Jim Montgomery has wanted a fourth line that can change the temperature of a game, and on Tuesday night Dylan Peterson looked like the missing piece.
For the Blues, that bottom group has been trying to find its edge since the season opener, when Alexey Toropchenko went down with an injury. Without him, the line that’s supposed to bring energy, heaviness, and momentum back to St.
Louis never really found its rhythm through the club’s first five games. Peterson’s arrival changed that fast.
In his NHL debut, he brought the kind of pace, bite, and straight-line effort that helped push the Blues to a dominant 7-2 road win.
That performance came at a time when St. Louis badly needed it.
With injuries piling up, the Blues called Peterson up to add life to the fourth line, and he delivered exactly the sort of game the staff has been searching for. Add in Toropchenko’s expected return around Thanksgiving, plus Ross Johnston’s physical presence and Pius Suter’s steady play, and the Blues may finally be close to the type of fourth line Montgomery has in mind.
Peterson’s path to that moment took longer than most. Drafted in the third round in 2020, he spent all four seasons after his draft year at Boston University, where he played alongside Macklin Celebrini and Lane Hutson.
He wasn’t piling up points at a superstar rate, but he did enough to establish himself as a dependable half-point-per-game player who brought intensity, heavy checking, and a noticeable edge. After that stretch, St.
Louis signed him to its AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, to keep his development moving.
Even in the AHL, Peterson kept showing the traits that matter to this organization. He earned extended ice time in training camp, impressed the coaches and front office, and showed he could handle the style Montgomery wants from his depth players while contributing in ways that go beyond the box score.
He was eventually sent back to Springfield for roster flexibility, but not because the Blues had lost track of him. They made it clear he shouldn’t get too comfortable there.
Six games into the regular season, with bottom-six injuries forcing the issue, Peterson got the call. After the way he played in his Tuesday night debut, it’s not hard to see why the Blues suddenly have a tricky decision coming.
He jumped out immediately. At 6-foot-4, he has the size to stand out, but it was the urgency that really made him noticeable.
In just nine minutes of ice time, he finished checks at both ends, fought through puck battles, chased down loose pucks, and made composed plays that kept mistakes to a minimum. He mixed size and speed in a way that wore opponents down.
His forecheck helped create the space for Pius Suter’s third-period goal, and he even dropped the gloves with Senators rookie defenseman Jorian Donovan, with his parents and family in the front row watching it all unfold.
That kind of debut gives the Blues something to think about when Toropchenko and Dillon Dube return from injured reserve. Peterson and Johnston together would give St.
Louis a fourth line with plenty of size and plenty of bad intentions, the kind of group that can make life miserable for opponents. With Toropchenko and Dube still out for at least another month and a half, Peterson is set to get a real runway to prove he belongs after Zach Dean failed to impress in his first two games.
His two-way contract and waiver-exempt status could complicate things from a roster standpoint, but if Peterson keeps stacking shifts like the one he delivered Tuesday, the Blues may not have an easy time sending him back down.
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