A Little Too Early Opening Night Roster

[TurgPavs]

A little bit early, however barring any trades or further injuries, what is you opening night roster?
I am going to take the easy route on this:
Forwards (14)
Thomas, Kyrou, Buch, Schenn, Saad, Faksa, Texier, Sunny, Torp, Neighbours, Joseph, Walker, Kappy, Bolduc

Defense (7)
Faulk, CP, Leddy, Suter, Peru, Kessel, Joseph

Goal (2)
Binny Hofer

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[Brian39]

Mine is basically the same as yours, but I'm guessing that Sunny starts the year on IR. The initial timeline was a 6 month re-evaluation date, which means that he would have to get cleared before that initial date in order to be a full participant in training camp. I'm not expecting LTIR, but I think that he's spent 1-2 weeks on regular IR making sure he is back to 100%.

Dvorsky briefly makes the roster while Sunny is finalizing rehab.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Mine is basically the same as yours, but I'm guessing that Sunny starts the year on IR. The initial timeline was a 6 month re-evaluation date, which means that he would have to get cleared before that initial date in order to be a full participant in training camp. I'm not expecting LTIR, but I think that he's spent 1-2 weeks on regular IR making sure he is back to 100%.

Dvorsky briefly makes the roster while Sunny is finalizing rehab.

Agreed. Assuming Dvorsky has a strong camp, which I expect, I think Sunny's injury is the easy way for the club to give him a spot at the start and then see what happens or just tells him that this is meant to be just a taste.

 

[Frenzy31]

A little bit early, however barring any trades or further injuries, what is you opening night roster?
I am going to take the easy route on this:
Forwards (14)
Thomas, Kyrou, Buch, Schenn, Saad, Faksa, Texier, Sunny, Torp, Neighbours, Joseph, Walker, Kappy, Bolduc

Defense (7)
Faulk, CP, Leddy, Suter, Peru, Kessel, Joseph

Goal (2)
Binny Hofer

Curious to see who is still out there and will get a tryout contract.

 

[Beauterham]

Curious to see who is still out there and will get a tryout contract.

Only current FA that would interest me is Kylington, but he's a LHD and we kinda have a lot of those.

I wouldn't be surprised if we get a vet forward-scrub on a PTO in the vein of Tyler Pitlick, just in case of injuries (Sundqvist on IR?) and the kids (Dvorsky/Dean) aren't ready. Did Nick Cousins (yuck) retire?

 

[SirPaste]

A little bit early, however barring any trades or further injuries, what is you opening night roster?
I am going to take the easy route on this:
Forwards (14)
Thomas, Kyrou, Buch, Schenn, Saad, Faksa, Texier, Sunny, Torp, Neighbours, Joseph, Walker, Kappy, Bolduc

Defense (7)
Faulk, CP, Leddy, Suter, Peru, Kessel, Joseph

Goal (2)
Binny Hofer

I'm not gonna lie I totally forgot Kapanen was re-signed until I read this lol. I think this is spot on though, with the exception of maybe Sunny starting out on the IR if he isn't ready to go.

 

[SirPaste]

Only current FA that would interest me is Kylington, but he's a LHD and we kinda have a lot of those.

I wouldn't be surprised if we get a vet forward-scrub on a PTO in the vein of Tyler Pitlick, just in case of injuries (Sundqvist on IR?) and the kids (Dvorsky/Dean) aren't ready. Did Nick Cousins (yuck) retire?

Funny enough Kylington just signed in Colorado. I was interested in him earlier as well but figured the POJ signing pretty much squashed that idea.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

Mine is basically the same as yours, but I'm guessing that Sunny starts the year on IR. The initial timeline was a 6 month re-evaluation date, which means that he would have to get cleared before that initial date in order to be a full participant in training camp. I'm not expecting LTIR, but I think that he's spent 1-2 weeks on regular IR making sure he is back to 100%.

Dvorsky briefly makes the roster while Sunny is finalizing rehab.

I have your same line of thinking here, but yeah, when Sunny gets back, I can see Walker getting waived if Dvo shows he should stay up.

 

[BlueSeal]

*eyes Army* Stop looking at Tony DeAngelo lol.

 

[TurgPavs]

Shatty, Blais, Patches, Tanner Pearson, all looking for PTO's.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

*eyes Army* Stop looking at Tony DeAngelo lol.

He's in the KHL now unless that fell through for whatever reason.

 

[BlueDream]

Shatty, Blais, Patches, Tanner Pearson, all looking for PTO's.

We don’t need or have room for any of them.

If Blais wants to stick around the organization and play in Springfield, cool, I guess I’ll take him for depth. But our roster is full and we have an opportunity to give some young guys some looks.

I know PTOs can just be cut and may not make the team anyways, but I don’t really see the point unless we’re giving them a legitimate shot to make it. And I don’t see that happening here this season.

 

[BlueSeal]

Shatty, Blais, Patches, Tanner Pearson, all looking for PTO's.

Woof

 

[Brian39]

Shatty, Blais, Patches, Tanner Pearson, all looking for PTO's.

