As the St. Louis Blues continue their preseason, one player that isn't a rookie but has the potential to make an impact this season is the recently acquired Alexandre Texier, the 25-year-old French forward St. Louis snapped up during an otherwise quiet offseason/trade deadline.
Texier played in 78 games last season for the Blue Jackets, logging a respectable 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points for a team that missed the postseason much further than the Blues ended up doing. The 78 games played was also a career high for Texier, who in his first prior four NHL seasons, hadn't played in more than 50 games.
On paper, that could be a red flag for most teams. But Texier has potential to be a dark horse for the Blues if he's able to replicate or even improve those decent last season numbers with a team that didn't play nearly as bad as his old one.
It'd just be the latest addition to a Blues defensive core that is aging and in need of younger blood, and the 25-year-old St. Martin D'heres native certainly fits that bill, which could also place him alongside other new acquisitions, Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg from Edmonton, as well as Stars veteran D Radek Faksa and Mathieu Joseph, who gets to play with his brother Pierre-Oliver this upcoming season.
Given the current lineup, Texier may start on the Blues' fourth left wing line, behind the likes of Brayden Schenn, the current captain, and another veteran D in Brandon Saad plus Holloway. For the record, Faksa and Joseph will be third liners on the center and right wing lines, respectively, behind Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich for the middlemen and the youngster duo of Jordan Kyrou and Jake Neighbours on the right wing side.
Blues head coach Drew Bannister has watched Texier frequently in junior league play, mainly with Grenoble from the top French league, Ligue Magnus. His most recent junior team was with the ZSC Lions of the Swiss top league, where Maple Leafs star and now captain Auston Matthews was selected from in the draft.
Texier also has a strong international game, scoring multiple goals in multiple games across many tournaments in the last few seasons dating back to the 2017/18 campaigns, where he started his World Championships career with Team France.
The St. Louis Blues are definitely adding some major bulk to their roster alongside their offensive firepower, as they look to make a triumphant return to the Stanley Cup playoffs in what will be coach Bannister's first full season at the helm competing in a tighter than ever Central Division, with teams adding new players and a new identity for another team in St. Louis' competition.