Alexander Steen’s first Blues roster is already sending a clear signal: the next man up is not just holding on, he’s delivering.
The St. Louis Blues have spent this season cycling through roster moves at a steady clip. Internally, they’ve already recalled five players from Springfield, with Quinton Burns just getting the call.
A big part of that churn has been injuries to important pieces, along with constant reshuffling at the bottom of the lineup as the team searches for the right mix. Right now, the fourth line is showing its best form of the season, and with Alexey Toropchenko close to returning, the picture keeps shifting.
What’s emerging is a roster that reflects the vision Alexander Steen and, before him, Doug Armstrong have been building. There are NHL-caliber veterans in Springfield such as Nathan Walker and Oskar Sundqvist who haven’t been summoned yet. Instead, the opportunities have gone to younger players, and they’ve responded.
So far, that pattern has held up almost every time the Blues have needed reinforcement. Dillon Dube was excellent before getting injured.
Theo Lindstein made his mark before Justin Barron emerged. The same thing is happening with the revamped fourth line next to Pius Suter, where Otto Stenberg and Aleksanteri Kaskimaki are showing they can bring both muscle and skill.
That’s the encouraging part for St. Louis: when an injury hits or a regular slips, the replacement has often looked better than the player before him. That matters for the short term, but it matters even more for what the Blues are trying to build over the long haul.
There’s also a deeper pipeline waiting behind the current wave of call-ups. Several first-round picks still haven’t made their full NHL breakthrough, but when their chances come, the pattern suggests they’ll be ready to grab them. As the 2026-27 season moves along and the injuries keep coming, more prospects from Springfield should keep getting looks, with CHL prospects potentially entering the picture later in the season as well.
For now, the results have been solid to strong with players like Dube, Stenberg, Kaskimaki, Lindstein and Burns getting chances. Over the course of this 84-game season, that could get even better as more names get added to the mix.
The Blues sit at .500, which fits where the roster is right now. The group is still sorting itself out, with a strong second line and a first line that has not found its footing. The defense has also been heavily reshuffled early in the season because of injuries to Tyler Tucker and Logan Mailloux.
Even so, Steen’s first Blues team looks like one that should improve as the year wears on. The flexibility is there, and when March arrives, Steen will have a shot to put the final touches on the roster at the trade deadline.
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Kaskimaki and Stenberg made the most of their chances, each picking up a point in two games, and the depth chart keeps shifting as other Blues prospects continue to produce in the AHL, KHL, OHL and QMJHL. It has created a tougher decision than expected for a club trying to balance development with the need for immediate help, especially with more young players still making a case for themselves in Springfield. [Read more 🡒]
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Jim Montgomery has made it clear the next step has to come on the scoring side, which helps explain why Dvorskys ice time has stayed so modest this season. With St. Louis weighing whether he needs more seasoning in the AHL, the decision is starting to feel less about whether he belongs in the organizations plans and more about where those plans are best served right now. If he does go down, the Blues may have to adjust the roster around him. [Read more 🡒]
Blues Still Have One Clear Gap Before They Can Chase Contenders
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Ahos edge is not just about one night, either. His career production has come at a steadier clip, and that matters when youre comparing a team trying to climb with a player who already has a long track record of driving results. For the Blues, the encouraging part is that Thomas and the group around him are still in position to improve, but closing that gap will take more than internal growth alone. It will take more finishing ability from the top end of the lineup, and the kind of consistency that contenders tend to have before everyone else catches up. [Read more 🡒]