St. Louis Blues Assign Six Players to Juniors, Reduce Camp Roster to 55

The St. Louis Blues made their first roster cut of training camp on Wednesday morning, announcing that six players had been reassigned to their junior clubs in the CHL. Goaltender Luke Opilka and forwards Samuel Blais, Liam Dunda, Glenn Gawdin, Adam Musil, and C.J. Yakimowicz were all sent back to their junior clubs. With none of the six having any real chance to make the roster, the Blues were proactive in making sure that the players didn’t miss games with the junior teams, which open up their seasons this week.

Musil (Round 4), Gawdin (Round 4), Opilka (Round 5), and Dunda (Round 6) were selections in this year’s draft, while Blais and Yakimowicz (both Round 6) were taken in the 2014 draft. Blais, who played 10:58 with a hit in the Blues’ Tuesday night game at Columbus, was the only player of the six who saw action in the split-squad preseason opener on Tuesday. The other four got an opportunity to participate in five days of training camp and absorb as much information as possible from established NHL players and coaches.

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With the first round of cuts completed, the Blues now have 55 players left in training camp, seven of whom are with the team on Professional Tryout contracts, meaning that they can be released at any time prior to the start of the season. The group, which currently includes 33 forwards, 17 defensemen, and five goaltenders, must be reduced down to a 23-man roster (plus any players that need to be placed on injured reserve, such as Patrik Berglund) by the end of the preseason, which wraps up on October 1.

The most notable player to survive Wednesday’s cut was 2015 second-rounder Vince Dunn, a defensemen who was the team’s first pick in this year’s draft. Dunn has impressed in camp and played 19:02 with one hit in the away game against Columbus on Tuesday. With the Blues’ exceptional defensive depth, Dunn won’t be playing in the NHL this season, but his continued presence in camp means that the team is interested in getting a better look at him.

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