After Tuesday night's 5-3 loss to the Dallas Stars in the fourth preseason game of the 2025-26, the St. Louis Blues are still winless. Although they cannot seem to find a win in these meaningless games, there were some bright spots throughout.
One of those bright spots has sparked an intriguing battle position for the rest of the preseason. This week is going to get intense between the center group.
Let's talk about it.
Last season, Robert Thomas was the first-line center, and to no surprise, he will be once again in 2025-26. Behind him from the second line down, it is a knock-out,drag-out brawl for the 2C.
Last season, captain Brayden Schenn was the holder of that spot. He had a productive year, but as he transitions into another era of his career, it might be time to give some younger legs a shot with the other top-six forwards.
Over the offseason, the Blues made a flurry of moves to try to fix the holes in the center pipeline after Radek Faksa moved back to Dallas. Insert Pius Suter and Nick Bjugstad.
As shown in the 5-3 preseason loss to Dallas on Tuesday night, Suter fit in nicely between Dylan Holloway and Jordan Kyrou. That one performance might have made opening night’s roster very clear.
All three players have a chance to make it onto that second-line center spot, and there also might be a prospect that is knocking on the door of making the opening night roster that could leapfrog them.
Dalibor Dvorsky has had a shaky preseason. But with some more playing time and advanced skills around him, it could straighten out his game.
How should it look?
The easy answer is to have Suter as the second-line center, Schenn as the third-line center, and Bjugstad as the fourth-line. Dvorsky might not get his initial opportunity down the middle, and instead join Bjugstad or Schenn on the wing.
General Manager Doug Armstrong brought in Suter for a reason, and to not use him as the 2C seems like a confusing move. He has shown he can keep up with two excellent goal scorers, and the Blues can really benefit from having some secondary scoring behind Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich.