Zack Bolduc looking for consistency as final roster decisions loom for Blues
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The Blues held their last practice before heading off to start their regular season on Saturday morning at Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, before part of the team headed to Milwaukee for the final preseason game, against Chicago, and coach Drew Bannister said the roster isn’t quite set yet.
“I think there’s still difficult decisions to make,†he said. “Obviously, with some of the forwards, (Oskar Sundqvist) being injured, (Brandon Saad) not being available for us on the first trip, there’s still decisions to be made. But also, some players have come in and played themselves into the lineup and grabbed a spot.â€
One of the players who hasn’t grabbed a spot is forward Zack Bolduc, who has had a quiet preseason, too quiet, and is in danger of starting the season in Springfield, Mass., instead of St. Louis.
“I think I had a good camp,†Bolduc said Saturday before flying to Milwaukee, “and it’s still going on. I think I did well. I had one tough game, against Columbus here, but now I think I’m playing with confidence and skating well. Just gotta use my strength as much as I can.â€
In three preseason games before Saturday, Bolduc had not recorded a point and he acknowledged he had troubles away from the puck in that Columbus game.
“But these things happen,†he said. “It’s always the way you answer to those games.â€
He again was set to skate with what looks like a fifth line with Saad and Zach Dean on Saturday, and the mere fact he was on the trip for the final preseason game said his spot is uncertain.
“For me, it’s just to be consistent,†he said. “For me, that’s the biggest thing. I think I just got to be a bit more consistent in my performance.â€
“The one thing I’ve learned about ‘Boldie’ from coaching him in the American League level,†Bannister said, “he’s a very coachable player. He wants to learn and he wants to get better. And for a younger player, when you’re talking to him, he’s looking at you straight in the eye, like he’s getting the message. So as a coach, you appreciate that, because you don’t always have that. He’s a player that wants to get better and he wants to play in the NHL.â€
“For sure, I want to be here,†Bolduc said. “I want to help the team to win some games and have a great season. But right now, I’m honestly just focusing on going day to day.â€
Buchnevich not on ice for practice
With the callups from Springfield for the final preseason game going straight to Milwaukee, the Blues had what amounted to a full practice on Saturday, with everyone on the ice at the start and the game group leaving early while the players not making the trip kept working.
The only player not on the ice for the Blues was Pavel Buchnevich. Bannister said Buchnevich had “a little bit of lower body tenderness†that the team had been able to manage on Friday. The Blues won’t skate on Sunday as they fly to Seattle for their opener Tuesday, but will have a practice there on Monday to check things out.
“Just making sure that he’s 100% going into the game on Tuesday,†Bannister said.
Asked if there were concerns about Buchnevich missing the opener, Bannister said, “Nothing that’s been told to me from trainers right now. Just continued maintenance on the lower body issue.â€
These are the players expected to be on the St. Louis Blues opening day roster for the 2024 season.
Zack Bolduc 'a very coachable player,' Blues coach Drew Bannister says
Blues forward Mathieu Joseph brings the mojo in more ways than one
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The Blues have plenty of new players on the roster this season. But after Thursday’s 4-3 preseason overtime win over the Stars, did a new one show up?
In discussing his breakout exhibition game, Kasperi Kapanen spoke about his linemates Brayden Schenn and … MoJo. MoJo? That’s Mathieu Joseph, and the nickname was as “brand new†to him as it was to onlookers, he said.
“Most guys here call me Matty, but I don’t mind MoJo,†Joseph said with a laugh. “It’s got a good mojo going. I like it.â€
The story is fairly simple. Mathieu’s brother, Blues defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph, has a pretty straightforward nickname. Because of his initials, P.O. became known as PoJo. So it was only natural that Mathieu Joseph would become MoJo, as coined by defenseman Tyler Tucker and repeated by assistant coach Mike Weber.
