The St. Louis Blues play their final preseason game tonight, at the United Center against the Chicago Blackhawks--and they've just updated the lineup for the matchup. It's the heaviest on NHL players we've seen during training camp.
That shouldn't come as a surprise, as tonight's game should be considered a dress rehearsal for opening night next week against the Dallas Stars.
The projected lines
Shoutout to The Athletic's Blues beat reporter, Jeremy Rutherford, for tonight's lines.
#stlblues projected lineup vs. Chicago:
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) September 26, 2026
Holloway-Thomas-Snuggerud
Buchnevich-McTavish-McMichael
Neighbours-Dvorsky-Berggren
Toropchenko-Suter-Dean
Broberg-Mailloux
Lindstein-Parayko
Fowler-Carlo
Hofer
Romanov
There are no surprise absences here; under the new CBA rules, veterans with over 100 NHL games of experience are limited to two preseason games, which would explain Jordan Binnington not backing up Joel Hofer. While Georgii Romanov may get a period to keep Hofer rested for the start of the season, we would expect Hofer to get the full game.
Up front, Zach Dean appears to be getting a real shot at making this club out of camp. While he probably won't be a lineup regular, it's reasonable to believe Dean will be in a rotation with Ross Johnston, with Johnston getting games when the Blues feel they need a brawler on the ice.
Other than that battle on the fourth line, the top nine forwards look pretty set. Everyone is more or less where expected--and if that second line sticks together, maybe Pavel Buchnevich will change his last name to "McNevich" to fit in with Mason McTavish and Connor McMicahel.
The last remaining questions
The defense pairs are where the real intrigue lies. Tyler Tucker's been injured, and Adam Jiricek was assigned to the AHL's Springfield Thunderbirds yesterday--that's opened up an opportunity for Theo Lindstein to make this team. He's getting a serious look next to veteran Colton Parayko, while Logan Mailloux's getting an opportunity on the top pair next to Philip Broberg.
These pairings could change by Game One (especially if Tucker's good to go), but Lindstein and Mailloux being top-four contributors from the start of the season would be a huge boon to a blue line group that could otherwise be a pain point.
A lot of the pairing questions on the backend are going to hinge on Cam Fowler. If he can't handle anything more than third-pair minutes, the Blues will--by necessity--have to force one or more of Mailloux, Lindstein, or Tucker up the lineup (we'll see where Brandon Carlo ultimately winds up). Hopefully, those three unproven players can handle a sink-or-swim situation if it arises. We'll see how they all perform tonight against Chicago.
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