St. Louis Blues Still Too Early Line Combination Guesses

The St. Louis Blues still have about two months before they get the season underway. It’s never too early to start pondering about who might play with whom.

The St. Louis Blues will have a decidedly different look to their 2017-18 squad. While there were not massive overhauls, Doug Armstrong made some very calculated moves in an attempt to push this team over the hump.

It remains to be seen whether those moves will pay off. You can assemble an All-Star team on paper and it might not work out on the ice.

The Blues have a roster that is not an All-Star team, but it looks quite a bit better going into this upcoming season. If nothing else there seems to be a bit more depth up the middle, which will allow players to play where they will be most successful as opposed to being a square peg in a round hole as has been the case in the past.

With the dog days of the summer still in full effect, it’s time to start pondering what this team might look like. It is time to start putting the pieces together and see if we can guess what the lineups will look like.

What I want to see

Let’s start with what would be fun to see, or rather what I would at least like to see the line combinations look like. These are less likely to actually happen (we’ll get to those in a minute) but should/could still be good for the team.

1st Line) Jayden Schwartz, Brayden Schenn, Vladimir Tarasenko
2nd Line) Robby Fabbri, Paul Stastny, Alexander Steen
3rd Line) Vladimir Sobotka, Ivan Barbashev, Magnus Paajarvi
4th Line) Zach Sanford, Kyle Brodziak, (Insert random name)

The first thing I know people will have an issue with is Brayden Schenn as the top line center. Nobody seems to think he’s fit for that kind of role that I’ve seen.

It’s a fair point. Schenn has not established himself as a pure center to begin with, so why place him with the top line?

Well, because he can produce. Sure there are arguments about his point production at five-on-five, but he had 25 goals and 30 assists last year.

Both totals are higher than Paul Stastny, who is considered the Blues’ top center at this point. Additionally, Stastny has not been playing with the top line anyway, so why force it now when they have not felt it was a good fit previously?

The third line is interesting, but I’d like that combination. You would not have a lot of size, but there would be a ton of determination. Like him or not, there is no denying Vladimir Sobotka‘s work ethic. The guy busts his butt just about every shift.

Placing Ivan Barbashev at center for this line seems a better fit. There have been fans wanting to see him higher up the lineup, but it’s just too soon. I’m not saying he’s not an NHL player, but he’s definitely not the type to just jump into your top six a year after many thought he would never get out of the AHL. A third line role gets him more ice time than the fourth while keeping his minutes in check. You can always bump him up if he earns it.

Lastly, Magnus Paajarvi continues to be an enigma. Most likely Patrik Berglund would slide onto this line when he’s healthy. Still, if Craig Berube can keep Paajarvi playing at the level we saw at the end of last season, his speed would be a welcome addition to this line.

I almost thought of moving Paajarvi or Sobotka up to the second line to have Alexander Steen on the third. His physicality and tenacity would fit in well with that third pairing. I’d like to give him the opportunity to regain his offensive form first though.

As far as the fourth line goes, you can see I did not go to great lengths. I think Zach Sanford needs to get steadier time if we are really going to find out how good he can be. He has the potential to be playing higher up the lineup when other contracts run out, but that’s all it is – potential.

As far as the other wing slot, there are just too many possibilities. We all know we are going to see Chris Thorburn in that slot quite a bit. But you also have newcomer Beau Bennett, Oskar Sundqvist and Dmitrij Jaskin.

Jaskin’s talents should push him higher up the lineup. However, personally, he’s run his course for me. He’s young enough to still be a late bloomer, but I just don’t see it happening so I was in no rush to jam his name into any of these slots.

What we are likely to see

1st Line) Jayden Schwartz, Paul Stastny, Vladimir Tarasenko
2nd Line) Robby Fabbri, Brayden Schenn, Alexander Steen
3rd Line) Zach Sanford, Vladimir Sobotka, Dmitrij Jaskin
4th Line) Ivan Barbashev, Kyle Brodziak, Magnus Paajarvi

There aren’t any earth shattering differences in the lines at the top. Stastny gets the top billing because that’s how the team seems to have seen him.

I don’t believe he’s a top-line center at this point in his career, but I still would not mind seeing him get a good run with Vladimir Tarasenko and Jayden Schwartz.

The second line is fine. The third is where the most changes likely are.

Sobotka is almost surely going to be a center unless he has any objections. I think he should play wing and take faceoffs, but the team is not likely to agree. They also seem determined to not give up on Jaskin, so he’ll be penciled in for this spot until Berglund returns. Sanford is the question mark. I think he needs to earn his time, but they might want to give him more time than a fourth line spot would garner.

The fourth line was kind of a mess. Kyle Brodziak is going to be on the line. After that, it’s a toss up. We have not seen enough of what Mike Yeo wants yet.

Barbashev and Paajarvi don’t seem like fourth liners. However, even though Yeo is not Ken Hitchcock, it would not shock me to see skill guys on the last line just for the sake of having them in the lineup. Might be a waste of talent, but we will see.

Things I don’t want

I’m fine with any of those combinations, really. The things I don’t really want to see on a steady basis are a little more player specific.

I don’t want to see Thorburn a ton. I’m fine with 30-40 games, maybe up to 50. If he sees more than that, either he has really stepped up his game or the Blues are still trying to be old-school in the wrong spots.

I don’t want to see Barbashev on the top two lines yet. Don’t get me wrong, if the kid earns it and is playing lights out, so be it. He seems to play better with a chip on his shoulder though and handing him a top-six spot might take away some of his drive.

I would rather not see Fabbri as a true center. Every year, whether during the offseason or when injuries pop up, there is talk of Fabbri being a center.

If you’re going to make him one, get on with it. Otherwise give it up. The size really doesn’t bother me, though it is somewhat of an issue. He just seems to be comfortable at wing in the NHL, so why go against the grain?

We’ll go into the defensive pairings in a future article. For now, there is enough to chew on regarding the forwards.

While some are clearly penned into certain spots, there is a lot of fluidity to the situation. Training camp is going to have a large influence on all these decisions