Typically, third-string defensemen are career journeymen, backups, or AHL-level players. For the St. Louis Blues this season, however, there is real upside to get excited about on this third pair.
The two on the bottom pair should be Tyler Tucker and Logan Mailloux, two young and ascending defensemen. Tucker has shown a baseline of solid play, whereas Mailloux is getting his first taste of the NHL. However, both have a chance to shoot past their skates and continue progressing as standout young skaters.
What heights can the third pair reach? What is their baseline? Let's analyze how these two should fare on the ice.
Tyler Tucker: as solid as it gets
Tucker quickly made a name for himself when he cracked the NHL roster by establishing his game with a knockout punch. He proved himself as a good fighter and enforcer, someone with a filled-out 6'2" frame who is not afraid to use it.
Last season, Tucker proved he was more than just someone who could throw hits and land punches. Were that all he could be, he would still be a valuable third-pair NHL defenseman who could eat up minutes and bring the heat. However, Tucker showed a baseline of play that looked more akin to a nice second-pair defenseman playing down on the third pair.
He has an impressive slapshot from the point with good accuracy and great sense on defense. While he doesn't make the most flashy takeaways or pass breakups, he is often in the right position to be a nuisance and block a shot, proving he's more than responsible defensively. Offensively, his production is somewhat limited to the ice time he will play, so I don't know if he will ever see consistent second-pair minutes, but if he does, I would not be surprised if he stood out and proved once again to be a very solid option for Jim Montgomery and the Blues.
Logan Mailloux: a true wildcard
Mailloux is where things get really fun. He has probably the single-most upside of any player on the defense this year to shatter his expectations and overachieve.
Mailloux is a true offensive defenseman. He can skate with the best of them and has a wicked, quick release, leading to high goalscoring production in the AHL. The downside with Mailloux is how much time he's spent in the AHL, and how he hasn't yet shown up at the NHL level.
This makes Mailloux a true wildcard for this upcoming season. He has a lot to prove, especially given how beloved Zack Bolduc was, but he has a real opportunity to do so. Under Jim Montgomery and a productive system for defenseman, Mailloux has all the runway that he needs to become a terrific third-pair defenseman and even potentially push Justin Faulk on the second line.
Whether or not Mailloux can hit his upside (which could be Calder finalist-caliber) or not is solely up to him to earn the ice time at the NHL level, but there is a good reason to think he can get there. He was identified by one of the best talent acquisition staffs in the league (who did the same for Philip Broberg just a summer ago) and has one of the best regular-season head coaches to lead him to success, so Mailloux's status as a wild card is more excitement than trepidation.
It's not every year a hockey team gets a third pair with genuine upside, and when it does happen, it's usually only among the league's best teams. What does this mean for the Blues this coming season? We will all have to wait and see to find out.
For more discussion on Mailloux and other Blues topics, my co-host and I delved deeper on the latest episode of our podcast, the Note News podcast, and gave some bold predictions for the upcoming season: