Pre-Game Talk: 2024 Blues Training Camp Thread

[Renard]

Centers don't have to take faceoffs, although they usually do.

I wonder why we acquired the quy. We have plenty of wingers, but short on centers

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Centers don't have to take faceoffs, although they usually do.

I wonder why we acquired the quy. We have plenty of wingers, but short on centers

At the time we didn't have Holloway & Joseph and whether he gets there or not Texier has second-line upside to be worth a gamble of a 4th round pick at an age where he could contribute as a nice support piece to the new core.

 

[Reality Czech]

Centers don't have to take faceoffs, although they usually do.

I wonder why we acquired the quy. We have plenty of wingers, but short on centers

I'm guessing only because he's a young player with potential that we got at a discounted price. He's a gamble worth taking.

 

[STL fan in MN]

What about Texier? He is a center and I see nothing about him in the training camp news.

Texier hasn’t played C since the 2020-21 season.

He might see some time at C with the Blues since our center depth is so abysmal but he’s much better on the wing.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1839778926878466525

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Story of Kapanen's Blues career. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't make the cut.

 

[Majorityof1]

His career faceoff win rate is 35.5%, he's not really a center.

Buchnevich Career Faceoff is 31.5%. Sunqvist is a career 43.3%. We only have 2 Cs above 50%, Thomas and Faksa. Schenn is right below 50%. We are going to have somoeone bad at faceoffs at C, and probably 2 people since we seem to want Buch as a C and Schenn as a Wing.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I would love one of Holloway or Tex to stick at C. I'm way less worried about FO% than most tho

 

[Majorityof1]

I would love one of Holloway or Tex to stick at C. I'm way less worried about FO% than most tho

Holloway is a career 45%. He does not have many opportunities, just over 100 career faceoffs. But I think he could develop into a good to decent face-off guy

 

[bleedblue1223]

I'd be more confident in Holloway, he at least played it in the minors last season. And it's not just FO%, if Texier was a legitimate C, Columbus likely would have had him there. Even Schenn in Philly had much longer stretches at C, which made his full-time switch when he came here more likely.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Texier hasn’t played C since the 2020-21 season.

He might see some time at C with the Blues since our center depth is so abysmal but he’s much better on the wing.

Damn! It's been that long.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Buchnevich Career Faceoff is 31.5%. Sunqvist is a career 43.3%. We only have 2 Cs above 50%, Thomas and Faksa. Schenn is right below 50%. We are going to have somoeone bad at faceoffs at C, and probably 2 people since we seem to want Buch as a C and Schenn as a Wing.

You make a good point.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced today the team has assigned 13 players to their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, while assigning another to their junior team.

Players assigned to Springfield are Jeremie Biakabutuka, Michael Buchinger, Will Cranley, Tanner Dickinson, Dalibor Dvorsky, Colten Ellis, Marc-Andre Gaudet, Samuel Johannesson, Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, Leo Loof, Anton Malmstrom, Dylan Peterson and Marcus Sylvegard.

Anton Dorion was assigned to his junior team.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

I guess Simon Robertsson is Getting another game

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

I guess Simon Robertsson is Getting another game

I think he's earned that. He's been a pleasant surprise.

Here's what we're left with in camp as we sit here today:

Forwards (21): Nikita Alexandrov (59), Zack Bolduc (76), Pavel Buchnevich (89), Zach Dean (52), Radek Faksa (12), Dylan Holloway (81), Mathieu Joseph (71), Kasperi Kapanen (42), Jordan Kyrou (25), Mathias Laferriere (58), Mackenzie MacEachern (28), Hugh McGing (56), Jake Neighbours (63), Simon Robertsson (80), Brandon Saad (20), Brayden Schenn (10), Oskar Sundqvist (70), Alexandre Texier (9), Robert Thomas (18), Alexey Toropchenko (13), Nathan Walker (26).

Defense (12): Philip Broberg (6), Justin Faulk (72), Adam Jiricek (37), Pierre-Olivier Joseph (77), Matthew Kessel (51), Nick Leddy (4), Colton Parayko (55), Scott Perunovich (48), Corey Schueneman (64), Hunter Skinner (43), Ryan Suter (22), Tyler Tucker (75).

Goaltenders (3): Jordan Binnington (50), Joel Hofer (30), Vadim Zherenko (1).

 

[Reality Czech]

I think he's earned that. He's been a pleasant surprise.

Here's what we're left with in camp as we sit here today:

Forwards (21): Nikita Alexandrov (59), Zack Bolduc (76), Pavel Buchnevich (89), Zach Dean (52), Radek Faksa (12), Dylan Holloway (81), Mathieu Joseph (71), Kasperi Kapanen (42), Jordan Kyrou (25), Mathias Laferriere (58), Mackenzie MacEachern (28), Hugh McGing (56), Jake Neighbours (63), Simon Robertsson (80), Brandon Saad (20), Brayden Schenn (10), Oskar Sundqvist (70), Alexandre Texier (9), Robert Thomas (18), Alexey Toropchenko (13), Nathan Walker (26).

Defense (12): Philip Broberg (6), Justin Faulk (72), Adam Jiricek (37), Pierre-Olivier Joseph (77), Matthew Kessel (51), Nick Leddy (4), Colton Parayko (55), Scott Perunovich (48), Corey Schueneman (64), Hunter Skinner (43), Ryan Suter (22), Tyler Tucker (75).

Goaltenders (3): Jordan Binnington (50), Joel Hofer (30), Vadim Zherenko (1).

Interesting that they kept Zherenko up instead of Ellis considering how well the latter has been playing. Though I guess at this point they just need to keep some non-NHL guys around so the NHL roster doesn't need to play every game. For example, I'd think Skinner and Schueneman would be lower on the depth chart than a couple of guys who were sent down.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I do get the sense that they want a reliable 3rd line, and that's why Holloway, Faksa, and Joseph are together. Too often last season, it was Thomas' line and then every other line, you just didn't know what to expect. With those 3, you should get consistent and reliable play as a 3rd line. Ideally, Holloway is able to play his way up, and Texier is able to fill the role that Holloway played on the 3rd. I don't think Schenn is quite to this level yet, but I think he's going to be at the Steen type role that he had in 18/19.

I agree that the 2nd line obviously has more talent that the Faksa line, but with Buchnevich at C and as long as Schenn is still there, I don't really know what they are going to bring every night. If Buchnevich magically performs well, we'll be in really good shape, because we'll make the wingers work. If Buchnevich struggles and needs to play wing, then the 2nd line will be a toss up.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I do get the sense that they want a reliable 3rd line, and that's why Holloway, Faksa, and Joseph are together. Too often last season, it was Thomas' line and then every other line, you just didn't know what to expect. With those 3, you should get consistent and reliable play as a 3rd line. Ideally, Holloway is able to play his way up, and Texier is able to fill the role that Holloway played on the 3rd. I don't think Schenn is quite to this level yet, but I think he's going to be at the Steen type role that he had in 18/19.

I agree that the 2nd line obviously has more talent that the Faksa line, but with Buchnevich at C and as long as Schenn is still there, I don't really know what they are going to bring every night. If Buchnevich magically performs well, we'll be in really good shape, because we'll make the wingers work. If Buchnevich struggles and needs to play wing, then the 2nd line will be a toss up.

If Buch doesn't work out as C I'm expecting the Blues to make a trade sooner rather than later.

 

[Majorityof1]

Interesting that they kept Zherenko up instead of Ellis considering how well the latter has been playing. Though I guess at this point they just need to keep some non-NHL guys around so the NHL roster doesn't need to play every game. For example, I'd think Skinner and Schueneman would be lower on the depth chart than a couple of guys who were sent down.

Neither Ellis nor Zherenko had a chance to earn role. Sometimes you are just road blocked and after how our Goalies played last year, that is the case. Ellis could have made every save and made them all look easy. But its just pre-season. He was going down eventually. He got more games than Zherenko so far. They till want to get Zherenko another couple periods, so Ellis got sent down first.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

If Buch doesn't work out as C I'm expecting the Blues to make a trade sooner rather than later.

The middle center situation is so fluid right now. Someone, maybe @PerryTurnbullfan, mentioned that DA should be watching the waiver wire to snag a legit center who is not fitting in elsewhere. These last few seasons have seen lots of good players pass through waivers or maybe that's just recency bias.

Either way, what would a ERod acquisition look like? He didn't play center last season for FLA, but he is a legit center who breaks even on FOs. Cap hit @3 per. I'll take this to the trade proposal thread.

 

[bleedblue1223]

If Buch doesn't work out as C I'm expecting the Blues to make a trade sooner rather than later.

I'd expect them to just put Schenn there, unless we look strong and an upgrade makes sense.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

If Buch doesn't work out as C I'm expecting the Blues to make a trade sooner rather than later.

I kinda feel like we’re more likely to see Faksa at 2C and Schenn at 3C before we see a trade. Which is gross. But we’ve got Dvorsky on the way up, and you don’t really want to block him long-term with another big acquisition. I’m also not sure that any of the pieces we’d want to give up could get us more than a 3C at best. It’s a tricky situation.

Our wingers are set for a long time tho, so that’s nice.

 

[Majorityof1]

I think he's earned that. He's been a pleasant surprise.

