St. Louis Blues: Klim Kostin Has Golden Opportunity To Make The Team

The St. Louis Blues preseason got underway on Friday with hopes of repeating as Stanley Cup champions, but now it seems Klim Kostin might have a say in the title defense.

The St. Louis Blues came into the preseason with little wiggle room on their roster for players other than the ones that finished the season. Even with the absence of Pat Maroon, Klim Kostin was on the outside looking in.

After the first few practices, it seems like the Blues have an idea of the line combinations that they want to roll out to open the season in 18 days against the Washington Capitals.

However, what makes Kostin such an intriguing candidate to make the team is the injuries to some of the players that were figured to be battling for a spot on the opening night roster.

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Both Vladimir Tarasenko and head coach Craig Berube have said that he is good to go after nursing injuries sustained during the Stanley Cup Playoffs a year ago.

This would have had to come as bad news for Kostin, as that meant his margin for error just got smaller due to a healthy Tarasenko.

The good news for Kostin is the inconsistent appearances from Jordan Kyrou and the fact that Robert Thomas has been skating in the third group.

Now, Berube has said that he expects both Thomas and Kyrou to be ready for the start of the season and that people shouldn’t look too much into their injuries.

Thomas had been injured during the Cup run last season and sustained a wrist injury that knocked him out for the majority of the Stanley Cup Final. The 20-year-old has been skating for the past two days with the third group, and I bet he sees playing time in a game next week.

What is noteworthy is the disappearance of Kyrou from the third group during Saturday’s practice. We saw Kyrou partake in drills when camp opened on Friday but was not on the ice the next day.

It’s possible that Kyrou was a longshot to make the team out of camp this season, but after the display of offensive superiority during the 2018 preseason, it wasn’t out of the question.

The Blues have had a long recent history of players coming out of nowhere during training camp to make the opening night roster.

Sammy Blais is the perfect example of this phenomenon. Considered to be an AHL player for at least the next two years, Blais earned a roster spot by having a stellar preseason two years in a row.

If you want to point to the defensive side of the puck, Nikko Mikkola is an example of the same thing. Even though Mikkola never played a shift in the NHL last season, the team still felt highly of him to give him a roster spot.

Kostin has a chance to be this year’s Blais. We’ve seen what he could do on the international stage, and although he has had a lackluster career in North America, everyone knows he is a star just waiting for his shot.

Kostin could mess around and earn a spot with some stellar play during the preseason, but there are a few forwards in front of him on the depth chart, so he needs to stand out like he’s never done before.