St. Louis Blues 22-23
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Blues' Jordan Kyrou signs 8-year, $65 million contract extension
The terms match the contract signed by teammate Robert Thomas two months ago.
Jim Thomas
When Robert Thomas was signed to a franchise-record eight-year, $65 million contract extension on July 13, Blues general manager Doug Armstrong mentioned that teammate Jordan Kyrou was next in line.
“Moving forward, Robert and Jordan, they're becoming more and more the alpha males - and the game is trending towards that,” Armstrong said at the time. “I think Kyrou, you saw what he did last year, needs to be a top player for us to be a top franchise.
“The question might be well, why Robert before Jordan? Like the old analogy, how do you get the horses back in the barn?
“One at a time. So we got one horse back in the barn and now we'll go to work on some of the other guys.”
Well, exactly two months after signing Thomas, Armstrong got another horse in the barn. A thoroughbred actually, when Kyrou was signed to a contract extension Tuesday. It’s an eight-year, $65 million deal – with an average annual value of $8.125 million. It's the same deal as Thomas.
The latest move is another indication that Thomas and Kyrou are the future of Blues hockey.
At age 24, Kyrou is 14 months older than Thomas and was drafted one year earlier (in 2016). It has taken Kyrou slightly longer to develop, but both players basically have been joined at the hip as highly-touted prospects.
Both are making $2.8 million this season and were scheduled to be arbitration-eligible restricted free agents before their extensions this offseason. Now, they’re both budding stars, locked up until the start of the next decade.
So the Blues will have Kyrou, Thomas, Parayko, Krug, Faulk, and Leddy signed for at least the next 4 seasons and Schenn signed for the next 6 seasons.
Two biggest questions front office still has is what to do with ROR and Tarasenko as both are free agents after the upcoming season.
Two biggest questions front office still has is what to do with ROR and Tarasenko as both are free agents after the upcoming season.
IlliniSaluki
- IL metro east burbs of St. Louis
As to Tarasenko.. I really do hope he decides he wants to stay and they can get an extension done for him. Maybe not as long as the other two since he is older but maybe a 4 or 5 year deal instead of an 8 year.
More than ready for hockey to get started!
More than ready for hockey to get started!
Gotta wait just about a month for regular season games to start.
Preseason is 10 days and counting down. Have my season tickets and ready for another good season. Preseason is the only time I take my daughter. She would rather have snacks and ride the escalator forever instead of watching the game
Busy time with Illini football and Cardinals with Blues and Illini basketball right around the corner. Good times
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
With Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas contracts, Blues hope reward outweighs risk
For the St. Louis Blues to project performance nearly a decade into the future can be a tricky proposition.
Jim Thomas
In most cases when players are signed to big multiyear contracts, they’re further along in their careers than Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas.
As such, they’re getting paid as much for what they’ve already accomplished in the NHL as for what lies ahead.
But in the case of Kyrou, age 24, and Thomas, 23, their mega-contracts are more about what the future will bring than what’s already on their resumes.
Their identical eight-year, $65 million contract extensions are a convincing vote of confidence by the Blues organization. But there’s also some risk involved.
“There is risk. There’s always risk,” general manager Doug Armstrong conceded Wednesday. “But when you look at the number of players that are getting extended after two years of service or three — these guys have four years of service.”
One such example is Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle, who signed an eight-year, $66.8 million contract extension earlier this offseason after only two years in the NHL. So there’s at least more of a track record for Kyrou, who signed his extension Tuesday, and Thomas, who signed his deal July 13.
“So there’s less risk than I think other teams are taking,” Armstrong said.
But there are no guarantees.
“There’s risk of injury. There’s risk of poor play,” Armstrong said. “There’s risk of not getting along with the (general) manager, not getting along with the coach. There’s always risks out there. But there’s a belief that I have in these two players, that they’re going to be the pillar of what we build around.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Like the rest of Blues prospects, Zachary Bolduc gets back on his game
After a disappointing tournament opener in Traverse City, Bolduc has a goal and two assists in an 8-3 win over Toronto.
Jim Thomas
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Among a group of unhappy campers Thursday, forward Zachary Bolduc may have been the unhappiest of all after the Blues’ 7-1 loss to Columbus in their NHL Prospect Tournament opener.
