The St. Louis Blues opened training camp with a split that looks a lot like the first pass at the NHL roster. Group A is the NHL club, with Group B a combination of the junior and AHLers in contention with one another. The Blues' Otto Stenberg is in Group B and is one of the names competing for the last two spots on the NHL roster.
Group A looking like opening night
Group A has the 12 forwards the staff is treating as a lock: Dylan Holloway, Robert Thomas, Jimmy Snuggerud, Connor McMichael, Mason McTavish, Pavel Buchnevich, Jake Neighbours, Dalibor Dvorsky, Jonatan Berggren, Pius Suter, Alexei Toropchenko, and Ross Johnston. That is the opening-night forward group unless drastic changes.
Group B is where the actual roster battle takes place. The forward depth is why the 21-year-old is not starting in the NHL group. Stenberg already has 32 games under his belt with three goals, seven assists, and a plus-three rating. Montgomery has already expressed that he liked Stenberg's details without the puck.
If this were a thinner forward group, Stenberg would be a lock for him to find himself in Group A and competing for middle-six minutes. The group is not thin, though, filled with veterans and young NHLers looking to put their mark on this Blues roster.
The Group B fight
The four names in contention for those final two NHL roster spots are Nathan Walker, Otto Stenberg, Oskar Sundqvist, and Jack Finley. Two of those four names are likely to make the squad, giving the Blues 14 forwards on their roster. The other two are headed for Springfield. Stenberg could very well be one of the four who force the Blues to make a tough last-minute decision. However, he is also the only one of the four who can be sent to the AHL without needing to clear waivers.
There will be a different evaluation than "he looked good next to the other prospects." Walker still has NHL utility as a forechecking extra who can play the tough minutes and be relied upon late in the game. Sundqvist knows every detail of the organization and can slide anywhere in the bottom-six. Finley is a big center who gives Montgomery another option if the middle gets thin. Stenberg has the skill, hockey sense, and a year of NHL under his belt, but has to beat out at least two of those three in camp that will last less than two weeks.
The calendar is working against him at this point. With only four preseason games and the season opener on October 2nd, there is very little time for a young player like Stenberg to climb his way above the veterans. In this format, Stenberg has to stand out against the other, then hope the staff is willing to bump a veteran.
If he is going to force it, it has to be loud. Win the A vs. B scrimmages. Produce in the preseason games. Show he can take a draw if the occasion calls for it. Make it uncomfortable to keep both Walker and Sundqvist ahead of him when the cuts start. Fine will not be enough. In this situation, fine makes him Springfield-bound.
Add us as a preferred source on Google