The St. Louis Blues, as expected, made their second round of roster cuts. The names got a little higher in profile, but the main young studs are still with the NHL team.
The St. Louis Blues might have a really good idea at what their opening day roster will look like or at the very least what they thought it might look like. Even with that in mind, they are giving the high profile prospects every chance to make the team out of camp.
The Blues made a second round of roster cuts a day after their fourth preseason game. Like the first one, there were no big surprises this time either.
The only names that truly pop out are Klim Kostin and Jordan Nolan. Even those players have good reasons to be sent to the AHL.
Kostin is still high on the team’s priority list, but they are facing facts. Kostin did nothing in preseason – literally nothing. He had no major stats to speak of and seems to be lagging in his transition to the North American game. We all still have high hopes for him and he’s still very young at 19. Still, it’s slightly disappointing for him not to be lasting longer after having such high confidence in himself a year ago.
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Nolan is a shock to me, personally, simply because I figured he would receive the usual “he’s got NHL experience” treatment. With the team not fully disclosing what they intend to do with their fourth line, you just figured he would get a longer look in the preseason than he did. I, along with most fans, are perfectly fine with his assignment. It’s just a little surprising.
Despite the list also including Mackenzie MacEachern, Nolan Stevens, Adam Musil and defensemen Chris Butler and Mitch Reinke, there are plenty of young players still with the team.
St. Louis is clearly high on several young guys and are giving them every opportunity to earn a spot with this team. Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Sammy Blais, Jake Walman, Niko Mikkola and Jordan Schmaltz are all still with the NHL team for at least a couple more days and maybe longer.
Thomas and Kyrou and the biggest hopefuls. They have the largest backing from both fans and the front office due to their potential talents and draft status.
Blais is right behind them, however, having made the team out of camp in 2017 and seemingly scoring at will in the 2018 preseason. Walman and Schmaltz have been high on the team’s radar before, but seem to be finally earning that esteem with their play now. Walman has to get better defensively, but is still one of the better puck movers the team could have and Schmaltz is a well rounded player.
The intriguing name is Mikkola. It is not unheard of to have a player come from nowhere and make the team and Mikkola is making his case to be the next.
He’s got a big frame at 6’4 but is pretty thin at 185 lbs. Despite this, he’s played an aggressive style, getting after things. Nobody will confuse him with Chris Pronger just yet, but he’s catching some eyes and earning more playing time. Several fans have noted how often his name is mentioned on the broadcasts.
Some of the defensemen are sticking around because of pragmatism. We don’t fully know the health of Jay Bouwmeester, who had a hip surgery. Carl Gunnarsson seems to be worse off than originally thought since he’s just now resuming skating. A couple other regulars have some bumps and soreness, so that could play into these kids sticking around at the blue line. Even so, you cannot say they have not earned it.