Lines anyone?

[kimzey59]

Why does Buch have to play with Thomas?

Neighbours - Thomas - Snuggy
Holloway - Schenn - Kyrou
Buchnevich - Suter - Dvorsky
Toro - Bjug - Walker

Because the Thomas line is going to have the heaviest usage defensively and Thomas can't cover the entire ice.
Buch is our best defensive winger(by a healthy margin) so he's the best suited to that shutdown role next to Thomas.

[sdaltons]

Why does Buch have to play with Thomas?

Neighbours - Thomas - Snuggy
Holloway - Schenn - Kyrou
Buchnevich - Suter - Dvorsky
Toro - Bjug - Walker

Because the Thomas line is going to have the heaviest usage defensively and Thomas can't cover the entire ice.
Buch is our best defensive winger(by a healthy margin) so he's the best suited to that shutdown role next to Thomas.

I understand but if we are viewing it from a defensive perspective, it's probably Snuggles that shouldn't be there. He may wind up being fine in his own zone, but putting him there is really throwing him to the wolves.

I'm intrigued by the idea of balancing out the scoring is all.

[bluetunehead]

Buchnevich-Thomas-Snuggerud
Holloway-Schenn/Suter-Kyrou
Neighbours-Schenn/Suter-Prospect/vet
Toropchenko-Bjugstad-Walker/Sunny

Prospect/vet could be Dvorsky, Kaskimaki, Sunny, Joseph, Texier

Peterson could challenge.

Another look might be:
Holloway-Suter-Kyrou
Neighbours-Bjugstad-Schenn
Toropchenko-Sunny-Walker

Point here is the Blues have better depth options in the bottom 6 AND Suter can play 2C, AND there are prospects knocking on the door. Camp should be fun.

Schenn needs to be on the Holloway and Kyrou line. He bring the toughness on that line and works hard in the crease. Those three were humming together.

I don't dispute this but I have a feeling they will at least take a look at Suter at 2C.

I fear if that is the case we will be then stuck with Sunny centering the third line again. I have watched Bjugstad quite a bit and be doesn’t do more than Sunny does and you could argue he may even do less. I think the third line can be a scoring line with Suter, Neighnors and Torpochenko (or Dvorsky)

They’re not going to play Schenn on the wing if it means Sunny is still 3C.

[kimzey59]

Why does Buch have to play with Thomas?

Neighbours - Thomas - Snuggy
Holloway - Schenn - Kyrou
Buchnevich - Suter - Dvorsky
Toro - Bjug - Walker

Because the Thomas line is going to have the heaviest usage defensively and Thomas can't cover the entire ice.
Buch is our best defensive winger(by a healthy margin) so he's the best suited to that shutdown role next to Thomas.

I understand but if we are viewing it from a defensive perspective, it's probably Snuggles that shouldn't be there. He may wind up being fine in his own zone, but putting him there is really throwing him to the wolves.

I'm intrigued by the idea of balancing out the scoring is all.

And I fully expect Neighbours replace Snuggy for large chunks of time next to Buch/Thomas.
But you need a defensive line to lean on and Buch/Thomas give you that.
The third member of that line is what's up in the air.

[theograce]

Why does Buch have to play with Thomas?

Neighbours - Thomas - Snuggy
Holloway - Schenn - Kyrou
Buchnevich - Suter - Dvorsky
Toro - Bjug - Walker

Because the Thomas line is going to have the heaviest usage defensively and Thomas can't cover the entire ice.
Buch is our best defensive winger(by a healthy margin) so he's the best suited to that shutdown role next to Thomas.

I understand but if we are viewing it from a defensive perspective, it's probably Snuggles that shouldn't be there. He may wind up being fine in his own zone, but putting him there is really throwing him to the wolves.

I'm intrigued by the idea of balancing out the scoring is all.

And I fully expect Neighbours replace Snuggy for large chunks of time next to Buch/Thomas.
But you need a defensive line to lean on and Buch/Thomas give you that.
The third member of that line is what's up in the air.

Monty love’s Neighbours yup. Hoping for a big year from him. A little more evolution

I wanna Jake it all over the place this year

[The Average Gatsby]

It’s mid July and I can’t bring myself to read through another post about the necessity of top 5 picks or kyrou inexplicably getting traded. How about some line combination chatter?

