St. Louis Blues Early 2024-25 Roster Prediction: Good, Bad And Ugly
Predicting the St. Louis Blues roster for the 2024-25 season.
The St. Louis Blues are in an odd position going into the 2024-25 season. They've made some minor alterations, but they seem intent on going into the new campaign with a similar lineup to 2023-24.
If that sounds underwhelming, that's understandable. The Blues were less than stellar last season and missed the playoffs.
They might have been in things until the final couple weeks of the year, the bottom line is they still missed the playoffs. Banking on the same players to just perform better hasn't had a long history of success in St. Louis. Just ask the Cardinals how that goes.
The Blues have made some upgrades to the bottom six. However, no matter how that shakes out, they need their top players to perform up to snuff if they hope to end their brief playoff drought.
With that in mind, let's take a look at some of the possible roster combinations depending on how things go in training camp.
Best Case Scenario:
Line 1: Pavel Buchnevich, Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou
Line 2: Zach Bolduc, Brayden Schenn, Jake Neighbours
Line 3: Brandon Saad, Alexandre Texier, Dalibor Dvorsky
Line 4: Alexey Toropchenko, Oskar Sundqvist, Mathieu Joseph
The beauty of this potential lineup is the big upside. You have a lot of talent and there's a good mix of veterans that can ease the rookies into things.
To make this lineup work, you need the top line to be cohesive and play to their potential. Blues fans have been waiting on a top-tier combination for years and they need Thomas and Kyrou to get on the same page.
Buchnevich has had flashes where he has played well with either Thomas or Kyrou, but it's been hit or miss as a trio. The team needs them to be a top line they can depend on.
For the second line, we saw a brief glimpse of what Bolduc was capable of. He had five goals and nine points in 25 games. The points per game isn't a huge positive, but five goals in a short span was a good.
Schenn is better suited as a winger or third liner at this point in his career, but the Blues will need him to still be a second-line center right now. He still has the talent and veteran presence to guide Bolduc. Neighbours has already shown poise beyond his years and an ability to be dependable.
Ideally, I would like a more veteran center for Dvorsky to learn under. However, at least to start, I wouldn't want two rookies on the second line, so Dvorsky has to be on the third line. The upside of this is that if Dvorsky makes the team, it's because he has earned it. Maybe the Blues are a borderline playoff team, but there is still enough NHL-ready talent to make him earn his spot.
Last, but not least, the fourth line. It feels weird to keep Radek Faksa out, but he would be the healthy scratch and first guy in if anyone gets hurt or needs a break.
Sundqvist is more than dependable in this role and you know what you're going to get. Joseph has a slightly higher upside offensively than Faksa and is younger and Toropchenko has the skill to be a third-line player, but would be a welcome addition to the fourth line if the rookies don't pan out.
As an additional bonus, if Zach Dean has a great training camp, the Blues could potentially keep him on the roster and maybe put Faksa or Kasperi Kapanen on waivers. Trading future considerations makes that possible.
A Little Less Hopeful:
Line 1: Jake Neigbours, Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou
Line 2: Pavel Buchnevich, Brayden Schenn, Zach Bolduc
Line 3: Brandon Saad, Alexandre Texier, Alexey Toropchenko
Line 4: Mathieu Joseph, Oskar Sundqvist, Radek Faksa
This lineup still has the potential to be competitive on a nightly basis. The main disadvantage with this roster is that guys like Dvorsky or Dean wouldn't have done enough in camp to break the top 12.
Additionally, the issue with this potential roster is that Buchnevich can't form the chemistry with Thomas and Kyrou. You could make a case to keep Buch with Thomas and drop Kyrou, but I'd rather have the offensive upside to start the season. Neighbours has shown he can be defensively stable enough to even out the other two on the top line.
The benefit of this lineup is you give Bolduc more veterans. This line for him would be similar to what Thomas had in 2018-19 when he was with Tyler Bozak and Pat Maroon for a long spell.
The third line is intriguing. Saad still can score and you've got offense and grit with Texier and Torpo.
The fourth line is a little more disappointing, but it's much more reminiscent to a classic fourth line. Faksa and Joseph bring more size and toughness than the Blues had last year, but even with Sunny's potential, this line just wouldn't be counted on to score much.
The Sky Is Falling:
Line 1: Pavel Buchnevich, Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou
Line 2: Brandon Saad, Brayden Schenn, Jake Neighbours
Line 3: Alexey Toropchenko, Alexandre Texier, Kasperi Kapanen
Line 4: Mathieu Joseph, Oskar Sundqvist, Radek Faksa
This lineup could still be a playoff team, but it needs complete health and other teams to underperform. You essentially need a lot of things to go right for this lineup to have a decent amount of success.
I don't have any issues with any of these guys, but if this is the lineup the Blues have to use, it means nothing went their way in training camp. Bolduc wasn't ready to crack the starting lineup, Dvorsky didn't make the team and Dean wasn't ready either.
If this ends up being the lineup, we're relying on a lot of question marks. You're going back to the well on guys like Nathan Walker and Nikita Alexandrov to fill in the holes when you have injuries too.
Walker has more heart and determination than anyone in recent memory, but he just doesn't have the skill to play a full season. Alexandrov has potential, but he hasn't given the coaching staff a reason to not pull him from the lineup.
Saad still has the ability to play up on the second line, but if the Blues are depending on that, they're in rough shape. In a perfect world, you could have the Schenn and Saad combo on the third line, which would mean you've found unbelievable depth. That's not the case here.
Lastly, I don't have a big issue with Kapanen. When he's right, there's upside there and he can provide an offensive spark. Unfortunately, we have seen that while he's capable at his best, he's a ghost when he's not. The Blues need a contributor, either defensively or scoring goals.
Conclusion:
The Blues are clearly in an odd place going into 2024-25. They have plenty of options and potential excitement for the fans if players like Bolduc, Dvorsky or Dean can crack the lineup and actually provide some spark.
Bolduc showed us a glimpse of what he could do last season. Dean is still high on the team's list and Dvorsky has provided plenty of highlights in the OHL and in prospects camp. We need to remember he's only 18 though.
The counter to all that is that the Blues, so far, have not made any additions to their top six. Doug Armstrong might have a card up his sleeve prior to training camp, but as of right now, the Blues are relying on the same guys that underperformed in 2023-24 to step up their game.
Although it was said as a joke, the reality is this team might have the deepest bottom six in the league. There's tons of ways you can put the third and fourth line together. The problem there is that you're not expecting those guys to get a lot of offense.
The Blues will be harder to push around and the newer players should stick up for other guys more than we saw in 2023-24, but that's not enough to say they're a playoff team.
It's up to the guys in the bluenote to get things done and earn it. I hope we see the best potential lineup right from the start, but not everyone develops or is ready at the same time. Time will tell.
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