It's not often that one of the biggest stories of a hockey team's season is the play of their 4th line. This year, three depth forwards did just that.
"WTF": A surprising success story
Coming into the season, the Blues had many questions about the potential lines and depth pieces on the roster: Who would step up, mesh together, and what would the bottom-six depth chart ultimately look like?
Well fairly early on, Nathan Walker, Alexey Toropchenko, and Radek Faksa (W,T,F) were quickly identified as a strong line, offering cohesion with their complimentary skillsets and physical identity.
Each of the three forwards brought a different flavor of depth to the roster, which gave their talents such great synergy. Walker is a speedy goal-scorer, Torpo is a big-bodied skill player, and Faksa is a defensive faceoff specialist of a center. On a line together, certain players could impact individual games based on matchup, and the others could serve as auxiliary support.
Of course, the identity of the endearingly nicknamed W-T-F line was a skill that all three skaters brought each night: gritty, physical play.
The wrecking ball of the St. Louis Blues
Very quickly, the W-T-F line earned an identity as a physical, hard line, the type of fourth line that opposing teams dread playing.
Nathan Walker and Alexey Toropchenko ended up with the first and second most hits on the team, with Walker setting the Blues' single-season franchise record for hits in a season at 281. Faksa was not far behind, ending up with the seventh-most hits on the year.
Their physical game was so effective that new head coach Jim Montgomery would often deploy them to open periods or after breaks, setting the tone early that playing against this Blues team was not going to be fun or easy.
Each player had very similar production numbers, and the line registered on ice by the end of the regular season. They made sure that every second of their ice time was a nightmare to go up against, playing with an aggressive forecheck, intense neutral zone play, and some noteworthy defensive efforts.
While they never dominated the game while playing, they made sure that the opposing team earned every inch of the ice against them, and often punished them for doing the right thing. The success of the 4th line this year is more notable than a 4th line should ever be, and ended up being one of the highlights of the 2024-25 season.