When the Blues took Tynan Lawrence with the 11th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, Doug Armstrong called him a “dog on a bone.” That’s the kind of label that sticks for a reason. It hints at a player who won’t drift through shifts, and it fits the early read on Lawrence as a middle-six center with top-six upside.
That may sound like a modest starting point, but it also puts Lawrence squarely in the conversation for something bigger down the line: the long-term answer behind Robert Thomas at second-line center. For now, he’s still behind Dalibor Dvorsky on the organizational depth chart. But the gap may not matter as much as the ceiling.
Lawrence’s season was basically a study in starting over. A broken foot and a high ankle sprain erased his first two months, and by the time he got back to Muskegon in late November, he looked like the reigning Clark Cup MVP again. He piled up 17 points in 13 games there before making another jump in January, this time leaving the USHL early to enroll at Boston University.
The NCAA transition wasn’t smooth. It took six games before Lawrence recorded his first point, and even after that the production stayed quiet for a while. Through his first 13 games at Boston University, he had just two points - one goal and one assist - and he finished his freshman year with seven points in 18 games.
But the finish told the better story.
Lawrence closed with five points in his final five games, including a two-point night in a season-ending matchup against No. 14 UConn.
Losing at the end of a season never feels good, but that game still stood out as a useful snapshot of where Lawrence was headed. He kept getting better, looked more settled in the defensive zone, and earned more trust as the season went on.
A few days later, he was back in a different spotlight, this time for Team Canada at the U18 World Championship. Deployed as a top-six center, Lawrence produced six points in five games, which ranked second on the team and 16th in the tournament.
That’s the part the Blues have to like: the response. Over the span of six weeks, Lawrence dealt with injury, then a tougher level of competition, and in both settings he finished strong after a slow start.
He didn’t fade as the year wore on. He sharpened.
St. Louis added even more traffic to the middle of the ice at the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, selecting Lawrence and Maddox Daggenais and trading for Mason McTavish.
The front office looks ready to push the center group and see who can handle the heat. Dvorsky, 21, is already playing more than 14 minutes a night in his rookie season, but he still has to prove he can be the answer behind Thomas.
If not, the Blues may have to consider moving him to wing or even discussing trade options.
Lawrence doesn’t have to answer that question right away. He has time.
And that may be part of what makes him so interesting. Dvorsky has the head start, but Lawrence may have the higher gear.
In Other News...
Blues May Be Sitting On A Skilled Winger Worth Watching
Dmitri Buchelnikov is the kind of winger the Blues can afford to keep an eye on without needing to rush anything. The Russian right wing was originally drafted by Detroit in 2022 before his rights were traded to St. Louis, and since then he has kept building his rsum in the KHL. His production has trended upward, highlighted by a breakout run with Vityaz and then an injury-shortened season with CSKA Moskova, enough to keep his name circulating as a legitimate long-term piece.
What makes Buchelnikov interesting from St. Louis perspective is the blend of skill and uncertainty around his eventual NHL fit. He has the sort of offensive tools that could matter in a top-six role, but there are still questions about how that translates against NHL competition and what the path looks like to get there. For now, the Blues are simply sitting on a player whose development points toward a possible impact window around the 2027-28 season, which makes him a worthwhile name to remember. [Read more 🡒]
Cam Fowler Could Decide How Safe The Blues Blue Line Really Is
The Blues spent the offseason trying to make their blue line sturdier, bringing in Brandon Carlo from the Toronto Maple Leafs and leaning into Philip Broberg as the player expected to anchor the group. Even with that help, the picture still feels like it turns on Cam Fowler, whose presence gives St. Louis a veteran option with the puck but whose recent drop-off has made it harder to know just how reliable this defense can be over a full season.
Fowlers value has always been tied to whether he can drive play and hold up against top competition, and the Blues do not have much margin for error if he does not come close to that level. If he can settle back into the form that made him such an important part of the lineup, St. Louis defense looks a lot safer. If not, the additions around him may end up having to cover for a lot more than the Blues hoped. [Read more 🡒]
Colton Paraykos Quiet Blues Legacy Is Getting Hard To Ignore
Colton Paraykos place in Blues history has been building for years, one steady shift at a time. Since breaking into the NHL in 2015-16, he has become the kind of defenseman every team leans on, reliable in his own end and trusted in big moments, including St. Louis run to the 2019 Stanley Cup championship. Now he is closing in on 800 career games with the Blues, a mark that speaks less to flash than to the kind of durability and consistency that can quietly define a franchise career.
What makes the number even more notable is where it puts him in the record book. Parayko is on the verge of moving past Barrett Jackman for second place on the organizations all-time games-played list, an impressive bit of company for a player who has long been more essential than celebrated. Still under contract and expected to keep logging major minutes, he remains very much part of the present in St. Louis, even as his legacy with the club becomes harder to overlook. [Read more 🡒]