The St. Louis Blues lineup looks relatively set heading into training camp. The club has a good-looking top nine, boasting some solid, top-end scoring.
But like all teams, there’s always room for improvement. In particular, the fourth line looks like a work in progress.
Daily Faceoff projects Oskar Sundqvist centering Mathieu Joseph and Alexey Toropchenko. That’s not a bad group, but it could use a bit more punch. Sure, Joseph is a tough customer. But what if there could be an option to boost grit, while adding a touch more offense?
That option could be PTO invitee Milan Lucic.
The Blues brought the 37-year-old in this summer following a year-long absence from the game. Lucic was embroiled in a legal matter that excluded him from the NHL last season.
The former second-round pick from the 2006 NHL Draft last played with the Boston Bruins in 2023-24. He suited up for just four games before leaving the team. Lucis registered just two assists in those four games.
His last full season was in 2022-23 with the Calgary Flames. In 77 games, Lucic notched seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points. That’s the sort of threshold the Blues could expect from Lucic.
Now, is that good enough to make the team?
It depends on what his role would be. If Lucic shows up and has a strong camp, it could work out. It’s worth pointing out that Lucic last played with the Bruins while Jim Montgomery was still coaching in Boston. So, that familiarity could buy Lucic a spot in St. Louis.
However, fans should have realistic expectations for the 37-year-old. While he may remain a big, physical presence, the scoring touch may have all but evaporated. There’s little chance he could return to the 20-goal form he displayed with the Edmonton Oilers nearly 10 years ago.
Blues could offer Lucic one last kick at the NHL can
The Blues have options to fill the 13th and even 14th forward roles. Alexandre Texier and Nathan Walker could leapfrog Joseph and Toropchenko for fourth-line jobs. Potentially, someone like Nick Bjugstad could fall in the depth chart and push Sundqvist out of the lineup.
But then again, depth is never a bad thing to have. The Blues don’t have much cap space at the moment. But if they chose to place Torey Krug’s contract on LTIR, it would free up nearly $7 million for the club to play with.
That additional cap space could give the Blues enough leeway to keep Lucic on the club for the season. That could prove useful in the event of injuries and inconsistency.
But there’s another thing to keep in mind. This season’s schedule will be brutal. The condensed itinerary will force every club to play multiple back-to-back sets every month, along with several three-games-in-four-nights situations. As such, having healthy bodies is something every coach will be looking for.
This season, fans may see a drop in the minutes per night that big stars play. Coaches may favor rolling out three and four lines consistently every night. That’s why having plenty of depth guys who can spell the big stars will be more useful than ever.
So, there may be room for Milan Lucic to get one last kick at the proverbial NHL can. The Blues will need all the depth they can get. A healthy, productive Lucic could deliver just that.