“I didn’t play the way that I can,” Bolduc said. “And I know I can be much better, and more involved in the game and everything. For sure, it’s going to be better tonight.”
Bolduc was among the last Blues prospects off the ice during Friday’s morning skate at Centre Ice Arena. He worked on his shot and worked on his confidence. And his comment about things going better that night against Toronto was spot on.
Bolduc scored a goal and added two assists in an 8-3 win for the Blues’ prospects over their Maple Leafs counterparts. The Blues got a hat trick from Andrei Bakanov, a Moscow native who has played the last two years in the Kontinental Hockey League. The second of his three goals came on a penalty shot; he’s here with the prospects as a free-agent invite. Landon Sim, a sixth-round pick in July, scored twice — giving him three goals in two tournament games.
The other Blues goals came by Jake Neighbours and defenseman Matt Kessel. Will Cranley handled the goaltending duties and made lots of big saves in a game where St. Louis killed off eight penalties, including one minute, 58 seconds of a Toronto 5-on-3.
After an off-day Saturday, the Blues close out the tournament with a 10 a.m. game Sunday against the Dallas Stars.
“It was a better effort tonight,” coach Drew Bannister said. “I liked the way we played. I thought our guys competed harder and kept it a little bit more simple.”
The Blues were more passionate, more engaged — and what went for the entire team was particularly true for Bolduc.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Cap crunch will make it tough for Blues to re-sign Ryan O'Reilly
With the signings of Kyrou and Thomas, Blues have less than $16 million in cap space with only 13 players under contract for 2023-24.
Jim Thomas
It has been an expensive summer for the Blues, with $130 million in contract extensions doled out to young forwards Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas.
Now what happens?
Two Blues mainstays — captain Ryan O’Reilly and alternate captain Vladimir Tarasenko — have contracts that expire at the end of this coming season. The same is true for Ivan Barbashev, who’s coming off a year in which he set career highs for goals (26), assists (34) and points (60). And defenseman Niko Mikkola, who will challenge for an every-day spot in the lineup.
Can the Blues sign them all? Or sign any of them?
General manager Doug Armstrong and assistant general manager Ryan Miller have worked some salary cap wizardry in the past, but figuring out how to make the numbers work for the 2023-24 season will be a daunting task.
“O’Reilly, Tarasenko, Barbashev, Mikkola — these guys are all gonna be UFAs,” Armstrong said. “Right now, we’re just gonna let the season play itself out, have these guys play.” Does that mean there will be no negotiating during the season?
“It means if we do, we’ll do it behind closed doors,” Armstrong said, with a laugh. “That’s two major signings right now (Thomas and Kyrou.) I haven’t seen these (other) guys this year. Once camp starts we’ll bump into each other and we’ll talk. But right now, our focus is on this year for sure. ... But these are key players for us.”
That’s especially true in the case of O’Reilly and Tarasenko. Since the blockbuster trade that brought him to St. Louis from Buffalo in 2018, O’Reilly has been the backbone of the team.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Gordo on the NHL: Assessing the Central Division as training camps open
The Winnipeg Jets are the big unknown in the NHL Central as teams get back to work. They are hoping for different results from most of the same players who
Jeff Gordon
The Winnipeg Jets are the wild card team in the Central Division as teams prepare for training camp.
The rest of the teams are known quantities. The Colorado Avalanche still rule coming off their Stanley Cup parade. Losing No. 2 center Nazem Kadri to free agency will hurt and the team's goaltending is murky, but elite talent can cover a lot of shortcomings.
The veteran Blues are still a postseason threat despite losing David Perron to free agency. They will need to sort out their defensive corps on the fly this season and keep Jordan Binnington on track, but they still have admirable depth.
The big, hard-hitting Nashville Predators have a football team on skates and Dominik Hasek wannabe Juuse Saros in goal. They locked in Filip Forsberg for the long haul and got sturdier with the additions of winger Nino Niederreiter and defenseman Ryan McDonagh.
The Minnesota Wild are rebuilding on the fly around superstar Karill Kaprizov and young forwards Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi after moving from Ryan Suter and Zach Parise. Whacking those two veterans created the salary cap penalty that forced Kevin Fiala onto the trade block after his 85-point season. So they could take one step back.
The Dallas Stars still have Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn on burdensome contracts, but their new foundation is in place with forwards Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz breaking out. GM Jim Nill got an extension and new coach in Peter DeBoer should keep them in the hunt as the transition continues.
