Otto Stenberg is in the thick of it at St. Louis Blues training camp, but the path to the opening-night roster is tight and unforgiving.
The Blues split camp into two groups, and the setup tells the story right away. Group A is the NHL side, while Group B mixes junior and AHL players who are battling each other for jobs. Stenberg, 21, is in Group B, where the real fight is happening for the final two spots on the roster.
The opening-night forward group in Group A looks all but set. The 12 forwards there are Dylan Holloway, Robert Thomas, Jimmy Snuggerud, Connor McMichael, Mason McTavish, Pavel Buchnevich, Jake Neighbours, Dalibor Dvorsky, Jonatan Berggren, Pius Suter, Alexei Toropchenko, and Ross Johnston. Short of something major changing, that is the group the staff is treating as locked in.
That leaves Stenberg and a handful of others trying to break through. He has already played 32 NHL games and has three goals, seven assists, and a plus-three rating. Montgomery has also said he likes Stenberg’s details without the puck, which is part of why he remains in the conversation.
Still, this roster isn’t built with much breathing room. If the Blues had a thinner forward group, Stenberg would be sitting in Group A and fighting for middle-six minutes. Instead, he’s trying to climb over a veteran-heavy mix of players who all bring something different.
The battle for those last two jobs comes down to Nathan Walker, Otto Stenberg, Oskar Sundqvist, and Jack Finley. Two of them are expected to make the team, which would give the Blues 14 forwards.
The other two are headed to Springfield. Stenberg has a real shot to be one of the names that forces a hard decision, and he’s also the only one of the four who can go to the AHL without having to clear waivers.
That matters because the evaluation isn’t just about who looks best against the other prospects. Walker still gives the Blues NHL value as a forechecking extra who can handle tough minutes and be trusted late in games.
Sundqvist knows the organization inside and out and can fit anywhere in the bottom six. Finley brings size as a center and gives Montgomery another option if the middle gets thin.
Stenberg has skill, hockey sense, and a year of NHL experience, but he has to beat out at least two of those three over a camp that lasts less than two weeks.
Time is the biggest issue. With only four preseason games and the season opener on October 2nd, there isn’t much runway for a young player to rise above veterans. Stenberg has to separate himself from the pack, then hope the staff is willing to move a veteran aside.
If he’s going to make that happen, it has to be obvious. He needs to win the A vs.
B scrimmages, produce in preseason games, and show he can take a draw if needed. He has to make it hard for the Blues to keep both Walker and Sundqvist ahead of him once the cuts begin.
Fine won’t cut it here. In this spot, fine sends him to Springfield.
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 🡒]
Logan Mailloux Enters Blues Camp With Little Room For Error
Logan Mailloux heads into Blues training camp with a different kind of pressure than he had a year ago. After a slow start and a brief stop in the AHL, he carved out a regular place on St. Louis blue line late last season, enough to get a real foothold heading into this camp. The Blues have seen enough to believe the tools are there, but they also know the job is still wide open and the next step will come only if he proves he can hold it.
The competition around him is real, and it is not limited to one familiar name. Theo Lindstein, Tyler Tucker and Adam Jiricek are all in the mix for the same NHL minutes, which makes every practice rep matter even more for Mailloux. His right-handed shot could help him stand out in a group that skews the other way, but St. Louis is expected to evaluate him closely before deciding what his role looks like when the season begins. [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 🡒]