The Blues’ pipeline is starting to look like a real launchpad, and Springfield is right at the center of it. With the 2026-27 season in view, five prospects stand out as the most likely candidates to get the call when St. Louis needs help.
Otto Stenberg is already on that path. The 2023 first-round pick split the 2025-26 season between Springfield and St.
Louis, putting up 17 points in 36 regular-season AHL games while playing more than 16 minutes a night. In the NHL, he skated in 32 games for the Blues, scored three goals and 10 points, and averaged just under 14 minutes.
His game wasn’t built on flash, but his spatial awareness and vision made him one of the more intriguing young players in the group.
Dylan Peterson brings a different kind of appeal. The 2020 third-round pick has carved out a role as one of Springfield’s most useful pieces, and it has less to do with offense than with everything he does away from the puck.
This season, “Petey” spent more than 170 minutes on the penalty kill and finished with 12 goals and 24 points in 57 regular-season games. It was his second straight double-digit goal season with the Thunderbirds, and he looks like the kind of bottom-six option the Blues can trust in a checking role, especially on the penalty kill.
Aleksanteri Kaskimäki has kept moving forward in steady steps. Selected 73rd overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, the Finnish forward has developed into one of the more complete two-way forwards in Springfield’s lineup.
His 2025-26 season was his best yet, with 20 goals and 44 points in 64 regular-season games, both career highs. He also earned a five-game NHL call-up this past season, though he didn’t record a point and finished with a minus-six rating.
Even so, he still fits the profile of a dependable depth forward a coaching staff can turn to when injuries hit.
Theo Lindstein already got a taste of the NHL, and there’s a path where he breaks camp with St. Louis in 2026-27.
The third member of the Blues’ 2023 first-round trio appeared in 17 NHL games last season, scoring two goals and four points while holding his own defensively in just under 16 minutes per game. He also kept things moving in Springfield after the mid-season coaching change.
Lindstein’s brief NHL run showed the smooth-skating defenseman the Blues believe can become a reliable top-four option down the road. The only question is whether he wins a job outright or has to wait for an opening.
Adam Jiříček is the wild card in the mix. The 20-year-old defenseman has shown poise and the ability to control play at both the international and professional levels.
Over the last two seasons, he averaged more than 23 minutes per night and produced 23 goals and 71 points across two OHL seasons with the Brantford Bulldogs. He was quiet on the scoresheet in the AHL postseason when he made his professional debut, and the Blues are expected to be patient with one of their top prospects.
Still, injuries or a strong run of play could change that timeline fast.
In Other News...
Blues Winger Snub Just Fueled A Bigger Debate About Their Ceiling
The NHL Networks annual top 20 winger list arrived without a single Blues name on it, and that omission says as much about perception as it does about the roster. St. Louis has spent the summer trying to shift the conversation around its forward group, and the absence of any Blues winger from the rankings only sharpened the spotlight on the clubs younger options, especially Jimmy Snuggerud and Dylan Holloway.
Both players appear to have landed just outside the cut, which makes the snub feel less like a dismissal and more like a marker of how far the Blues still have to climb. With several Central Division wingers crowding the top of the list, the gap is easy to see, but it also leaves room for the idea that St. Louis could close it quickly if its young talent takes the expected step this season. [Read more 🡒]
Jimmy Snuggerud Just Raised The Stakes For The Blues
Jimmy Snuggeruds second act in St. Louis is carrying a little more weight than the usual young-player progression. After a rookie season that produced 20 goals and 50 points, the Blues are looking at him not just as a promising winger, but as a player whose growth could help define where this group is headed. Theres already been a level of belief in his upside inside the organization, and it helps explain why the Blues have been willing to lean into a future built around him.
Now the pressure shifts to what comes next, because the conversation around Snuggerud is no longer only about talent. St. Louis wants to know whether he can build on those numbers, and fans are watching closely because his production will shape both his long-term value and the teams hopes of staying in the mix. If he takes another step, the Blues will have a much bigger decision on their hands when contract talks eventually move to the forefront. [Read more 🡒]
Blues Prospects Are Turning Heads In A Big Way Overseas
Three St. Louis Blues prospects are starting to make noise on the international stage, with The Athletics scouts projecting three of them to land spots at the upcoming World Junior Championship. Tynan Lawrence is expected to suit up for Team Canada, while Milton Gastrin and Love Harenstam are projected to represent Team Sweden, a sign that the organizations pipeline is drawing attention well beyond North America.
The tournament is set for Edmonton and Red Deer at the end of December and into early January, giving all three a chance to showcase their development against some of the best young talent in the world. For the Blues, it is another encouraging marker that their prospect base is not just deep, but beginning to earn meaningful recognition on a stage that often helps define the next wave of NHL players. [Read more 🡒]