St. Louis Blues: What To Watch For In Preseason Opener
By Jason Martin
The St. Louis Blues will kick off their 2018-2019 campaign with a preseason game on the road against the Dallas Stars and the Blues are bringing some big names on the trip.
The St. Louis Blues will play their first of seven preseason games in September and will take on the Dallas Stars twice before the season starts on October 4th.
Some of the top players for the new-look Blues will make the trip to Dallas, including forwards Ryan O’Reilly, Patrick Maroon, and Chad Johnson who is expected to get the start in goal for the Blues.
St. Louis will also send some of their top prospects to the first preseason game. Jordan Kyrou is expected to be placed on the top line with O’Reilly and Maroon which will give the Blues management a good look at what he can do when he is paired with top-tier talent.
Kyrou is already impressing the Blues coaching staff early on in camp and this is not a surprise. Kyrou was named the OHL most outstanding player a year ago and has been regarded by just about every major network as one of the top prospects in the NHL.
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The Blues are giving many young players a chance to earn a spot in training camp. The most obvious choice to win a spot is another top prospect, Robert Thomas.
Thomas will also join the Blues on the trip to Dallas and could be paired with NHL talent as well.
Zach Sanford and Dimitri Jaskin are on the roster for the showdown with the Stars and could give Thomas some valuable experience playing with NHL ready talent.
As always, we could see the lines changing in the middle of the game tonight, so fans could see Thomas and Kyrou on a line together at some point during the game.
O’Reilly will finally get a chance to wear the Blue note in a real game for St. Louis. Maybe the biggest trade acquisition of the entire offseason, fans and coaches have been excited to see what O’Reilly can do to help the team.
Chad Johnson will get the start in goal tonight for the Blues, which is intriguing for a number of reasons. We know that Jake Allen is not 100% healthy, so as it stands, Johnson is the number one goalie.
Allen is expected to be ready for the start of the season and is progressing well while recovering from back spasms. For now, though, it is Johnson’s show and he will get a chance to prove that he is capable of being Allen’s backup for the upcoming season.
Goalie Jordan Binnington is also expected to see some time in tonight’s game. He only has 11 minutes of NHL regular season action to his name, but could still push Ville Husso out of the third goalie on the depth chart.
Next. Blues Giving Hints To Line Combinations. dark
There are many storylines to watch as the preseason unfolds for the Blues. Will Thomas and Kyrou make the team? Can the new additions gel with the old guard fast enough to be productive early in the season? Will Jake Allen be consistent all year or will he struggle to maintain his composure for 60-plus games?
We have been asking these questions for a very long time, and summer seemed like it was never going to end. Well, tonight, we finally get to see the Blues hit the ice, and we get to have these questions answered.