Is there a world where schenn or suter drops to the 4th line by mid season or the stretch run? If dalibor settles in middle 6 and another prospect like stancl, pekarcik or carbo kicks down the door, all 4 lines quickly become very deep. Assuming continued improvement from most of the youth, I really like our team going into 2026, especially considering we’ll have the cap space to sign a significant piece going into a deep free agency. I think once this season begins we sign broberg and Holloway long term when LTIR kicks in for krugs 6.5m. Oh and we have a top 5 goalie combo locked up for at least 2 more years. The future is very very bright in my opinion.

How do you experts see the line combinations shaking out for the playoff push this year(assuming health)? I think this gives us a dynamic top line and steady veterans on the 2nd and 3rd to help along dvorsky and the any other possible rookie.

Holloway Thomas snuggy
Buch dalibor kyrou
Neighbors schenn carbo
Torpo suter walker

Bjug Joseph sunny texier stancl pekarcik


Broberg parayko
Fowler Mailloux
Tucker Faulk

Kessel lindstein schueneman

1- No way I'm breaking up Holloway/Kyrou. That pairing was making teams look stupid once they started clicking.

2- Dvorsky is not ready for the 2nd line. That's the whole reason we signed Suter. He might be able to steal a spot on the 3rd line, but he's going to be brought along VERY slowly.

3- Carbonneau might get a 9 game trial with an outstanding camp, but he's not close to ready for a full time gig.

4- We didn't bring in Bjugstad to park him on the bench.

5- Stancl and Pekarcik are not in the mix for a roster spot at this stage. Good prospects, but they need a lot of development at the AHL level.

6- Makes zero sense to split Fowler and Parayko. That duo was dynamite(the best we've seen from Parayko since Bouwmeester collapsed).

7- You only get 23 players. There are roster limits in the NHL's rule book.

8- I'm not convinced that we're done with our blueline. I still see a vet being brought in to compete with Kessel for the #7 spot(at minimum, a training camp PTO).

Buchnevich-Thomas-Snuggerud
Holloway-Suter-Kyrou
Neighbours-Dvorsky-Schenn
Toro-Bjugstad-Sunny
Dingo, Joseph

Fowler-Parayko
Broberg-Faulk
Tucker-Mailloux
Kessel

It would great for this team if dvorsky could stick out of camp. It would also be great if mailloux could excel and push Faulk down to the bottom pair by midway through the season.

[TBone]

Buch-Thomas-Snuggerud
Kyrou-Schenn-Holloway
Neighbours-Suter-Dvorsky
Walker-Bug/Sunny-Toropchenko

Parayko-Fowler
Tucker-Broberg
Faulk-???

This. With Mailloux as RHD3.

[Red7]

Buch-Thomas-Snuggerud
Kyrou-Schenn-Holloway
Neighbours-Suter-Dvorsky
Walker-Bug/Sunny-Toropchenko

Parayko-Fowler
Tucker-Broberg
Faulk-???

This. With Mailloux as RHD3.

There aren’t many people projecting Mailloux making the team out of camp.

[The Average Gatsby]

Buch-Thomas-Snuggerud
Kyrou-Schenn-Holloway
Neighbours-Suter-Dvorsky
Walker-Bug/Sunny-Toropchenko

Parayko-Fowler
Tucker-Broberg
Faulk-???

This. With Mailloux as RHD3.

There aren’t many people projecting Mailloux making the team out of camp.

Doug Armstrong did.

[clemonsonroots]

Buchnevich Thomas Snuggerud
Holloway Suter Kyrou
Neighbors Schenn Carbonneau
Toropchenko Bjustad Walker
pressbox- Sunny/Texier

Parayko Fowler
Faulk Broberg
Tucker Mailleux
pressbox- Kessel

Binnington
Hofer

Dvorsky may be in Carbonneau's spot, but I think the rookie impresses and he gets a 9 game trial. Let Dvorsky work on center in the nhl and be called up as soon as there is an injury in the top 9. Switch Suter and Schenn as Schenn with neighbors and Carbonneau will be a murder line that can score. Reminiscent of the stars 3rd line when they had hartman ek and Greenway. Suter is the type of center that would work well with two extremely talented and fast wingmen...gets into open net and receives the passes and buries them as well as an elite faceoff and defensive player. To me, there is really only two things with this team that may change- who centers the 2nd and 3rd line- really interchangeable as far as what is 2nd and 3rd- and can a prospect take that third line wing spot? I think so and I think the Blues want that. This team will contend for the division. They also will have space to add at the deadline or trade for Byrum if they come off of what is obviously Neighbors or Holloway.

