused player that’s ready for a breakout season.”
Once again with Kyrou, it’ll come down to consistency during the regular season.
“If you look at the last four to six weeks last year, and how consistently he played, we have to see that consistency in his game over 82 games,” Bannister said. “We know what he brings to the table offensively.
“We saw a concerted effort in his defensive game that maybe took away from his offensive game a little bit. But in the last four to six weeks, he put both of them together and now we’re going to look for that over the next eight months.”
Schenn-Buchnevich-Bolduc
The story with the second line continues to be Zack Bolduc, who seems like a lock to make the roster at this point. Even if Saad is available at the start of the season, there’s a chance Bolduc would’ve played himself into the top six. Without Saad, it certainly looks like he’ll get that opportunity.
The 21-year-old hasn’t been perfect — the Blues still want him to shoot more, among other specific details — but there’s a lot to like.
“I’ve been happy with Bolduc,” Bannister said. “Offensively, he’s been doing some real good things, and I’ve seen a concerted effort on things that we need to see more from him. He tends to, I don’t want to say cheat, but he tends to get on the wrong side of the puck instead of being over top of the puck. Those are things for a young player and an offensive player that they just have to learn at this level.”
The Blues also appear to want captain Brayden Schenn on the second line with Pavel Buchnevich, two players who can share the center responsibilities, including faceoffs.
Steve Ott working again with Pavel Buchnevich on face-offs, with Nathan Walker, and Robert Thomas offering some help. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/4LmAYRlMCL
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) September 27, 2024
Holloway-Faksa-M. Joseph
The third line of Dylan Holloway, Radek Faksa and Mathieu Joseph stayed together for almost all of camp. And with the way they played in Saturday’s preseason game against Chicago, there would be no reason not to have them together for the season opener in Seattle.
Holloway in particular played well, scoring two goals in the win over Chicago and showing off his speed. Joseph was also on the scoresheet.
“I thought Dylan played outstanding; he just continues to get better,” Bannister said. “The speed factor, that’s something that certainly is quite noticeable in our team from last year until what we’ve seen so far this year. Whether it’s him or Joseph or (Alexandre) Texier, they can all really get up the ice pretty quick. It certainly changes the dynamic and the pace of the game we can play at.”
Texier-Walker-Toropchenko
If Holloway was the best player on the ice Saturday, Texier wasn’t far behind. He kept pucks alive, he competed and he was able to create quality scoring chances for a player who may open the season on the fourth line.
“I’ve been really impressed with (Texier) in his practices, not knowing a ton about him as a player,” Bannister said. “He had an outstanding game. Their whole line was really good, but him, in particular. He stood out for me — the speed, the skill, he’s heavy on the stick, makes creative plays.”
Texier’s linemates were Alexey Toropchenko, who scored the game-tying goal, and Nathan Walker, who also played well.
“Every time I see (Toropchenko), it seems like he’s grown an inch and put on 10 pounds,” Bannister said. “The directness in his game, the physicality, I don’t think we’ve seen the ceiling with him. Being an angry player, I’d like to see that out of him a bit more to get the other team’s attention. That’s a step where he can build on in his game. But watching him in practice, he looks great.”
In The Athletic’s initial roster projection, Zach Dean was penciled in at center on the fourth line while the Blues wait for Oskar Sundqvist to fully recover from knee surgery. But Dean has been playing on the wing lately and Walker has slid into center.
“I’ve had the privilege of coaching (Walker) since my second year in San Antonio and he just finds a way,” Bannister said. “Walks wants to be an NHL player and he wants to help his team out wherever. He’s a player that once he gets in the lineup, he’s hard to to take out. He brings a lot to the table.”
Leddy-Parayko
For the first week of camp, Nick Leddy and Colton Parayko hardly saw the ice together. They were paired the entire season in 2023-24, so it’s not like they had to work on their chemistry.
Parayko was playing a lot lately with Philip Broberg, and Leddy was with P.O. Joseph. But in Saturday’s game, the familiar faces were back together and didn’t skip a beat. Parayko especially looked to be in midseason form, closing out plays and smoothly skating out of trouble.
There’s always a chance that Bannister will move Broberg up with Parayko, but based on history and their recent reunion, it appears the Leddy-Parayko pair will start the season together.
Broberg-Faulk
There’s been a lot of attention on Broberg, and understandably so, but a healthy Justin Faulk is an important storyline, too. He was limited last season, even in the games he played, because of a high-ankle sprain.
In camp, Faulk looks like he’s 100 percent, not only defensively but also in running point on the Blues’ power play.
“He had some injury issues toward the end of the season and I think right now he’s feeling pretty good,” Bannister said. “As far as he’s concerned, and I’m concerned, he’s ready to go, and I’m looking forward to having him on the ice.
“What we missed last year was just the leadership qualities. We know who he is as a player — he’s an important player for us — and it was difficult when we didn’t have him last year.”
Suter-Kessel
This week, there was a change in the Blues’ third defensive pair when Ryan Suter skated with P.O. Joseph in practice. That was perhaps more about giving Joseph a deserved opportunity to play with the veteran.
There’s no reason to believe at this point that Suter and Matthew Kessel won’t be together on opening night.
“He’s a great kid, just a class act,” Suter said of Kessel. “I didn’t know anything about him. He’s helping me with the drills, telling me where to go, those type of things. Everything’s new, so he’s been great. He can play. I think the sky’s the limit for him. It’s been fun getting to know him the last couple of weeks.”
Binnington/Hofer
The goaltending tandem of Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer has been solid in the preseason, and once again looks to be the strength of the club.
The rest
Saad will be on the roster, rejoining the team after the birth of his child. In the meantime, Kasperi Kapanen could make the roster as the Blues’ No. 13 or 14 forward, although Bannister had Kapanen skating with the non-NHL group last week and said he wants to see better game performances from him.
Meanwhile on the blue line, depending on whether the club keeps seven or eight defensemen, P.O. Joseph and Scott Perunovich are on the bubble. Perunovich has struggled defensively and at running the power play, so if there are just seven on the final roster, he could potentially be placed on waivers.
(Top photo of Dylan Holloway: Reese Strickland / Imagn Images)