The Chicago Blackhawks are shamelessly tanking. So are the Arizona Coyotes. Which team can lose more? That will be a highly competitive race to the bottom as they battle for favorable draft lottery odds.
So that leaves the Winnipeg Jets to figure out. They hired old-school coach Rick Bowness to restore defensive order
Scandella will have hip surgery and be out at least 6 months. The injury occurred during offseason training.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Gordo: Blues must fortify their supply chain to ensure enduring success
The Blues have remained in the NHL’s upper tier during general manager Doug Armstrong’s highly successful tenure.
Jeff Gordon
The Blues have remained in the NHL’s upper tier during general manager Doug Armstrong’s highly successful tenure.
Remaining there for much longer will be challenging.
They must get key young veterans to take the next step in their careers, and they must redouble their player development efforts to keep cost-efficient talent coming.
If they don’t, they will face a major falloff in the not-so-distant future.
EP Rinkside ranks the Blues prospect pool at 26th in the league. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman ranks the team’s pipeline at 29th — down from 24 in 2021.
His grading did not include 24-year-olds Jordan Kyrou, Scott Perunovich and Logan Brown or 23-year-olds Robert Thomas, Klim Kostin and Alexei Toropchenko, so it’s not like this franchise is devoid of youth.
But the point is well-taken. After making blockbuster trades to build a Stanley Cup champion, the Blues aren’t brimming with emerging talent.
That was evident at the Traverse City prospects tourney when the Blues contingent suffered a couple of lopsided losses.
Forwards Jake Neighbours and Zachary Bolduc will the prospects of interest when the Blues open training camp Thursday. The Blues need both to grow into Top 9 roles within the next few years to offset the inevitable salary cap casualties.
The window is still open for at least the next few years. After that, we will see. The Blues have a lot of money invested in just a handful of players. The Blackhawks did the same thing and were not able to keep significant talent. We have seen what has happened to them. I hope the same thing does not happen to the Blues.Gordo: Blues must fortify their supply chain to ensure enduring success
The Blues have remained in the NHL’s upper tier during general manager Doug Armstrong’s highly successful tenure.www.stltoday.com
Jeff Gordon
The Blues have remained in the NHL’s upper tier during general manager Doug Armstrong’s highly successful tenure.
Remaining there for much longer will be challenging.
They must get key young veterans to take the next step in their careers, and they must redouble their player development efforts to keep cost-efficient talent coming.
If they don’t, they will face a major falloff in the not-so-distant future.
EP Rinkside ranks the Blues prospect pool at 26th in the league. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman ranks the team’s pipeline at 29th — down from 24 in 2021.
His grading did not include 24-year-olds Jordan Kyrou, Scott Perunovich and Logan Brown or 23-year-olds Robert Thomas, Klim Kostin and Alexei Toropchenko, so it’s not like this franchise is devoid of youth.
But the point is well-taken. After making blockbuster trades to build a Stanley Cup champion, the Blues aren’t brimming with emerging talent.
That was evident at the Traverse City prospects tourney when the Blues contingent suffered a couple of lopsided losses.
Forwards Jake Neighbours and Zachary Bolduc will the prospects of interest when the Blues open training camp Thursday. The Blues need both to grow into Top 9 roles within the next few years to offset the inevitable salary cap casualties.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
As camp opens, GM Doug Armstrong talks Blues, Avalanche, parity and scoring
Despite the losses of Perron and Husso, he expects the Blues to once again be in the mix in the Western Conference.
Jim Thomas
Conventional wisdom — and most Blues fans, it seems — feel the team will be worse without forward David Perron and goalie Ville Husso on the roster.
“That’s why you play the games,” general manager Doug Armstrong said, with a laugh. “We’ll find out.”
The Blues are on the verge of that nine-month “finding out” process. Hockey season is here. Blues training camp opens Thursday with two practices at Centene Community Ice Center. (They take place at 10 a.m. and noon and are free and open to the public.)
The first of eight preseason games is Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes in Wichita, Kansas.
And the regular-season opener comes three weeks from Saturday at Enterprise Center, on Oct. 15 against Johnny Gaudreau and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“We’re excited,” Armstrong said. “We had a good season last year — 109 points. We win a round in the playoffs, and I thought we were poised to go deeper. And we had some injuries. Things happen.”