Then Kapanen dropped it in his postgame interview, and now Mathieu Joseph has a new nickname to add to Joe, Matty, Jos, Matt or Joey, which he has accumulated in his six-year NHL career. It might also fit the style of game he plays, a punchy, fast game with moxie.
“I feel like it’s also another synonym (for grit),†Joseph said.
After Thursday’s game against Dallas, Blues fans could be looking forward to more MoJo mojo. Joseph had a goal against the Stars, and was one-third of perhaps the best line on the ice with Kapanen and Schenn.
When Joseph, Schenn and Kapanen were on the ice at 5 on 5, the Blues held a 12-7 edge in shot attempts and a 6-2 advantage in shots on goal across 9:55 of ice time, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Of course, St. Louis also outscored Dallas, 2-0, during that time. It would have been 3-0 if Ryan Suter’s goal wasn’t disallowed when officials ruled that Joseph interfered with Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger.
“I knew there was maybe contact,†Joseph said. “I didn’t know if I was in the crease or not. I think good thing it happens in preseason.
“I feel like it would have sucked a little bit more in the regular season. I’ve got to make myself a little bit smaller next time.â€
On Joseph’s goal, his line took over after an extended offensive zone shift from Pavel Buchnevich’s line, and Schenn’s wall play to win a puck set up Joseph for a clean look in the slot.
“Schenner won two or three battles in a row to get that puck to Kappy and I feel like that’s how our line was tonight,†Joseph said. “We were responsible defensively, and when we could hound pucks, we did. We created some offense.â€
The line played together in a game for the first time on Thursday.
Throughout training camp, Joseph mostly played alongside Dylan Holloway and Radek Faksa.
“ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were outstanding (Thursday),†Bannister said.
“They did a lot of good things. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were very responsible tracking, getting above the puck, filling for their D and then in the offensive zone, they made good things happen.â€
As the Blues conducted a late-camp line shuffle that mixed up all their combinations and resulted in a more balanced looking forward corps, their third line could take on added importance as a potential difference-maker. If the Blues want to become a playoff team again, they may need to develop a productive third line, and that could involve Joseph no matter who his other two linemates are.
“There’s a lot of new guys,†Joseph said. “It takes time to get to your new systems and know your teammates and develop chemistry with guys, and see what works.â€
The NHL group is done playing games after Thursday night’s preview, and their next chore will be opening the season on Tuesday in Seattle against the Kraken.
“You’re kind of fired up,†Joseph said.
“You can see the start of the season coming up, and everyone’s definitely excited. Training camp is always kind of a grind, but also, it’s good that you get to know systems, know your teammates, spend some time with them.â€
Blues extend AHL affiliation agreement with Springfield through 2030-31 season
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The Blues and AHL affiliate Springfield (Massachusetts) extended their affiliation agreement through the 2030-31 season, the parties announced Friday morning.
The Blues have used Springfield as their AHL club for the last three seasons, and the extension will keep the relationship for at least another seven seasons. In recent history, the Blues had AHL agreements with Utica (2020-21), San Antonio (2018-2020), Chicago (2013-17) and Peoria (2005-13).
With the AHL relationship secured long-term, and an ECHL affiliation announced this summer with Florida, the Blues have found stability in their development program.
Blues coach Drew Bannister worked in Springfield, Utica and San Antonio before becoming the Blues interim coach last December, and full-time coach over the summer. He praised the organization’s move to Springfield.
“For the development side for our players, we didn’t get what we needed (in San Antonio),†Bannister said. “The change going from Texas to Springfield really fast-tracked some of our players.â€
In San Antonio, the team faced tougher travel schedules with fewer teams around, and many of their road games required a flight to get to. In Springfield (Massachusetts), the Thunderbirds are close to frequent foes Hartford (30 minutes), Providence (90 minutes) and Bridgeport (90 minutes). That meant “more time to practice, more skill days, more time off,†Bannister said.
