When looking down the middle of the St. Louis Blues lineup, the center group is stacked with depth. But in this case somebody, or a couple of somebodies, will be left off and pushed down to Springfield.
Even worse, there might be a need to trade one of them before the season starts. But who could it be?Â
Robert Thomas is a lock, plus Connor McMichael and Mason McTavish will duke it out for the second-line spot. Dalibor Dvorsky should get a nice long look at the center spot of the third line, and Jack Finley did enough last season to warrant his stay on that towering and ferocious fourth line.Â
That leaves Pius Suter, Oskar Sundqvist and Otto Stenberg as the odd men out.Â
Who can be traded?Â
Of those names, Suter jumps off the page as a potential trade piece. Sundqvist is likely to be moved to the wing or even sent down to Springfield to help administer some leadership to the youth there. Stenberg will be taking some of that leadership from Sundqvist, as he is very likely to be at the AHL level for the start and middle of the 2026-27 season.
Suter played well enough last season that, had it not been for the flurry of moves to acquire more help down the middle, he would have had a great shot at staying on at the third-line center spot. As this roster continues to move toward a younger core, Dvorsky also deserves a real chance to show if he has what it takes.
Trading No. 22 away is a smart move for new General Manager Alexander Steen, as it could be used to grab more draft help in the future. With 17 first-round picks already in the farm system and no second-round pick next season, Suter's trade could obtain that.
It is a very tricky situation with all of these centers, and thankfully a few of them can slide to the wing. Nathan Walker is also another roadblock for Suter, as he and new addition Ross Johnston will bring the boom on the fourth line. Not exactly the same playstyle that Suter has.
The only option left is to either buy out his $4.125 million he is owed next season or trade him off to another team in need of some depth down the middle. Suter can fight for his place in this lineup, but it seems like his destiny was secured when Doug Armstrong brought in two top-six centers into this lineup.
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