Here's what we're left with in camp as we sit here today:

Forwards (21): Nikita Alexandrov (59), Zack Bolduc (76), Pavel Buchnevich (89), Zach Dean (52), Radek Faksa (12), Dylan Holloway (81), Mathieu Joseph (71), Kasperi Kapanen (42), Jordan Kyrou (25), Mathias Laferriere (58), Mackenzie MacEachern (28), Hugh McGing (56), Jake Neighbours (63), Simon Robertsson (80), Brandon Saad (20), Brayden Schenn (10), Oskar Sundqvist (70), Alexandre Texier (9), Robert Thomas (18), Alexey Toropchenko (13), Nathan Walker (26).

Defense (12): Philip Broberg (6), Justin Faulk (72), Adam Jiricek (37), Pierre-Olivier Joseph (77), Matthew Kessel (51), Nick Leddy (4), Colton Parayko (55), Scott Perunovich (48), Corey Schueneman (64), Hunter Skinner (43), Ryan Suter (22), Tyler Tucker (75).

Goaltenders (3): Jordan Binnington (50), Joel Hofer (30), Vadim Zherenko (1).

Thank you for the summary. I like to organize the players into the ones who I think are totally safe, the ones fighting and the ones who are just getting a few more reps before being sent down.

Forwards (21 on roster, need to cut 7-8)
Totally safe: (1) Thomas; (2) Buchnevich; (3) Kyrou; (4) Schenn; (5) Neighbours; (6) Saad; (7) Holloway; (8) Faksa;

Likely Safe: (9) Toropchenko; (10) M. Jospeh; (11) Texier; (12) Sundqvist; (13) Bolduc

Fighting: (14) Kapanen; (15) Walker; (16) Alexandrov (17) Robertsson

Ticket back down is already booked: (18)Dean; (19)McGing; (20)Laferriere; (21)MacEachern

I think Bolduc has done enouvh to be safe. Sunqvist will be back in time for the season opener and they will give him an NHL role. Kapanen has potentially played his way out of a role and Walker potentially in. I still think we keep Kap but he is on a short leash. While Robertsson has looked good enough for some long shot consideration. McGing and Laferriere have loked good, but never had a chance with our depth.

Defenseman (12 on roster, need to cut 4-5)

Totally safe: (1) Parayko; (2) Faulk; (3) Leddy; (4) Broberg

Likely Safe: (5) Suter; (6) Kessel

Fighting: (7) PO Joseph; (8) Perunovich;

Ticket back down is already booked: (9) Tucker; (10) Skinner; (11) Schueneman; (12) Jiricek

I think our D is pretty set. The only question is whether we want to keep Perunovich for the PP. I think he has had a pretty bad camp with what I have see, I think we will role 7 D and send him down, but I put him in the Fighting stage because the team likes giving him chances. My gut is we run 7 and send him down.

Goalies (3 on roster, Zherenko needs to be cut and his ticket is booked)

As I said in another post above, Zherenko is just getting another couple periods of play beforee being sent down. No goalie had a chance to win a NHL spot this year over Binner and Hofer..

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I kinda feel like we’re more likely to see Faksa at 2C and Schenn at 3C before we see a trade. Which is gross. But we’ve got Dvorsky on the way up, and you don’t really want to block him long-term with another big acquisition. I’m also not sure that any of the pieces we’d want to give up could get us more than a 3C at best. It’s a tricky situation.

Our wingers are set for a long time tho, so that’s nice.

Faksa is a little too reckless to play 2C. I am 100% adamant about locking in Faksa at 4C and RT at 1C.

 

[BlueMed]

The middle center situation is so fluid right now. Someone, maybe @PerryTurnbullfan, mentioned that DA should be watching the waiver wire to snag a legit center who is not fitting in elsewhere. These last few seasons have seen lots of good players pass through waivers or maybe that's just recency bias.

Either way, what would a ERod acquisition look like? He didn't play center last season for FLA, but he is a legit center who breaks even on FOs. Cap hit @3 per. I'll take this to the trade proposal thread.

I'd expect them to just put Schenn there, unless we look strong and an upgrade makes sense.

I kinda feel like we’re more likely to see Faksa at 2C and Schenn at 3C before we see a trade. Which is gross. But we’ve got Dvorsky on the way up, and you don’t really want to block him long-term with another big acquisition. I’m also not sure that any of the pieces we’d want to give up could get us more than a 3C at best. It’s a tricky situation.

Our wingers are set for a long time tho, so that’s nice.

My bold prediction is that by December, the coaching staff will end the Buchnevich experiment and Holloway will play himself into the 2C role. Also, I'd like to see Faksa on the 4th line. I don't see enough offensive production from him to justify keeping him on the 3rd line.