“In Texas, we were constantly in the air in an airplane,†Bannister said. “Our days off were travel days. It was tough, and that’s where I thought Springfield, the organization, the ownership there was outstanding. It was a real positive step for the development of our players.â€
Blues recall group from AHL
St. Louis recalled eight players from Springfield on Friday afternoon so that they can play in Saturday’s preseason finale against the Blackhawks in Milwaukee.
The Blues brought back forwards Mackenzie MacEachern, Mathias Laferriere, Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, Dalibor Dvorsky, Hugh McGing and Dylan Peterson, plus defensemen Hunter Skinner and Samuel Johannesson after previously sending them to the AHL.
While it should be a relatively young group playing in Milwaukee, Bannister said there still remains time to influence the staff’s NHL evaluation of players.
“I wouldn’t say it’s complete,†Bannister said. “I still think there’s evaluating going on. I still think there’s players that want to prove themselves that they’re going to have an opportunity to prove themselves to find a place on our roster, in our lineup and tomorrow night’s another good night for them.â€
For instance, it could be the final game for the three bubble defensemen (Scott Perunovich, Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Tyler Tucker) to separate themselves.
Extra letters
Blues prospect Jimmy Snuggerud was named one of four captains for the University of Minnesota, becoming the third St. Louis prospect to wear a “C†this season. He joins defensemen Quinton Burns (Kingston, OHL) and Lukas Fischer (Sarnia, OHL).
St. Louis native Clayton Keller was named the first captain in Utah Hockey Club history on Friday. Keller is one of two NHL captains from St. Louis, in addition to Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa).
‘A different phase’: What's next for Blues, Doug Armstrong after piling up young assets
The blinds in the second-floor office are half-open. The light flicks on sometime before practice begins. The chair farthest from the door faces the window, its back to the desk. The architect watches his construction site come to life.
For most Blues practices, that’s how general manager Doug Armstrong consumes the action on the ice below him at Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, peering over the benches to watch his coaches, his players — his projects. When he watched his club throughout training camp, there were different groups he could theoretically see.
There were the dwindling players who helped the Blues win their only Stanley Cup in 2019, holding onto the coastline in hopes of bridging one successful era to another. There were the veterans who were supposed to extend the contention window, now trying to avoid the blasphemous thought of missing the playoffs three years in a row.
There were the franchise cornerstones around whom Armstrong and the Blues chose to build instead of detonating, key cogs signed until the end of the decade. There were the kids — both drafted and offer-sheeted — offering the hope of something more promising in the years to come.
It’s a group in transition for Armstrong and the Blues. But if you ask Armstrong, perhaps it’s a different phase of the organization’s metamorphosis.
“You’re never sure how you’re going to be able to do it, but we brought in good players with good pedigree that are in the league now,†Armstrong said. “Now, they’re ready to take off. I do think we’re in a different phase. I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays itself out.â€
What exactly is the different phase?
Well, the Blues are past accumulating assets. They’re on to developing them and pushing the older wave to qualify for the postseason.
Over the summer, the Blues made their biggest splashes by bringing in defenseman Philip Broberg (No. 8 overall pick in 2019) and forward Dylan Holloway (No. 14 pick in 2020), prying them away from Edmonton with seldom-used offer sheets. The moves cost them a lot, in terms of salary (a combined $6,871,374 cap hit the next two seasons) and in terms of draft capital.
When accounting for the interconnected Kevin Hayes salary dump to Pittsburgh, the acquisition of Mathieu Joseph from Ottawa, the transaction to reacquire a draft pick from the Penguins, the offer sheet compensation to Edmonton and the ransom to quell the threat of Edmonton matching the offer sheets, the cost of doing business became — well, costly.
In? Broberg, Holloway, Joseph and a 2026 fifth-round pick. Out? A 2025 second-round pick, a 2026 second-round pick, a 2025 third-round pick, a 2028 third-round pick, prospect Paul Fischer and Hayes.