Most notably, the Blues lost goalie Jordan Binnington for the rest of the series with a knee injury after Colorado’s Nazem Kadri crashed into him during Game 3 of the second round. They also had four defensemen miss a combined 22 games over two playoff series against the Avalanche and the Minnesota Wild.
The Blues will open the 2022-23 regular season without one of those defensemen — Marco Scandella (hip) — and be without fourth-line forward Alexey Toropchenko (shoulder) due to surgeries. The Blues opted not to re-sign 36-year-old free agent Tyler Bozak, a veteran of the 2018-19 Stanley Cup team.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
BenFred: Brayden Schenn, fellow champions keys to Blues proving present can be promising
Schenn, Binnington and Parayko have long contracts that need to age well.
Ben Frederickson
The more distance Brayden Schenn gains from last season, the more he has offered up about how much last season hurt.
We’re not just talking about getting bounced from the second round by rival Colorado before the Avalanche went on to win the Stanley Cup championship.
Schenn played through three separate sets of broken ribs and a torn oblique.
Somehow he still managed to join the team’s robust 20-goal club (24) in 62 games while posting a plus-minus of 21. But yes, Schenn acknowledged Thursday on Day 1 of training camp, it was brutal at times. Playoffs included.
“The movement was not great,” Schenn said. “Getting hit is obviously not fun. You can pad this and that, but it (extra padding) weighs you down a little bit.”
And now? Much better.
“I feel good,” Schenn said. “I feel ready. Just one of those things. Unfortunate. Happens early on the year, and you are just playing catch-up the whole year. Trying to battle through it. It’s all part of it. You move forward.”
So much of the talk entering this edition of Blues training camp has revolved, understandably so, around three types of Blues players.
There are the ones who did not get a new contract from the Blues, like new Detroit Red Wing David Perron.
There are the ones who are still waiting to find out if they will get a new contract from the Blues, like pending unrestricted free agent and captain Ryan O’Reilly.
And there are the ones who just received their new contracts, like talented young forwards Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
A healthy Jordan Binnington in 'good spot' as Blues open preseason with win
Back from knee injury, he plays the first period in Saturday's 5-4 victory over Coyotes.
Jim Thomas
WICHITA, Kan. – It’s been a while since Nazem Kadri crashed into Jordan Binnington in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals, resulting in a knee injury and ending Binnington season.
But it hasn’t been all that long since Binnington has felt healthy – healthy enough to play hockey, that is. That playoff game against Colorado took place on May 21. Binnington said the knee didn’t feel right for nearly three months.
Binnington told the Post-Dispatch last week that the knee injury did not require surgery.
“In the middle of August there, it started feeling really good,” Binnington said, following the Blues’ 5-4 preseason win Saturday over the Arizona Coyotes. “So it’s been a good few weeks now. And I just keep building and pushing it. Yeah, we’re in a good spot.”
The postgame Binnington “vibe check” confirmed that assessment. He seems to be in a good spot. As he came out in the hallway at INTRUST Bank Arena for his postgame media session, Binnington greeted a reporter with: “You got some good question lined up?”
The 3 1/2 -minute Q&A ended with a question from someone wearing a white No. 50 Binnington jersey. As the scrum broke up, Binnington asked her: “Do you want me to sign the jersey?”
He even asked Blues PR for a black “Sharpie” marker for maximum signature visibility. Then he posed for a selfie with her. Did the same for a fan with a no-name Blues jersey – a jersey signing and photo op.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Quick hits: Logan Brown's late goal gives Blues a 5-4 win
Brown and Jake Neighbours score twice apiece against Arizona in Blues' preseason opener.
Jim Thomas
WICHITA, Kan. — Blues hockey is back, in south-central Kansas of all places.
With a very young team on the ice, the Blues defeated the Arizona Coyotes 5-4 on Saturday at INTRUST Arena.
Thirteen of the 20 Blues players at their preseason opener either were in the minors or junior hockey at the end of last season. But with eight exhibition games this year, which is more than usual, Saturday night was a time to look at the prospects and those veterans trying to squeeze onto a roster that’s pretty well set entering camp.
Two players that appear to be competing for third-line spots up front, Jake Neighbours and Logan Brown, scored two goals apiece, with Brown scoring the game-winner with 4:10 to go in the game.
