As we begin to look forward to the 2026-27 season now that the schedule's been released, we can start trying to slot players into the St. Louis Blues' opening night lineup. While the team, on paper, got worse due to the loss of Jordan Kyrou and the addition of a couple of unknown quantities in Mason McTavish and Connor McMichael, there is an opportunity to fill in a few roster spots with in-house solutions. One of the most promising prospects to make the lineup is defenseman Adam Jiricek.
Where does he fit?
As it stands, the Blues' top dog on the blue line is Philip Broberg; he's the highest-paid defenseman on the team and, at 25 years old, could continue to improve. Behind him it gets murky: technically speaking, Cam Fowler would be the team's No. 2 but, after last year's major regression, he might not be capable of handling that load. Colton Parayko and Brandon Carlo aren't appropriate fits on the top pair, either, and though Logan Mailloux was outstanding after the Winter Olympic break, it's a coin toss whether he'll be ready for that sort of responsibility after how utterly awful he was to start the season.
Adam Jiricek, as a rookie, probably won't be able to play on the top pair next to Broberg, either--at least, not to start the season.
What're his chances of making the team?
While the Blues do have a number of defenseman on the roster (you can add Theo Lindstein and Tyler Tucker to those already mentioned), many of them are not needle movers; Jiricek has the potential to be a rock-solid top-four defenseman. Lindstein and Tucker may have more NHL experience than Jiricek, but there's a pretty clear path for him to beat them out in training camp and make the opening night roster on the third pair. If he continues to perform in that lesser role, head coach Jim Montgomery will have little choice but to move Jiricek up the lineup.
That's the best-case scenario, of course; we've seen firsthand how much rookie defensemen struggle in the NHL--not every prospect is Matthew Schaefer. Jiricek has an uphill battle to make the roster, but it's a road nonetheless--he just has to earn it.
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