ST. LOUIS — When the St. Louis Blues announce their training camp roster every September, it feels like things start picking up fast.
That roster was released Thursday with the official announcement that the first on-ice practice will be Sept. 19 at Centene.
A total of 62 players have been invited to camp.
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Forwards (33): Nikita Alexandrov, Sam Bitten, Zack Bolduc, Pavel Buchnevich, Zach Dean, Tanner Dickinson, Antoine Dorion, Dalibor Dvorsky, Radek Faksa, Dylan Holloway, Adam Jecho, Mathieu Joseph, Kasperi Kapanen, Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, Jordan Kyrou, Mathias Laferriere, Mackenzie MacEachern, Hugh McGing, Tomas Mrsic, Jake Neighbours, Matthew Peca, Juraj Pekarcik, Dylan Peterson, Simon Robertsson, Brandon Saad, Brayden Schenn, Jakub Stancl, Oskar Sundqvist, Marcus Sylvegard, Alexandre Texier, Robert Thomas, Alexey Toropchenko, Nathan Walker.
Defensem*n (23): Jeremie Biakabutuka, Philip Broberg, Michael Buchinger, Quinton Burns, Lukas Fischer, Justin Faulk, Marc-Andre Gaudet, Scott Harrington, Adam Jiricek, Samuel Johannesson, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Matthew Kessel, Nick Leddy, Leo Loof, Anton Malmstrom, Matt Mayich, Will McIsaac, Colton Parayko, Scott Perunovich, Corey Schueneman, Hunter Skinner, Ryan Suter, Tyler Tucker.
Goalies (five): Jordan Binnington, Will Cranley, Colten Ellis, Joel Hofer, Vadim Zherenko.
The list does not include defenseman Torey Krug, who revealed earlier this week he’ll undergo season-ending surgery on his left ankle.
In part 1 of our Blues’ mailbag earlier this week, we took on questions about the team’s playoff chances, line combinations, breakout players and more. But as always when subscribers have this many questions, we bring you Part 2 …
Note: Some questions have been edited lightly for length and clarity.
Follow me for a moment: With better planning and steelier nerves, the Blues could have acquired Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway for less. They gave up a third-round pick to get their second-rounder back from Pittsburgh. They gave up third-rounder and prospect Paul Fischer to call Edmonton’s bluff, even though subsequent reporting strongly suggests the Oilers never intended to match. So they gave up three more assets in addition to the two CBA-mandated draft picks and the salary overpayments. Do you agree they paid a price higher than needed? — John A.
Here’s how I see it: The Blues wanted Broberg and Holloway, and they knew when they gave out the offer sheets that they may have to give up additional assets to complete the deal. Could general manager Doug Armstrong have held out and gotten Broberg and Holloway without surrendering Fischer and a third-round pick? Perhaps. But I don’t think of it as “calling a bluff.” He wanted the players and felt it was worth those assets to make sure he got them.
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Remember, Armstrong got a third-rounder from Ottawa in the trade for Mathieu Joseph, so in essence, he used the Blues’ cap space to pick up an asset from the Senators and flipped that to get Broberg and Holloway. I don’t know about anybody else, but I have no problem trading second- and third-round picks and Fischer for those two.
Let’s look at the deal with Pittsburgh. To refresh everyone, the Blues traded Kevin Hayes and their 2025 second-round pick for “future considerations” in late June. The Blues had to sweeten the deal with the second-round pick so Pittsburgh would take on the final two years of Hayes’ contract. Without that pick, the deal doesn’t get done. But when the Blues came up with the plan to present the offer sheet to Broberg, they needed that 2025 second-round pick back because that would be the required compensation for Edmonton if the Oilers declined to match.
So the Blues made another trade with Pittsburgh, re-acquiring their 2025 second-rounder by sending the Penguins their 2026 second-rounder. To get the Penguins to agree to the deal, Armstrong had to swap additional picks, giving up a 2025 third-rounder for a 2026 fifth-rounder. So they lost a higher pick to get their second-rounder back just two weeks after sending it to the Penguins.
Better planning would not have prevented that. Hayes would still be here, and that’s not what the Blues wanted. For the Blues to be where they’re at now — with Broberg and Holloway, and without Hayes — they gave a 2026 second-rounder and 2025 third-rounder to the Penguins to take Hayes, and got a 2026 fifth-round pick back. That’s a lot! So there’s no sugar-coating that situation, but we need to keep it separate from the Edmonton offer-sheet situation. If the Blues never make the trade with Philadelphia for Hayes in the first place, then the extra third-rounder isn’t brought up.
Bottom line: Armstrong might’ve been able to do it for less, but there’s no guarantee that it would’ve ended up the way it did.
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Do you think Armstrong would’ve done the offer sheets if he hadn’t already announced plans for his successor, Alexander Steen? And does this hurt Steen’s ability to maneuver going forward? — Matt H.