Look who’s back
For the first time since Nazem Kadri slammed into Jordan Binnington in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals last May, leading to a series-ending knee injury, the Blues goalie was back in game action. Binnington got the start Saturday, much to the delight of the crowd at INTRUST.He played only the first period, stopping seven of eight Coyotes shots. Arizona’s goal came on the power play, with Blues prospect Landon Sim off for hooking. Nick Ritchie scored backdoor for the Coyotes on an assist from Barrett Hayton with 4:51 left in the period.
Joel Hofer took over in the second period and finished off the game; he’s expected to be the No. 1 goalie this season for the Springfield Thunderbirds in the American Hockey League.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Quick hits: Blues click on all cylinders in 4-0 win over Dallas
Leivo scores twice, Greiss and Ellis combine for shutout in goal.
Jim Thomas
DALLAS — Two games, two victories for the Blues. Too bad for them that these points don’t count when the real thing begins in mid-October.
But the Blues looked very sharp in all aspects of their game Monday — checking, goaltending, and scoring — in a 4-0 victory over the Dallas Stars before 10,023 fans at American Airlines Arena.
It was the first preseason game for 16 of the 20 Blues in uniform – nonetheless is was a crisp, fundamentally-sound performance by players young and old.
Josh Leivo scored twice, with Logan Brown and Will Bitten scoring one goal each. St. Louis goalies Thomas Greiss and Colten Ellis combined to stop 32 Dallas shots.
It was the preseason opener for Dallas, which played mainly prospects but also had a few heavyweights in the lineup — namely Jamie Benn, Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski. Esa Lindell was on defense, and Anton Khudobin and Jake Oettinger played goal.
The only down side of the night for the visitors was a lower-body injury suffered by hard-shooting Martin Frk. He did not play in the third period.
Brownie (and Leivo) points
Brown had four goals in 39 games with the Blues last season. So far this preseason, he has three goals in two games. Following a two-goal performance in Saturday’s 5-4 win over Arizona, Brown said he had spent a lot of the offseason working on his shot and his offense. So far, it’s paying off.pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Blues notebook: Scandella's injury should open more ice time for Mikkola
Niko Mikkola was part of a quartet of competitors for the Blues' third defensive pairing and the loss of Marco Scandella to injury should mean more ice time for him
Tom Timmermann
The injury that will keep Blues defenseman Marco Scandella out for most of the season will send ripples through the team’s lineup. It likely will open a spot for a forward on the 23-man roster and it will ease a logjam on defense, where the Blues were looking at starting the season with eight defensemen.
One of the beneficiaries of that might be defenseman Niko Mikkola, who appeared in a career-high 54 NHL games last season and also led the team in healthy scratches (23). He logged time on the team’s shutdown pairing alongside Colton Parayko — he was second on the team among defensemen in defensive zone starts, behind only Scandella — and he also logged time on the third pairing. The potential is there for more work for Mikkola.
“Of course, there’s one guy less now,” he said. “It would be nice to get ‘Scandy,’ too, in the lineup but yeah, it’s of course an opportunity for getting more ice time for me too, maybe more (penalty-killing) time and (I’ll) work hard and try to take it.”
“I think he has been improving year to year,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “I think the development for me is just puck play, coming out of your own end, making plays, breakout plays, things like that. Seeing the ice a little bit better. He actually does a good job offensively, the offensive zone, he attacks at the right time, gets his shot through, but coming out of his own end, he can work on just improving his puck play there and making subtle little plays and things like that.”
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Injury to Scott Perunovich tempers the positives for Blues in win over Chicago
Goalies sparkle, power play goes 3-for-3, but Perunovich could be sidelined for a while with apparent arm/wrist injury.
Jim Thomas
CHICAGO – There was a lot to like for the Blues in Tuesday’s 4-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center.
The power play, so good last season but 1-for-7 in the first two games of this preseason, benefited from an infusion of regulars in the lineup and went 3-for-3 against Chicago. Ryan O’Reilly, Justin Faulk and Nikita Alexandrov had the power play goals, with Faulk’s score snapping a 1-1 tie eight minutes 57 seconds into the final period.
The goaltending by Jordan Binnington (two periods, 20 saves) and Vadim Zherenko (one period, 11 saves) was excellent. A Chicago lineup that included Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Seth Jones managed only a Cole Guttman net front rebound goal against Binnington with 68 seconds left in the second period.
