ST. LOUIS – Another season of St. Louis Blues hockey is right around the corner. With the season opener set for Thursday, the Blues have officially solidified their opening-night roster.
The Blues will begin the season with 13 forwards, eight defensemen, and two goaltenders.
Forwards
- Nikita Alexandrov
- Sammy Blais
- Pavel Buchnevich
- Kevin Hayes
- Kasperi Kapanen
- Jordan Kyrou
- Jake Neighbours
- Brandon Saad
- Brayden Schenn
- Oskar Sundqvist
- Robert Thomas
- Alexey Toropchenko
- Jakub Vrana
Defensemen
- Robert Bortuzzo
- Justin Faulk
- Torey Krug
- Nick Leddy
- Colton Parayko
- Scott Perunovich
- Marco Scandella
- Tyler Tucker
Goaltenders
- Jordan Binnington
- Joel Hofer
There aren’t too many surprises that come with this year’s roster. Brayden Schenn is gearing up for his first season as the team’s captain. Justin Faulk, Colton Parayko and Robert Thomas will all serve as alternate captains.
The eight defensemen is perhaps the biggest surprise, but there were times last season when head coach Craig Berube called upon 11 forwards and seven defensemen in a game rather than the traditional 12:6 setup. The idea could be to bring more physicality to the Blues and build an identity early as a defensive-minded team.
Among the defensive core includes Scott Perunovich and Tyler Tucker. Perunovich is a former Hobey Baker winner, which recognizes the best player in college hockey in any given year, but was sidelined last year from shoulder surgeries. Tucker played in 26 games last season, mostly toward the end of the season, specializing in the forecheck.
Kevin Hayes is truly the only true new addition to the team, acquired in an offseason trade with the Philadelphia Flyers. Hayes set career highs in assists (36) and points (54) last season and earned an All-Star nod. He will likely be depended on as a second- or third-line center with various special teams responsibilities.
The Blues might be hard-pressed to make many additional roster moves early. They only have around $300,000 in open cap space with many veterans bundled up in long-term contracts and no-trade clauses.
Among the 23 players on the Opening Night roster, only seven remain with playoff experience from the Blues’ 2019 Stanley Cup title team. That includes Binnington, Blais, Bortuzzo, Parayko, Schenn, Sundqvist and Thomas. Two of that bunch (Blais and Sundqvist) rejoined the Blues earlier this year after brief journeys elsewhere.
Binnington, largely due to his contract and experience, will begin the season as the team’s go-to goaltender, but Hofer could make a strong push for playing time after a nice first audition at the end of last season.
Following Saturday’s preseason finale, the Blues placed four players on waivers with NHL experience who could potentially earn callups in the case of injury. That includes forwards Nathan Walker and MacKenzie MacEachern, defenseman Calle Rosen and goaltender Malcolm Subban.
The Blues begin the season Thursday on the road against the Dallas Stars. Puck drop will be approximately 7 pm. The home opener is set for Saturday evening against the Seattle Kraken, also starting around 7 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on Bally Sports Midwest.