I'm surprised that Toronto hasn't taken a league-minimum flyer on Blais. He has consistently been an effective bottom 6 guy in Berube's system up to (and including) last season.

In 2023/24 he had 1 goal and 7 points in 53 games. 1 goal and 6 of those points came in 25 games under Berube (19 point pace) and then 0 goals and 1 point in 28 games came under Bannister (3 point pace).

The year before, he had 9 goals and 20 points in 31 games in a suddenly middle 6 role under Berube (53 point pace) after scoring 0 goals and 5 points in 40 games in New York (10 point pace).

He had 16 goals and 32 points in the 97 regular season games he played under Berube before being traded to New York in the Buch deal (27 point pace).

All told, he's been somewhere between 'competent 4th liner' and 'effective 3rd line player' for every stretch that he has suited up under Berube. And then he has been well below a replacement level player every other stretch of his NHL career for any other coach. He had 25+ more hits than any forward on Toronto's roster last year and he compiled that total in just 53 total games. He seems like the absolute ideal guy to bring into camp to compete for one of the last forward jobs as Berube molds that roster into his own.

Blais has been one of my favorite bottom-of-the-lineup Blues since the Cup run. His hits per 60 is 6th in the league over the last 3 years (18.47) and he has a greater scoring touch than most the guys near the top of that stat. There are very, very few guys in the league that have the ability to bring his mix of physicality and scoring upside. He hasn't been able to consistently bring it for coaches besides Berube, but he has very much brought it whenever he's playing in Berube's system. It feels like that should be enough to get an NHL shot in Toronto.

 

[STL fan in MN]

We don’t need or have room for any of them.

If Blais wants to stick around the organization and play in Springfield, cool, I guess I’ll take him for depth. But our roster is full and we have an opportunity to give some young guys some looks.

I know PTOs can just be cut and may not make the team anyways, but I don’t really see the point unless we’re giving them a legitimate shot to make it. And I don’t see that happening here this season.

I’d be ok signing a forward PTO or two. Alexandrov isn’t even signed and even if he does sign, I’d be more than fine with giving him and Walker some competition.

 

[SirPaste]

Shatty, Blais, Patches, Tanner Pearson, all looking for PTO's.

Meh. Word is Blais might be heading to Russia. Patches could maybe be interesting? I honestly haven't paid much attention to him the last couple years, the numbers last season dont look great, is he totally washed or was he still dealing with the injury?

 

[DatDude44]

Line predictions?

Opening night:

Buch-Thomas-Neighbours
Bolduc- Schenn-Kyrou
Joseph-Texier-Saad
Torpedo- Faksa- Kapanen

Leddy-Parayko
Suter-Faulk
Perunovich- Kessel

Binner
HOFer


Wouldn’t be shocked if Dvorsky eventually takes Texiers spot and Tex pushes kapanen into the press box

 

[Reality Czech]

Meh. Word is Blais might be heading to Russia. Patches could maybe be interesting? I honestly haven't paid much attention to him the last couple years, the numbers last season dont look great, is he totally washed or was he still dealing with the injury?

Who knows if he's healthy but there's little downside to offering him a PTO. Seems like the kind of guy we should take a flyer on as we could use more secondary scoring. I know he's not the same player but he was such a pain in the ass to play against in his prime. Guessing he'll get an opportunity somewhere.

 

[BlueDream]

I’d be ok signing a forward PTO or two. Alexandrov isn’t even signed and even if he does sign, I’d be more than fine with giving him and Walker some competition.

There’s plenty of competition already. Alexandrov probably won’t even make the roster even if he does sign with us.

Neighbours, Thomas, Kyrou, Buchnevich, Schenn, Saad, Kapanen, Texier, Joseph, Toropchenko, Faksa and Sundqvist are already 12 NHL forwards.

Then along with Walker and Alexandrov, we have Bolduc, Dean, Dvorsky, and Sylvegard pushing for spots. That’s 18 legitimate options before you get to the bottom of the barrel of McEachern and McGing, who can still fill in on the 4th line.

I really only care about bringing in PTOs if they actually have a chance with us, but it would basically be wasting their time this year.

 

[STL fan in MN]

There’s plenty of competition already. Alexandrov probably won’t even make the roster even if he does sign with us.

Neighbours, Thomas, Kyrou, Buchnevich, Schenn, Saad, Kapanen, Texier, Joseph, Toropchenko, Faksa and Sundqvist are already 12 NHL forwards.

Then along with Walker and Alexandrov, we have Bolduc, Dean, Dvorsky, and Sylvegard pushing for spots. That’s 18 legitimate options before you get to the bottom of the barrel of McEachern and McGing, who can still fill in on the 4th line.

I really only care about bringing in PTOs if they actually have a chance with us, but it would basically be wasting their time this year.

Not sure I’m ready to call Dean and Dvorsky legitimate options yet. They might be but I’ve yet to see true NHL caliber play out of either yet. And then what if Alexandrov bolts? What if Sylvegard is another Joakim Lindstrom?

