Practice lines today:

[Harry S Deals]

#stlblues practice lineup:

Buchnevich-Thomas-Snuggerud
Holloway-Schenn-Kyrou
Neighbours-Suter-Joseph
Toropchenko-Walker-Texier
* Sundqvist (lower-body, week-to-week), Bjugstad not skating

Fowler-Parayko
Broberg-Faulk
Tucker-Mailloux
Extra: Kessel

Binnington
Hofer

There it is! Bjugstad perhaps slots in at 3rd RW or the 4th C with Sunnys absence, Joseph down to the 4th line, remains to be seen

[kimzey59]

#stlblues practice lineup:

Buchnevich-Thomas-Snuggerud
Holloway-Schenn-Kyrou
Neighbours-Suter-Joseph
Toropchenko-Walker-Texier
* Sundqvist (lower-body, week-to-week), Bjugstad not skating

Fowler-Parayko
Broberg-Faulk
Tucker-Mailloux
Extra: Kessel

Binnington
Hofer

There it is! Bjugstad perhaps slots in at 3rd RW or the 4th C with Sunnys absence, Joseph down to the 4th line, remains to be seen

Bjugstad will be the 4th line center. Dingo and Joseph are better on the wing and Monty knows it.


But it will be interesting once Sunny gets healthy.

[Harry S Deals]

#stlblues practice lineup:

Buchnevich-Thomas-Snuggerud
Holloway-Schenn-Kyrou
Neighbours-Suter-Joseph
Toropchenko-Walker-Texier
* Sundqvist (lower-body, week-to-week), Bjugstad not skating

Fowler-Parayko
Broberg-Faulk
Tucker-Mailloux
Extra: Kessel

Binnington
Hofer

There it is! Bjugstad perhaps slots in at 3rd RW or the 4th C with Sunnys absence, Joseph down to the 4th line, remains to be seen

Bjugstad will be the 4th line center. Dingo and Joseph are better on the wing and Monty knows it.


But it will be interesting once Sunny gets healthy.

Looks like Texier sits, yea that makes sense. 4th line will be quick, mobile a little less physical a little more skilled not quite as intimidating with out a healthy Sunny. Then with Sunny assuming health Joseph may sit

[seattleblue]

Texier vs Bjugstad ... ugh to both

[crookedfeeder]

#stlblues practice lineup:

Buchnevich-Thomas-Snuggerud
Holloway-Schenn-Kyrou
Neighbours-Suter-Joseph
Toropchenko-Walker-Texier
* Sundqvist (lower-body, week-to-week), Bjugstad not skating

Fowler-Parayko
Broberg-Faulk
Tucker-Mailloux
Extra: Kessel

Binnington
Hofer

There it is! Bjugstad perhaps slots in at 3rd RW or the 4th C with Sunnys absence, Joseph down to the 4th line, remains to be seen

...sounds about right.

[Harry S Deals]

Texier vs Bjugstad ... ugh to both

Yep this is still the space the Blues are in because they dont want to rush Dvorsky and Stenberg so they need gap fillers. I will say the gap fillers are better than initially at the start of the "retool". Bjudstad is ok for me, has some size can skate, is kind of milquetoast though. Not quite as physical as i would like but he will finish checks also right handed. Texier does nothing for me at all, i hope he proves me wrong but I am fairly confident in my player opinions. I just dont see anything more with Texier than a fringe pressbox guy, a serviceable adjacent fill in for an injured 3rd liner at best.

[STL fan in MN]

Bjugstad sick today. Assuming it’s not a bad case of the flu then he should absolutely be good to go by Thursday night.

Sunny ruled out the first 3 games of the season.

Seems obvious to me it’ll almost certainly be MoJo at 3RW and Bjugstad at 4C to start.

The interesting part of the line combos to me is Schenn back as 2C between Holloway and Kyrou after Suter spent pretty much all of the preseason there. I’m sure both guys will see plenty of time in that spot before things get a little more solid later in the season.

