With the 2026-27 schedule now out, the Blues can start sketching what opening night might look like, and one of the more interesting names in that conversation is Adam Jiricek.
St. Louis, at least on paper, looks a little thinner after losing Jordan Kyrou and bringing in a couple of unknowns in Mason McTavish and Connor McMichael. That creates a real opening for the team to lean on internal options, and Jiricek stands out as one of the more intriguing candidates to claim a spot.
The blue line has a clear headliner in Philip Broberg. He’s the highest-paid defenseman on the roster, and at 25, there’s still room for him to keep climbing.
After that, the picture gets messy fast. Cam Fowler would technically slot in as the No. 2 defenseman, but last season’s major regression raises real questions about whether he can handle that kind of workload.
Colton Parayko and Brandon Carlo don’t really fit as top-pair options, and Logan Mailloux, while excellent after the Winter Olympic break, still leaves plenty of uncertainty because of how rough he was to begin the season.
That’s where Jiricek enters the picture, even if a top-pair role alongside Broberg is probably too much to ask from a rookie right away.
The more realistic path is for him to win a job in camp and start on the third pair. The Blues have other defensemen in the mix, including Theo Lindstein and Tyler Tucker, but not all of them project as difference-makers. Jiricek, by contrast, has the upside to become a steady top-four defenseman, and there’s a believable route for him to outplay Lindstein and Tucker and earn an opening night spot.
If he does that and holds his own in a smaller role, Jim Montgomery may not have much choice but to push him higher in the lineup.
Of course, that’s the ideal version of the story. Rookie defensemen tend to take their lumps in the NHL, and Jiricek will have to prove he belongs.
The path is there, though. Now he just has to take it.
In Other News...
Blues Suddenly Have A Center Depth Question Fans Can't Ignore
The Blues center picture looked straightforward enough when the offseason began, with Robert Thomas penciled in as the top-line anchor and Mason McTavish fitting naturally into a second-line role. Then the addition of Connor McMichael added a little more flexibility to the roster, even if he is expected to spend most of his time on the wing. For a team trying to sort out its forward mix, that kind of versatility can be useful, but it also keeps the conversation alive about how the middle of the lineup will actually settle in.
Pius Suter sits in the middle of that discussion, because the third-line center spot is not quite as settled as the rest of the depth chart suggests. St. Louis has enough moving parts to imagine a few different looks as the season unfolds, especially if the bottom six gets reshuffled and the staff decides it wants more certainty down the middle. The Blues do not need to solve everything in July, but the way they handle those center minutes could end up shaping more than just one line. [Read more 🡒]
Why Blues Fans Are Pushing Back On This Offseason Verdict
The offseason review that landed with a thud around St. Louis did not exactly match the mood inside the organization. Bleacher Report handed the Blues a D, but the front office has spent the summer trying to reshape the roster around a younger core, with Alexander Steen stepping in as general manager and the club leaning into a group built largely around players under 25.
From the Blues perspective, the bigger story is not the grade itself but what comes next. The team has moved on from some poor contracts and added youth, and Jim Montgomery is already setting the tone for a training camp that should be fast, physical and full of real battles for jobs and line combinations as the club builds toward the 2026-27 season. [Read more 🡒]