The St. Louis Blues hit a bit of a snag in their last home game with a rather sleepy performance against the Utah Mammoth, losing 7-4. That has been a bit of the growing trend this season, with the Blues falling to sixth in the Central Division with a record of 3-3-1 for seven points.
The core group of Robert Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich, Dylan Holloway, Jordan Kyrou, and Jimmy Snuggerud has not lived up to expectations thus far. But there have been two players who have done a little bit better than anticipated, and they both just recently joined the Blues this offseason in free agency.
Nick Bjugstad and Pius Suter have both shown some positive marks in their first seven games with a Blue Note on their chest. Their signings seem worth the investment, for now.
Bjugstad fitting in on fourth line
Bjugstad is now with his seventh NHL team, sixth if you convert the Arizona Coyotes and Utah Hockey Club, now Mammoth. He has found success and failure wherever he has previously been, and now is fitting in just nicely with the Blues.
As the center of the fourth line, up until the return of Oskar Sundqvist, he was highly capable. Some nights, it seemed like that fourth line did the most damage on the night, with the least amount of minutes. Natan Walker, and Alexandre Texier, and Alexei Toropchenko all benefited from having Bjugstad as their center.
In seven games, Bjugstad has only contributed an assist this year. But in all of the other areas, like winning faceoffs and laying the body on the grind line, he has excelled. He won 53% of his faceoffs thus far and added 18 hits. Radek Faksa was a fantastic player in that spot of 4C, but Bjugstad has done a great job of replacing him.
Pius Suter building chemitry with the core group
The second-line and third-line center spot has been a bit of a game of musical chairs this season. Pius Suter and Brayden Schenn have both bounced back and forth, with the current regime having Suter on the third line with Jimmy Snuggerud and Mathieu Joseph.
Suter came to the Blues this offseason after a career year in Vancouver in 2024-25. So far, it has continued with three goals and an assist in just seven games this season. He was brought in to help motivate/aid Schenn, who is now entering a stage in his career where he cannot be the definitive second-line center. Plus, Suter offers a bit more offensively, which is why he is lined up with blooming star Snuggerud.
It is still early yet, but Suter has a chance to be a key member of this team for the long run. The hope was that he would come in and become the second-line center to back up Robert Thomas as a 1-2 punch. Through seven games, that dream is starting to look real.