Add in that the Blues traded their 2025 fourth-rounder to Columbus for Alexandre Texier and their 2025 seventh-rounder to Detroit for Jakub Vrana and St. Louis has just three picks next summer: a first, a fifth and a sixth. It’s not a draft board indicative of a team that has missed the playoffs in two straight seasons.
“We have restocked the cupboard,†Armstrong said. “We’re going to have a thin draft this year, the way it sits now. We don’t have a second, third or a fourth, but we also have young players at 22 or 23 that were former first-round picks. You have to give to get.â€
Part of why Armstrong was comfortable parting with future assets is the number of pieces the Blues have gathered across the past year-plus, essentially since the 2023 trade deadline when St. Louis sold Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan O’Reilly, Ivan Barbashev, Niko Mikkola and Noel Acciari.
In adding Broberg, Holloway and picking defenseman Adam Jiricek at No. 16, the Blues now have 10 players drafted in the first round since 2019. Seven of those players — Broberg, Holloway, Jiricek, Zach Dean, Dalibor Dvorsky, Otto Stenberg and Theo Lindstein — have been acquired in the past year and a half. Zack Bolduc, Jake Neighbours and Jimmy Snuggerud were already in the fold.
There’s reason to be excited about that.
Across the past six drafts, only Montreal (12) and Buffalo (11) have more former first-round picks in their system than the Blues (10). Across the past five drafts, only Chicago (10) has more than St. Louis (nine). Across the past four drafts, it’s just Chicago (nine) and Nashville (eight) that have more than the Blues’ seven.
You get the picture. The Blues have a prospect pool overflowing with future contributors.
But is that enough?
“The Blues have a lot of depth in their system,†said Chris Peters, a draft and prospects analyst for FloHockey. “They don’t have a super-great high end where it’s going to be a lot of first-line players. Some of these guys could develop into that but not a lot of first line (players); there’s some good secondary scoring here. There’s probably a top-four defenseman here. Maybe there’s a (No.) 4, 5 defenseman here.
“From right now, and development does not move in a straight line, it looks like they have a lot of mid-range guys that are going to help them in the middle of their lineup but maybe not in the top of their lineup.â€
While the Blues have piled up first-rounders, they have not piled up highly drafted first-rounders. Only Broberg and Dvorsky were drafted in the top 10. On average, those 10 players were drafted at 19.8. Only eight teams have, on average, lower-drafted first-rounders currently in their system.
It makes for a lot of serviceable NHL players but maybe not difference-makers.
“They’re lottery tickets, but how many of them have star as a ceiling?†Peters said. “If you’re projecting them out, you at least have some idea of where they’re going to go. They have a lot of guys that project to contribute. Honestly, when you have more of those, you increase the odds that one of them is going to overshoot what you expected of them.â€
The potential jackpots could be Dvorsky (thanks to his supreme skill) and Jiricek (whose evaluation was maybe stunted by his knee injury). But, Peters said, a lot of the other prospects are more known quantities with floors and ceilings a bit closer to each other.
“I think they did a really good job of getting guys that are going to play in the NHL,†Peters said. “It’s a lot harder than it sounds. Just getting guys that’ll be part of your roster is really difficult, especially at the number they have within their system. I think there’s a lot of guys where I’m like, ‘That guy is going to play.’â€
One Eastern Conference evaluator cautioned against the approach of picking up middle-of-the-lineup talent, which Broberg and Holloway could be considered at this point in their careers.
“You’re adding at the middle or bottom of the lineup and hoping they’re moving up, as opposed to going a little bit more all-in and getting a first-line, top-pair guy that’s going to push guys down,†they said.
Essentially, the Blues need some of those guys to play above their draft level. And then they need some of their later-round picks to hit as if they were top-end selections. That’s not unique to the Blues relative to the rest of the league.
The good news? The Blues have shown that they can find players who produce above their draft slot.
Robert Thomas was picked 20th in 2017. He’s fourth in his draft class in both games played and points.
