The St. Louis Blues barely got through the opening night of the 2026-27 season before the injury bug showed up.
Forward Alexey Toropchenko left Friday’s season-opening game against the Dallas Stars and has been ruled out for the rest of the night after getting crunched between two Stars and needing help off the ice.
Toropchenko was checked behind the Blues’ net in the first half of the second period, with Stars defenseman Lian Bichsel delivering the hit that sent the Moscow native to the ice. He had to be assisted to the locker room and was favoring his elbow on the way down the tunnel.
That’s the kind of scene that stands out with Toropchenko because of the role he’s built for himself. He’s known as one of the Blues’ toughest players, so seeing him stay down and require help getting off the ice raises real concern about the severity of the injury.
St. Louis will finish the game with just 11 forwards.
The schedule doesn’t give the Blues much breathing room, either. They’re right back at it Saturday night against the Colorado Avalanche, and if Toropchenko can’t go, Zach Dean or Dillon Dube would be the likeliest options to slide into the lineup. Both made the team’s final roster in surprising fashion, though each had a strong camp and preseason, and either could be asked to handle a bigger role if Toropchenko is sidelined for a while.
If the absence stretches beyond that, the Blues do have reinforcements in the American Hockey League. Nathan Walker looks like the most likely call-up, though Dylan Peterson would not be a surprise after what he did in the preseason.
Toropchenko is only the latest Blues player dealing with injury issues to start the season. Logan Mailloux and Tyler Tucker are also unavailable because of their respective injuries.
In Other News...
Stars Already Have An Early Problem Fans Didn't Want To See
The season is only two games old, but the early read on the Stars has not been encouraging. Dallas has opened with two losses and managed just one goal through those first outings, a sluggish start that has left players and coach Glen Gulutzan talking openly about slow beginnings, offensive frustration and defensive mistakes that need to be cleaned up fast.
There is still plenty of time to sort it out, but the urgency is already there as the club searches for the right line combinations and sharper execution. For a team built to push deeper into the fall, the concern is not just the record or the scoring drought, but whether these early issues are symptoms of something that needs fixing before the schedule starts to tighten around them. [Read more 🡒]
Stars Already Face An Early Question They Didn't Want Back
The Stars walked into Bridgestone Arena and left with another reminder that early-season offense is still a work in progress. Dallas fell 2-1 to the Nashville Predators in a game that offered very few clean looks for either side, and the limited shot total fit the broader concern around a team that has not been creating much at the start of the year.
Miro Heiskanen gave Dallas the only goal, and the rest of the night was spent searching for a response that never quite came. The matchup also brought an added layer of familiarity, as former Stars forward Mavrik Bourque skated against Dallas for the first time since being dealt to Nashville over the summer, another small but notable subplot in a game that left the Stars with more questions than answers. [Read more 🡒]
Stars Fans Just Got A Frustrating Reminder About That Blues Shutout
The Blues quick two-game stretch served as an unwelcome reminder of how sharp St. Louis looked in the shutout over Dallas before running into Colorado. Even in the loss to the Avalanche, the Blues had enough to point to from the earlier win, with Pius Suter involved in a goal and Dalibor Dvorsky adding a score while centering the third line, the kind of depth touch that can make a tight game feel even tighter for an opponent.
For the Stars, the sting of that shutout lingers because it was built on more than just a hot night from the goalie. St. Louis got timely work from its lineup pieces, and now the Blues are moving into a three-game slate that includes their first home games of the season, which only adds to the sense that Dallas caught them at the wrong moment and may have to sit with that one a little longer. [Read more 🡒]