[kimzey59]

Suter is the type of center that would work well with two extremely talented and fast wingmen...gets into open net and receives the passes and buries them as well as an elite faceoff and defensive player.

Except that Suter is actually pretty bad at faceoff's.
Career 46%.

Suter does a lot of very good things on the ice, but faceoff's aren't one of them. If that's what you're expecting, you're in for a shock.

There's a much better chance that Bjugstad posts high-end faceoff numbers(he's had a year over 55%) than there is of Suter doing it.

[Red7]

The lines that begin the season will 100% NOT be the lines that end the season. As long as Kyrou is here, Schenn will br his center to keep him honest.

With Leddy getting claimed, any thought the Blues might try the same with Faulk?

[BluesDom]

Buch-Thomas-Snuggerud
Kyrou-Schenn-Holloway
Neighbours-Suter-Dvorsky
Walker-Bug/Sunny-Toropchenko

Parayko-Fowler
Tucker-Broberg
Faulk-???

This. With Mailloux as RHD3.

There aren’t many people projecting Mailloux making the team out of camp.

Is that accurate? I'd say definitely not accurate.
Most expect him to occupy a spot on 3rd pairing with Tucker.

[BluesDom]

It’s mid July and I can’t bring myself to read through another post about the necessity of top 5 picks or kyrou inexplicably getting traded. How about some line combination chatter?

Is there a world where schenn or suter drops to the 4th line by mid season or the stretch run? If dalibor settles in middle 6 and another prospect like stancl, pekarcik or carbo kicks down the door, all 4 lines quickly become very deep. Assuming continued improvement from most of the youth, I really like our team going into 2026, especially considering we’ll have the cap space to sign a significant piece going into a deep free agency. I think once this season begins we sign broberg and Holloway long term when LTIR kicks in for krugs 6.5m. Oh and we have a top 5 goalie combo locked up for at least 2 more years. The future is very very bright in my opinion.

How do you experts see the line combinations shaking out for the playoff push this year(assuming health)? I think this gives us a dynamic top line and steady veterans on the 2nd and 3rd to help along dvorsky and the any other possible rookie.

Holloway Thomas snuggy
Buch dalibor kyrou
Neighbors schenn carbo
Torpo suter walker

Bjug Joseph sunny texier stancl pekarcik


Broberg parayko
Fowler Mailloux
Tucker Faulk

Fowler was good with Parayko and
Faulk was good with Broberg.
Why break that up?
Mailloux has to earn it most likely playing with Tucker.

[bencardsfan]

I was thinking more about later in the season, probably more realistically ‘26/‘27 sure but it’s fun to think about. Isn’t a broberg-parayko pairing inevitable?

I absolutely love Fowler but I think that situation deserves a bit more attention than “set it and forget it”. He’ll be 34 next season, same as Leddy was last year. Coincidentally Fowler really reminded me of steady Leddy’s first year or so as that calming presence with the puck. How long will Fowler hold up? I would love to extend him at the right price and with the expectation he’ll likely be sliding off the top pair. Either way LD behind broberg probably needs to be addressed sooner than later. I’m excited to see what Tucker is this year, he was awesome before he got hurt in the playoffs

As for the forwards I just think there will be a shake up at some point once the kids start to establish themselves. Yeah probably a good idea to keep kyrou and Holloway together, a line with Thomas centering them is fun to think about. They play well together but I’d like to see what splitting buch and Thomas could do for our depth. A formidable threat on the 3rd line would be a game changer this season

[bluetunehead]

Buch-Thomas-Snuggerud
Kyrou-Schenn-Holloway
Neighbours-Suter-Dvorsky
Walker-Bug/Sunny-Toropchenko

Parayko-Fowler
Tucker-Broberg
Faulk-???

This. With Mailloux as RHD3.

There aren’t many people projecting Mailloux making the team out of camp.

Is that accurate? I'd say definitely not accurate.
Most expect him to occupy a spot on 3rd pairing with Tucker.

Armstrong made it pretty clear he expects him to make the team out of camp. Obviously he could mess up (which would look really bad) but the Blues are clearly expecting him to fill a bottom pairing spot. He’s got two full AHL seasons under his belt. Not sure why he wouldn’t be ready for that kind of role.