Logan Mailloux enters the new season with something to prove, and the margin for error is thin.
The St. Louis Blues defenseman arrived last year carrying plenty of buzz, but his first stretch with the club didn’t go the way anyone expected.
That sluggish opening raised questions about the trade that sent Zack Bolduc to the Montreal Canadiens. Mailloux did steady himself after a short stint in the AHL, though, and that late-season rebound was enough to earn the 23-year-old a regular role on the blue line.
Now the Blues are starting fresh, and Mailloux is back in the kind of spot that demands a strong camp and a clean start. If he stumbles again, it may not be a matter of getting sent down so much as getting passed by.
St. Louis has other young defensemen knocking on the door, and that’s where the pressure starts to build.
Theo Lindstein, 21, is pushing to become a fixture on the defense corps. He shoots left, while Mailloux is a righty, but if Lindstein wins a steady lineup job, Jim Montgomery could end up adjusting everything around him.
One route would be Tyler Tucker sliding over to the right side in Mailloux’s place. Another would be even more direct: the Blues could call up Adam Jiricek and see what he can do. A Lindstein-Jiricek pairing would be one to watch, and if that happens, Mailloux could suddenly find himself on the outside looking in.
Still, Mailloux may have one thing working in his favor. A lot of the other prospects in the system are left-handed, including Ralph Colin and Arseni Koromyslov.
That means they’re likely fighting for openings on the left side, unless one of them can thrive on the opposite wing. With as many as two spots potentially opening in the coming seasons, Mailloux may have a slightly longer runway than some of the others.
Even so, the Blues can’t wait forever. If they believe they can contend right away, the hottest players are going to get the nod. Mailloux has enough talent to stay in the picture, but another slow opening could put him in a difficult spot.
For now, camp will tell the story. The expectation is that Mailloux makes the team and gets another shot to build on the finish he had last season. But he’ll be watched closely from the jump, because in the Central Division, there isn’t much room to breathe.
In Other News...
Blues Camp Is Already Hinting At One Tough Opening Night Call
The second day of Blues training camp brought a familiar look to the top group, and that is usually a sign the coaching staff already has a pretty clear idea of where things stand. Jim Montgomery has kept the same Group A alignment in place, with Mason McTavish lining up as the second-line center and Theo Lindstein still working toward what would be a regular role on the blue line alongside Colton Parayko.
For now, the bigger question is whether anyone from Group B can force a harder conversation before opening night. So far, that hasnt happened, and the separation between the NHL-ready group and the rest of camp is starting to feel pretty firm. If the picture stays this way, players such as Proskurin and Adam Jiricek may be staring at the toughest cuts of the early camp decisions. [Read more 🡒]
Otto Stenberg Faces A Tough Blues Fight With Time Running Out
The Blues have split camp into two groups, and Otto Stenberg finds himself in the one that usually tells the clearest story about where things stand. Group A is for the players who look locked into the NHL roster, while Group B is where the real competition lives, with camp bodies and bubble players trying to force their way into the conversation before the preseason games start to run out.
For Stenberg, the path is simple in theory and difficult in practice. He has to outperform established veterans in a fight for two open forward spots, and there is not much time for a slow build or a late surge. With the roster decisions coming soon and the preseason slate limited, every practice rep and every game shift matters if he is going to make the Blues' opening night picture. [Read more 🡒]
Blues Put Real Pressure On Pavel Buchnevich This Camp
Training camp has a way of clarifying a teams expectations, and Pavel Buchnevich is feeling that early with the Blues. After three straight seasons of declining point-per-game production, the winger is no longer being treated as an automatic fit in the top six, even though St. Louis still needs more offense from him to justify that role. The message from the start of camp is pretty simple: the next step has to come now, not later.
Jim Montgomery has already made the competition real by opening with Buchnevich on the second line, a spot that puts him in the mix with younger options pushing for ice time. There is also the contract reality hanging over all of it, since the Blues are carrying a major commitment on him with limited flexibility to move on, which only raises the stakes if the offensive growth does not arrive. For a player with his rsum, this is less about surviving camp than proving he still belongs where the Blues need him most. [Read more 🡒]