[Harry S Deals]

Bjugstad sick today. Assuming it’s not a bad case of the flu then he should absolutely be good to go by Thursday night.

Sunny ruled out the first 3 games of the season.

Seems obvious to me it’ll almost certainly be MoJo at 3RW and Bjugstad at 4C to start.

The interesting part of the line combos to me is Schenn back as 2C between Holloway and Kyrou after Suter spent pretty much all of the preseason there. I’m sure both guys will see plenty of time in that spot before things get a little more solid later in the season.

My issue with Schenn is i dont prefer him on the #1 PP unit. The play tends to die on his stick too often and that unit is too skilled for that to happen. I dont mind Schenn at all at the 2C spot, looking for Schenn to have one of his best seasons in STL this year piling up points with those two

[sdaltons]

Glad Schenn is staying on line 2 for now. That line was so good before Holloway got hurt. Give them a chance to replicate.

I don't doubt that Suter is better...suited...for the spot long-term but I just wanted Schenn to get the first crack.

[blues2112]

Glad Schenn is staying on line 2 for now. That line was so good before Holloway got hurt. Give them a chance to replicate.

I don't doubt that Suter is better...suited...for the spot long-term but I just wanted Schenn to get the first crack.

Agree 2,112 percent. Kyrou paired with Schenn is good for Kyrou. Holloway will produce with anyone.

[dhsux]

Glad Schenn is staying on line 2 for now. That line was so good before Holloway got hurt. Give them a chance to replicate.

I don't doubt that Suter is better...suited...for the spot long-term but I just wanted Schenn to get the first crack.

Yes, this is a better discussion to have than the one about those two positions last year.

I am really looking forward to seeing how the Blues defense plays and the pairings we will be seeing in game.

[b-a-a-a-rclay]

Texier vs Bjugstad ... ugh to both

You might be underestimating Bjugstad as a 4th liner. I think he could very possibly give you Faksa type of results although he will look completely different doing it. He has a bit more offense. Slightly less physical although he can use his body pretty well. His length is an advantage especially defensively.

[John Cocktoastin]

Will be interesting to see if Buchnevich picks it up this year and where he lands in the lineup by close of season.

[Harry York 37]

Glad Schenn is staying on line 2 for now. That line was so good before Holloway got hurt. Give them a chance to replicate.

I don't doubt that Suter is better...suited...for the spot long-term but I just wanted Schenn to get the first crack.

Agree 2,112 percent. Kyrou paired with Schenn is good for Kyrou. Holloway will produce with anyone.

I think Kyrou got spoiled playing with a winger as good as he is (probably better all-around) and a first-class digger of a second-line C like Schenn.
Heck, I probably would too.

[b-a-a-a-rclay]

Got to watch practice. Suter and Neighbours had good chemistry right away today. It's just one day but Suter scored twice, once on a feed from JN in a 5v5 drill and once on a rebound of a JN shot in a 2v2 tight drill. The other goal scorers were Schenn 5v5, and Holloway 2v2.
The defense pairings are set and have not changed (responding to a post above). Fowler/Colt, Broberg/Faulk, Tucker/LM.
Monty was all business today. After practice he demanded that players get mentally prepared for how hard this (real games) will be.
Post practice he gave Snuggerud extra instruction on the stuff that they had worked on in 5v5 drills.
Guy that stood out most to me ... Broberg, just so smooth. One shift he was with Mailloux just because the rotation worked out that way. LM made a nice little pass to Bro while being forechecked behind his own net. Afterward Broberg let LM know that he was impressed. Any dman would enjoy being paired with Broberg. He's gonna be special real soon and for a long time.

[Sophisticated Shoes]

Will be interesting to see if Buchnevich picks it up this year and where he lands in the lineup by close of season.

I expect a big season from PB! He won't be asked to Center this year, and with the influx of talent, he should have a banner year if he stays healthy. I expect he remains on the top line all year, again, unless there is an injury.
The vision on that top line, could be something special.