Armstrong would have done the offer sheets whether he was sticking around for 10 more years or turning the job over to Steen in two years. He saw an opportunity to improve the Blues and wasn’t afraid to do it within the rules. Armstrong was more motivated to do it because this will be Steen’s roster soon. In my conversations with Armstrong, he’s continued to stress that he wants to leave the organization in a better spot than when he got here, and he viewed the Broberg and Holloway acquisitions as a way to expedite the change.
Offer sheets won’t have an impact on Steen’s ability to function with other GMs or his reputation. Armstrong isn’t even being viewed as a villain around the league, so Steen certainly won’t be.
Armstrong said Steen was not involved in the decision to go for Broberg and Holloway — more just watching and learning. So how will Steen go from intern to running the team’s hockey operations in two years? — G.R.
It’s a fair question, and for anybody who thinks Steen’s inexperience is an issue, I hear you. I don’t want to try to change your mind, but I’ll tell you how I feel about him coming in raw. I’ve never been around a person who drips hockey more than Steen. He’s as knowledgeable about the X’s and O’s as he is about what guys in the locker room are feeling. He may not know the daily routines and processes of being a GM yet, but he’s extremely intelligent and that will come. So he may not have as much of a feel for the job as an assistant GM in the league who’s been doing this for 10 or 12 years, and he may not be 100 percent ready in two years. But it will come, and in the end, they’ll have the right guy in my mind.
Do you think the Blues are on the correct path with the rebuild when they lack what others would consider “elite” players or prospects? Can we win a Stanley Cup if we build around a group of, at best, above-average players? — Brian K.
Take a look at the last 10 or so Cup champs: The common denominator, to me, is hardened veteran players. But yeah, a lot of them had star players, too. The Blues have to build through the draft, find out who can help, and then build around those players with trades and free agents. It’s more difficult when you don’t have top-five picks, but Cups aren’t guaranteed if you have stars, either.
With the Chicago Blackhawks’ Winter Classic jersey leaking, have you heard or seen anything about what the Blues’ jersey is looking like? I’m tired of throwbacks and hope they go with something completely new and different. — Cory S.
I have not heard anything about the Blues’ jersey, but I’ll be honest with you: I talk to a lot of people in the organization regularly, and I don’t ask them about this. It’s their surprise. If it gets leaked like Chicago’s, so be it — I’ll report on it. But I don’t go out of my way to find out what the jersey looks like.
As far as the design of the Blues’ jersey once it’s officially announced, keep in mind that with the Winter Classic and, really, all of the outdoor games, the jerseys are a collaboration between the NHL and the team. The league has a theme or vibe it wants to project with the game, and both teams’ jerseys will reflect that. So while I don’t know what the Blues’ jersey will look like, I trust that it will look sharp because they’ve done a good job with these over the years. And the vibe likely will be similar to what the Blackhawks will be wearing.
The rumors are true! The #Blackhawks #WinterClassic jersey photo floating around is the real deal.
I have a new video going into all the details rendering now. Will be on the channel soon!
For now, here are a couple more detail shots. (Photos via ig/95takengive) pic.twitter.com/e7IPKS0OSS
— icethetics (@icethetics) August 17, 2024
How likely are we to see Dvorsky playing at the Winter Classic? I know it’s all up to how well he plays, but it would be huge with him and Connor Bedard on the posters. — Maxwell H.
I don’t know if Dvorsky will be on the Blues’ roster on opening night in Seattle Oct. 8, and you want me to guess if he’ll be uniform at the Winter Classic on Dec. 31? Ha, I’m kidding! If you find anybody who knows that he’ll be in the NHL, let me know so that I can start writing some glowing stories about him — and also add him to my fantasy team.
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With all the great alumni in St. Louis, can you please do a biweekly story on former players? What are they up to? Why did they stay? — Jim M.
Over the years, a lot of Blues fans have asked about this, so I know you’re not the only one who’s interested. I don’t know that I can write a lot of them because it’s pretty time-consuming covering the current team. Perhaps I can write a couple alumni stories per season, or do one story and include several former players. How about this: Put some names of the guys you’d like to read about in the comment section below, and I’ll see what I can do from there.
Any chance the Blues could get rid of Diamond and start their own network or streaming service like some of these other clubs are doing? — Scott C.
I’m scheduled to chat with the Blues on this topic soon. The difficult part is that it all remains fluid, and most clubs are waiting to see what happens with Diamond before they initiate any contingency plans. So again, my hope is to have some information on the Blues’ plans/options, which are still hung up at the moment.
How much money did you lose while in Vegas covering the draft? — Scott F.
Funny you ask: I went to Vegas for a Blues game during the regular season and lost $200 at the roulette table. My wife was super thrilled (not really). Fortunately, I was able to win $200 on roulette when I was in town for the draft. I’m looking at it like they were holding my money for me, but with no interest.
(Top photo of Doug Armstrong: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
Jeremy Rutherford is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the St. Louis Blues. He has covered the team since the 2005-06 season, including a dozen years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He is the author of "Bernie Federko: My Blues Note" and "100 Things Blues Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die." In addition, he is the Blues Insider for 101 ESPN in St. Louis. Follow Jeremy on Twitter @jprutherford