Jordan Kyrou went 35th in 2016. He’s ninth in goals and 10th in points among his draft class.
Jake Neighbours was 26th in 2020. He’s eighth in goals scored in his draft class.
Toss in players like Tage Thompson or Vince Dunn and the Blues have a decent recent history of hitting on picks. Of course, the Blues have also missed big. Klim Kostin hasn’t panned out. Dominik Bokk never played an NHL game, but he helped the Blues acquire Justin Faulk.
And so there is another avenue for the Blues to pursue at this stage of their transition: trading from their prospect surplus to supplement the NHL roster.
“There’s probably a path given his history to move those players for the pieces that can get him there,†an Eastern Conference evaluator said.
Bokk (in the Faulk trade) and Thompson (in the trade that brought O’Reilly to St. Louis) are the easy examples of Armstrong’s willingness to deal from his prospect pool to help build the NHL roster. Older examples include Erik Johnson’s trade to Colorado or swapping David Rundblad for the pick that became Tarasenko.
Armstrong could be given another opportunity to do so, and it wouldn’t be a new part of his playbook.
“You have to accumulate as many puzzle pieces as you can, and then at some point, you have to start making the puzzle,†Armstrong said. “I go back to when I first got here, I thought Larry Pleau and John Davidson did a great job of acquiring a lot of young players, and then we moved some of those chess pieces around to build a team.
“I think we’re getting in that team-building mode now. We expect to compete. If it’s not fitting in with our puzzle, we have to move pieces along to find better fits.â€
So while the Blues may not have the choose-your-own-adventure assets like draft picks available, they do own about a dozen half-baked prospects in the pipeline. And other teams know Armstrong is open to wheeling and dealing.
“Army is not shy,†a Western Conference evaluator said. “He is not shy. Even before the offer sheets, he was really aggressive.â€
There are potential pitfalls along the way.
What if the Blues underperform and miss the playoffs again, resulting in next year’s draft capital becoming more valuable than anticipated? What if Snuggerud’s or Bolduc’s development stalls? What if Jiricek’s injury history is an ongoing concern? What if the former Oilers don’t adjust to bigger roles?
These are risks the Blues and Armstrong have to be willing to take in order to whip around a tight U-turn back into contention, and they’ve put themselves in a position to win big on the right bets.
Armstrong compares the current state of the Blues to the teams in 2010-12, teams that were incubating a young nucleus that included Alex Pietrangelo, David Perron, Jaden Schwartz, T.J. Oshie, Kevin Shattenkirk, Ian Cole, Chris Stewart and Tarasenko.
“We like the depth of our group now,†Armstrong said. “We’re going to continue to try and add to that, but we’re at that point now where we were in 2010, ‘11, ‘12 where we’ve accumulated assets.
“Now we have to build a team and I’m excited about the opportunity to build a team.â€
With chance to prove he belongs in Blues lineup, Kasperi Kapanen shows out vs. Dallas
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If some selective amnesia came over Kasperi Kapanen, he wouldn’t mind it.
Of course, games like Thursday’s 4-3 preseason overtime win over the Stars might help just as well. Kapanen had a goal and an assist against Dallas, potentially securing a spot in the season-opening lineup for the Blues and pushing a disappointing 2023-24 season further away.
“Personally, (I’d like) to learn from last year,†Kapanen said, “but to also kind of forget about it.â€
On Thursday night, Kapanen was arguably the best player on the ice. He was around pucks on the forecheck. He was physical at times. He was using his speed. He was active in shooting pucks. With a chance to prove himself worthy of a role in St. Louis, Kapanen delivered.
Philip Broberg also had a goal and an assist for the Blues, who were lifted when Jordan Kyrou scored 1:43 into overtime. Mathieu Joseph also scored for St. Louis, and Jordan Binnington made 17 saves.
