The Blues’ prospect pipeline looks healthier than it has in a while, but that doesn’t mean everyone in the system is breathing easy. For a few young players, this preseason carries a lot more weight than usual, especially with only four exhibition games to work with.
That shorter runway matters. When chances are limited, every shift gets magnified, and for players still trying to carve out a place in St.
Louis, there’s not much room to fade into the background. Three names stand out as the ones with the most to gain - or lose - over the next few weeks.
Zach Dean is one of them. His path back was admirable after entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program before the 2025-26 season and returning to finish the final 36 games of the AHL season.
But from a roster standpoint, the missed time comes at a bad moment. Dean already lost most of the 2024-25 season, and the interruption during a key developmental stretch leaves him with a thinner case than he might have liked.
A former first-round pick, he has appeared in just nine NHL games across three pro seasons and has not recorded a point for St. Louis.
With the Blues’ young core expanding, he needs a strong camp to stay in the conversation.
Otto Stenberg is in a different spot, but the pressure is just as real. At 21 and entering his third pro season, he still has time on his side.
Even so, this feels like the kind of year where a player either starts turning promise into a job or starts slipping behind the rest of the group. The Blues are already seeing young talent move into lineup spots, with Jimmy Snuggerud, Dalibor Dvorsky, Logan Mailloux, and now Mason McTavish beginning to take those places.
Justin Carbonneau, Maddex Dagenais, and Tynan Lawrence are also on the way. If Stenberg doesn’t find a foothold soon, the depth chart could get crowded in a hurry.
Then there’s Aleksanteri Kaskimäki, who has done a lot of good work in the AHL but still needs to show he’s more than that. He’s a third-round pick from 2022 and has put up 78 points in 123 AHL games, making him one of Springfield’s best forwards over the past two seasons.
That’s useful production, but the Blues want to see whether it translates into something bigger. If it doesn’t happen in this preseason, he could get stuck in a category that becomes tough to escape.
In Other News...
Blues Prospects Collapse Raises Disturbing Questions About What Happened At ASU
A troubling update has emerged in the case of Matthew Mayich, the St. Louis Blues prospect who collapsed during a workout at Arizona State University on Aug. 20 and fell into a coma. The incident has now taken on an even darker cast, with his lawyer, Robert Carey, saying Mayich has no chance of recovery and accusing ASU of not properly investigating what happened.
The workout itself is now under scrutiny as well, described as a military-style session conducted by a non-ASU employee and surrounded by allegations of harsh conditions. Those claims include limited water intake and an atmosphere in which players were told not to complain, raising uncomfortable questions about how the session was run and who was responsible for overseeing it. [Read more 🡒]
Blues Just Sent A Clear Message About Their Future
The Blues made their leadership call on Thursday, handing the captaincy to Robert Thomas as the club continues to shape its next era. At 27, the center is heading into his ninth NHL season and now steps into the role as the face of the room, a move that reflects how central he has become to everything St. Louis wants to do moving forward.
The rest of the leadership group points in the same direction. St. Louis also named Jake Neighbours, Dylan Holloway, Colton Parayko and Philip Broberg as alternate captains, giving the dressing room a mix of established veterans and younger voices around Thomas. It is a clear message about where the Blues see their core now, even if the full ripple effect of the change will play out over the season. [Read more 🡒]
Blues Fans Finally Have Clarity On One Big TV Question
For Blues fans who have spent plenty of time wondering where local broadcasts are headed, there is finally some clarity. St. Louis has reached a multi-year agreement with Amazon Prime Video that puts the team on a new streaming path beginning with the 2026-27 season, giving the club a more modern distribution plan as it continues sorting out how fans will follow games at home.
The move still leaves room for the old-school viewing options, with cable, satellite and over-the-air details still being worked out, but the streaming piece is now taking shape. Local fans will be able to subscribe directly through Prime Video without needing a full Amazon Prime membership, and the team has already set the pricing at $19.99 per month or $99.99 annually, a concrete answer to a question that has hovered over the market for a while. [Read more 🡒]