And preseason or not, the Blues are 3-0-0, with every game coming on the road. They play their first preseason home game Thursday against Columbus.
But overshadowing all of that was a first-period upper-body injury to defenseman Scott Perunovich.
The injury occurred on a hit by Chicago’s Michal Teply, with Perunovich’s arm/wrist looking to be caught against the glass. Perunovich was done for the night, and who knows how much longer.
Coach Craig Berube certainly did not sound optimistic postgame.
“You feel bad for him,” Berube said. “He’s had a tough go with injuries. He worked hard all summer and was ready to come in and prove himself. It’s an unfortunate thing.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Quick hits: Action-packed third period gives Blues 4-1 win over Blackhawks
Three power play goals and the debut of goalie Vadim Zherenko among the highlights Tuesday at United Center.
Jim Thomas
CHICAGO — Who says preseason hockey is boring?
The Blues saw the debut of a Russian goalie, and a dazzling one at that. Jake Neighbours had a breakaway on the penalty kill ... without a stick. And Brayden Schenn was penalized for holding and holding the stick of a Chicago player while Schenn was on the bench.
And that was all in the third period alone at the United Center in Chicago. Getting strong goaltending from Jordan Binnington and Vadim Zherenko as well as power play goals by Ryan O’Reilly, Justin Faulk and Nikita Alexandrov, the Blues defeated their rivals to the north 4-1.
Three of the goals came in the third period to break a 1-1 tie.
They remain unbeaten in exhibition play at 3-0, for whatever that’s worth.
Having played their first three preseason contests on the road, the Blues play four of their final five exhibitions in Missouri — with three games at Enterprise Center and a game this Saturday in Kansas City against the Dallas Stars.
Perunovich out
Defenseman Scott Perunovich suffered an upper-body injury in the first period Tuesday and did not return. The injury appeared to occur on a hit by Chicago’s Michal Teply, with Perunovich’s arm/wrist possibly caught against the glass.Perunovich has been slowed by injuries throughout his young career, with both coach Craig Berube and general manager Doug Armstrong saying he needed to stay healthy to nail down a meaningful role with the team this season.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Read the full transcript of Blues beat writer Tom Timmermann's chat with readers
Get your questions ready and join in at 1 p.m. Wednesday for our weekly Blues chat.
Get your questions ready and join in at 1 p.m. Wednesday for our weekly Blues chat.
17 hours ago
Here we are. Six days of training camp. Three games. Two injuries. Ah yes, it's hockey season. The Blues are off today, their first off day of camp, so while they take a breather, let's dive in to the question pool.
ttimmermann
17 hours ago
Hi Tom, If not ROR, WHO? I think this is the most interesting question for next year. I guess we could go with Thomas Schen and maybe Brown becomes the real deal.
Clueless Blues Fan
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Quick hits: After slow start, Blues come on strong at home for 4-2 preseason win
The line of Robert Thomas, Vladimir Tarasenko and Pavel Buchnevich scored twice in 37 seconds in the second period to jump-start the Blues
Tom Timmermann
The Blues took the wrappings off their most valuable offensive collection, the line of Robert Thomas, Vladimir Tarasenko and Pavel Buchnevich, and while it took them a while to get going, the results were what the Blues are hoping for.
The line had a role in the Blues’ first two goals, once as part of a power play and then on another goal by Robert Bortuzzo 37 seconds later as the Blues snapped out of a lethargic start to score four times in the final 33 minutes and stay perfect in the preseason with a 4-2 win over Columbus in the Blues preseason home opener at Enterprise Center.
The trio was the best combination for the Blues last season, and Tarasenko, with 34 goals, and Buchnevich, with 30, were the two leading scorers on the team. With Thomas having signed the biggest contract in team history (later matched by Jordan Kyrou) in the offseason, expectations have been increased.
The three forwards were the last to get in a game for the Blues, with coach Craig Berube waiting until the fourth game to put them in a game. It is, at this point, the only line with any certainty. There are still moving pieces on the other three lines that may not fully shake out until the final roster is set.
The Blues also got goals from farmhand Hugh McGing and defenseman Niko Mikkola. Next up for the Blues is a game on Saturday in Independence, Missouri, against Dallas.