Kapanen entered camp on the bubble, and if he wasn’t to make the NHL roster, would have to face waivers for the first time since the Blues claimed him off waivers in Feb. 2023. At times during the preseason, Kapanen appeared on the outside looking in. When the Blues split into NHL and AHL groups, Kapanen was in the AHL group. Other times, he skated on an extra line.
Blues coach Drew Bannister said after Kapanen’s first preseason game that he wanted more out of the 28-year-old Finnish forward. Now, those messages have dissolved.
“I think he’s a player that maybe overthought things early on in the camp,†Bannister said. “I think now, he’s more focused on his strengths and I think we saw that last game where I felt like he was trying to make an impact. Today, obviously, he made an impact offensively with the play he made to Matty and obviously with the goal being around the net. I thought he played extremely well here today.â€
Kapanen on the communication with Bannister: “Just playing aggressive and using my speed. I think sometimes, I start to overthink and wonder what’s going to happen during my shift. I think can I get into a rhythm and let my instincts do the work. When I play like that, I think it shows and I’m just using my feet and trying to shoot and be around the net.â€
On Thursday night, Kapanen helped form a line with Joseph and Brayden Schenn that contributed two goals. During Kapanen’s 12:25 of ice time at 5 on 5, the Blues outshot the Stars 10-2, and had a 0.92-0.19 advantage in expected goals.
Kapanen picked up an assist on Joseph’s goal after Schenn won a wall battle with Mason Marchment. Kapanen scored on Broberg’s rebound to the side of the net, spinning a no-look backhand into the net.
That doesn't include Kapanen's almost-assist on a disallowed Ryan Suter goal in the second period, or Kapanen's miss of an open net in the first period.
“I thought we played a great game,†Kapanen said. “I don’t think we spent too much time in our zone, which is always a plus. MoJo and Schenner are two great players, so I thought we had some good chemistry and it was a good game.â€
Last season, Kapanen endured the worst season of his career since he became an NHL regular. He managed just six goals and 16 assists. Kapanen began the year in the top-six, and was a healthy scratch for two games down the stretch.
Kapanen was supposed to carry over his strong finish in the spring of 2023 (14 points in 23 games with St. Louis), but instead failed to provide secondary scoring.
“Everybody knows it wasn’t my best, and I know that,†Kapanen said. “I’d like to hold myself to a higher standard. That’s hockey and that’s just sports in general. Sometimes, you have bad years and you’ve got to forget about that and move on.â€
For Kapanen, moving on is better when he has someone to talk to, he said. And that someone is his father Sami Kapanen, who played 831 career NHL games for the Whalers/Hurricanes and Flyers.
“If it bothers you like it bothered me a little bit, I think it’s important to talk to somebody about it,†Kapanen said. “I’ve got a great guy that listens to me, my dad. Obviously, he’s been in the league for a while and knows the ups and downs of hockey. I just try to talk to him.
“Honestly, I was happy to spend some time with my family and my friends back home. It was a long summer, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Try to play some golf, and mentally, be fresh coming into camp. I feel great right now.â€
It also wasn’t always certain that Kapanen would be back in St. Louis this season. His contract expired at the end of last season, and the Blues appeared ready to let their unrestricted free agents walk. Instead, Kapanen signed a one-year contract worth $1 million on the first day of free agency to return to the Note.
Kapanen said “I love being here, and I love being a Blue.â€
So far, Kapanen appears to have earned a spot — jumping over Zack Bolduc in the process — on the opening day roster. But that’s not the end of Kapanen’s journey. Brandon Saad will return to the lineup after his wife gives birth. Oskar Sundqvist is recovering from knee surgery. Bolduc, and prospects Dalibor Dvorsky and Zach Dean will push.
If Kapanen has a spot now, a future one isn’t promised either.
“I’m just trying to fight for a spot,†Kapanen said. “There’s a ton of great players in this organization and I’ve just been trying to find my way into the lineup. If I keep playing like that, I’ve got a good chance.â€