St. Louis Blues: An Early Projection of the 2015-16 Roster
As we navigate through what is often considered to be the most boring sports day of the calendar, with first-round British Open golf and NBA Summer League Basketball the only events on the schedule, it’s time to take a look forward and make a guess at what the St. Louis Blues’ roster will look like to open up the 2015-16 season.
We’re still about two months away from training camp starting, so there’s a fairly substantial amount of time for things to change roster-wise before the season gets underway. With that said, it seems like the Blues have made all the moves that they felt were needed. Last year, we saw a sudden surge of depth/minor-league signings for the Blues around this time, which followed several weeks of inactivity. This year, however, with the organization having splurged on depth players during the first week of free agency, it looks like the Blues’ organizational roster is pretty much filled out for the coming season.
Here’s what the team’s lineup might look like come the regular season opener on October 8:
FORWARDS
Alexander Steen-Jori Lehtera–Vladimir Tarasenko
Jaden Schwartz–Paul Stastny-Robby Fabbri
Dmitrij Jaskin–David Backes–Troy Brouwer
Patrik Berglund–Kyle Brodziak–Ryan Reaves
Extras: Steve Ott, Magnus Paajarvi
Obviously this scenario involves Fabbri, the Blues’ ultra-talented first-round pick from 2014, making the roster and becoming a member of the top-six forward group. That would come at the expense of Ty Rattie, who looked solid through 11 games last year but hasn’t exactly established himself as a top-nine-worthy player at the NHL level yet. The 22-year-old could push Paajarvi, who spent the latter half of 2014-15 in the minors, for a roster spot, but with Rattie still younger and with more of a ceiling, it’s more likely that Rattie will go down to get regular playing time in the AHL with Paajarvi getting occasional assignments at the NHL level.
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DEFENSEMEN
Carl Gunnarsson–Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester–Kevin Shattenkirk
Petteri Lindbohm–Robert Bortuzzo
Extra: Chris Butler
There shouldn’t be too much drama in this group. Unless Lindbohm has a disastrous training camp, the top six group seems to be pretty well-set. After being signed to a new one-way contract, Butler is far and away the favorite to be the seventh defenseman. Veteran NHLers Andre Benoit and Peter Harrold are in the fold for depth purposes, but they’ll have to start the season in the minors unless an injury opens up a spot during the preseason.
GOALTENDERS
The goalie tandem will be the same as in 2014-15, though we may see the 24-year-old Allen assume a greater share of the starting responsibilities this season after he became the starter at playoff time last season.