We could have lots of forward depth…or we might have a lot of AHL caliber guys. I see lots of maybes.

 

[Brian39]

Not sure I’m ready to call Dean and Dvorsky legitimate options yet. They might be but I’ve yet to see true NHL caliber play out of either yet. And then what if Alexandrov bolts? What if Sylvegard is another Joakim Lindstrom?

We could have lots of forward depth…or we might have a lot of AHL caliber guys. I see lots of maybes.

Let's say all of what you laid out comes to pass.

Thomas, Kyrou, Buch, Schenn, Saad, Neighbours, Faksa, Joseph, Texier, Bolduc, Torpo, Sunny, Kappy, and Walker makes your 14 forwards on the NHL roster to start the year (or we go 13F and 8 D with Sunny on IR if he's not ready). Mac is a classic NHL/AHL tweener that can be the first call up as a 15th forward and Dean showed me enough last year that I'm fully content with him getting cups of coffee as the 16th forward call up if/when we have 3+ forwards simultaneously out of the lineup.

Is that really a bad worst case scenario? Aren't most teams looking at a lot of AHL caliber guys once you get 3+ injuries deep in the forward group?

PTO guys are generally holding out hope for an NHL job and using the PTO to audition for an NHL team. Generally they don't end in a guy signing a 2 way deal to go to the AHL and I don't see us looking to add NHL money to bolster our eventual call up depth when we have multiple young guys who we hope earn cup of coffee call ups. You're not bringing in PTO guys to compete for the 15th forward spot. You're bringing them in to compete for an NHL roster spot. Our potential depth issues start outside the NHL roster.

FWIW, I am absolutely ready willing to call Dean a legitimate option as an AHL guy expected to play 10-20 NHL games throughout the course of some call ups.

 

[BlueDream]

Not sure I’m ready to call Dean and Dvorsky legitimate options yet. They might be but I’ve yet to see true NHL caliber play out of either yet. And then what if Alexandrov bolts? What if Sylvegard is another Joakim Lindstrom?

We could have lots of forward depth…or we might have a lot of AHL caliber guys. I see lots of maybes.

Even if none of those guys you listed make the team, we can still easily fill 14 forward spots with NHL players. Walker for example has shown he at least deserves to stay in the NHL as a spare forward, IMO.

What good is it gonna do us to sign Tanner Pearson or some random scrub vet? We are in a re-tool, now is the time to give guys like Dean ice time to see what he’s got (doesn’t have to be right out of camp, but at some point this season). Same goes for Sylvegard. If he’s another Lindstrom, so what? Let’s find out since we are a borderline playoff team anyways. And at the very least, his play style is WAY different than Lindstrom so I think he’s more likely to carve out a role on a 4th line.

A PTO isn’t moving the needle in any meaningful way.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I don’t really care much either way as I do think we have enough forward depth and would like to not block the prospects and Sylvegard too much but if there’s a player out there that’d sign for league minimum that’s clearly better than Walker, I’d be completely fine bringing that player to camp.

 

[Reality Czech]

Let's say all of what you laid out comes to pass.

Thomas, Kyrou, Buch, Schenn, Saad, Neighbours, Faksa, Joseph, Texier, Bolduc, Torpo, Sunny, Kappy, and Walker makes your 14 forwards on the NHL roster to start the year (or we go 13F and 8 D with Sunny on IR if he's not ready). Mac is a classic NHL/AHL tweener that can be the first call up as a 15th forward and Dean showed me enough last year that I'm fully content with him getting cups of coffee as the 16th forward call up if/when we have 3+ forwards simultaneously out of the lineup.

Is that really a bad worst case scenario? Aren't most teams looking at a lot of AHL caliber guys once you get 3+ injuries deep in the forward group?

PTO guys are generally holding out hope for an NHL job and using the PTO to audition for an NHL team. Generally they don't end in a guy signing a 2 way deal to go to the AHL and I don't see us looking to add NHL money to bolster our eventual call up depth when we have multiple young guys who we hope earn cup of coffee call ups. You're not bringing in PTO guys to compete for the 15th forward spot. You're bringing them in to compete for an NHL roster spot. Our potential depth issues start outside the NHL roster.

FWIW, I am absolutely ready willing to call Dean a legitimate option as an AHL guy expected to play 10-20 NHL games throughout the course of some call ups.

I would agree with that and I'm more than fine having Mac as a fall back option for the 4th line. Both him and Walker deserve a longer look to see if they stick. If we were primed to compete then I probably wouldn't say that but as we are now I think we have plenty of bottom 6 options.

That being said, if a PTO guy comes along and pushes them down the depth chart, so be it. Competition is a good thing. Army always seems to invite a couple of known names to camp so I expect him to do the same this year.

 

[TurgPavs]

I would rather have a guy come into camp on a PTO, and increase competition for a roster spot, then to just hand over a roster spot to "See what the player can do".

I would love to see the Blues bring in Kubalik and/or Blais on a PTO.