The Blues are back home, but the comfort of a five-game homestand comes with a brutal catch: the first three opponents are a crash course in how quickly a season can get away from you.
St. Louis enters the week at 3-4-1 with seven points, sitting near the bottom of the Western Conference and second from the bottom in the Central Division.
They’re only one point ahead of Chicago, and the pressure is rising fast. Without a goaltending change in the immediate future, the season could already be in jeopardy.
The stretch starts Monday against Winnipeg, and on paper that looks like the friendliest game of the bunch. The Jets are 4-2-2 and fourth in the Central, though they’ve dropped their last two.
They’ve managed that start with their petulant star goaltender on the sidelines, although his suspension will end later this week. Stuart Skinner has handled the starting role well enough, and Clay Stevenson has been steady in the backup spot.
For the Blues, this feels like the one game in the opening three where points are there to be taken, and Pavel Buchnevich may need to carry some of the load if St. Louis is going to make any headway before October ends.
Two nights later, the assignment gets much uglier. Vegas arrives with an 8-2-0 record and the kind of runway that comes from living in the godawful Pacific Division.
The Golden Knights have only faced one especially tough opponent so far, Minnesota, though they do have Tampa Bay on tap tonight. Even with the favorable schedule, this is still a dangerous team, the same club that reached last season’s Stanley Cup Final.
Jack Eichel leads the offense with 18 points in 10 games, Mark Stone has 14 points and a team-high seven goals, and Adin Hill looks like he’s finding his old form again. Hill has won all four of his starts and owns a .906 SV%.
Then comes Carolina on October 24, which means the Blues get both Stanley Cup finalists back-to-back. The Hurricanes are 7-2-1, tied with the New York Rangers for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division, and they look built for another run.
Carolina brought back almost the same roster, and Pyotr Kochetkov seems to be taking over as the No. 1 goalie after an injury-plauged 2025-26. St.
Louis won’t be favored in that one, either.
So the homestand may offer a chance to steady things. But for the Blues, the opening act is a nasty one, and the margin for error is already getting thin.
In Other News...
Jim Montgomery Just Put The Pressure On Dalibor Dvorsky
Dalibor Dvorskys strong start to the season has hit a quieter stretch, and the Blues are clearly not rushing to force the issue. The young center has seen his ice time trimmed over his last three games, a sign that St. Louis is keeping a close eye on how he handles the NHL game beyond the early flashes that got him noticed in the first place. With the Blues carrying enough depth down the middle, they can afford to let his development unfold at a measured pace.
Jim Montgomery has seen progress in Dvorskys defensive work, but the next step is about becoming more involved when St. Louis has the puck. The coach wants more consistency, more threat in the middle of the ice and more activity on the forecheck, rather than a safer perimeter game. For Dvorsky, the message is straightforward: the path back to bigger minutes runs through a more assertive presence on both sides of the puck. [Read more 🡒]
Blues Are Sending A Clear Early Message With Adam Jiricek
Adam Jiricek has gotten a real look early in the season, which says plenty about how the Blues view the rookies long-term value. But after being used heavily out of the gate, his role has been trimmed in the last two games, a sign that St. Louis is trying to balance opportunity with development as he adjusts to the NHLs speed and physicality.
The encouraging part is that the underlying game has not vanished, even if the production has been slow to follow. For a young defenseman trying to settle in, the Blues may be signaling that fewer minutes right now can mean a steadier path later, especially if the staff believes the best way to help him is to ease the burden while he finds his footing. [Read more 🡒]
Blues Are Taking A Real Risk With One Young Forward
The Blues made a notable move with a young forward this week, putting Zach Dean on waivers after giving him a brief look in the NHL this season. Dean had been scratched recently and had spent most of his development time in the AHL, so the decision underscores how little runway he has been given so far at the top level.
A first-round pick originally selected by Vegas and acquired by St. Louis in 2023, Dean was brought in as part of the franchises longer-term forward pipeline. Waiving him now reflects both the pressure of fitting young talent into a crowded roster picture and the reality that his next step could depend on whether another club is willing to take a chance on his upside. [Read more 🡒]