The Blues’ blue line has turned into a crowded room in a hurry, and Logan Mailloux is suddenly at the center of the conversation.
St. Louis opened the season dealing with injuries all over the roster, starting with Tyler Tucker and then losing Alexey Toropchenko and Dillon Dube.
But the most notable absence, at least from a defensive standpoint, came when right-handed defenseman Mailloux was sidelined by an injury suffered in a preseason fight. That opened the door for rookie Adam Jiricek, a former first-round pick, and six games into the season he has looked like he belongs.
That’s where the real question starts: what happens when Mailloux is ready to come back?
Mailloux was the Blues’ biggest move of the 2025-26 offseason, arriving in the trade that sent Zachary Bolduc to the Montreal Canadiens. St.
Louis made that deal because Mailloux fit the team’s timeline and helped fill a need on the right side behind Colton Parayko. His first stretch with the Blues wasn’t smooth, as he adjusted to the pace of the NHL, learned a new system and built chemistry with new teammates.
But as the season wore on, he settled in and eventually worked his way into top-pairing minutes with Philip Broberg late in the year.
That strong finish is part of why this current situation is tricky. The Blues expected to keep building with Mailloux and Broberg together. Instead, Jiricek’s hot start has changed the picture, and it has put Mailloux’s place on the roster under a brighter light.
That is an enviable problem to have, but it is still a problem. Tucker is on the way back eventually, Jiricek has earned his spot, and Justin Barron - claimed off waivers before the season - has given St.
Louis a solid option while splitting games with Theo Lindstein. The result is a defense group with more bodies than openings, plus several one-way contracts that make the next move harder to sort out.
There are a few paths the Blues could take. They could send Jiricek down to the AHL, though that would feel like a step backward after how well he has played.
They could move Lindstein down because he is on a two-way deal, which would let him keep getting regular minutes without going through waivers. But neither choice feels especially likely, especially when both players have already shown enough in the NHL to make the front office think twice about burying them.
Waiving Tucker is another possibility. With the roster squeeze, he may simply not have a spot.
And if St. Louis does place him on waivers, it would be unlikely that another team would claim him, which would allow the Blues to keep his rights.
That leaves the trade route, with Lindstein and/or Mailloux as the names to watch. And if the Blues are deciding who carries the most value and who can be moved, Mailloux has a real case as the more expendable piece.
The market matters here too. Right-shot defensemen are hard to find, and teams around the league are often forced to promote players before they are ready or shift left-shot defensemen to the right side.
That scarcity already boosts the value of a right-handed blueliner. Add in Mailloux’s contract, his age and the rapid progress he made last season, and he becomes the kind of player other organizations could find very appealing.
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