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Evaluating the St. Louis Blues’ Professional Tryout Players and Their Ability to Make the Team

By Patrick Karraker

Apr 3, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; St. Louis Blues left wing Chris Porter (32) skates against the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center. The Blues defeat the Stars 7-5. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 3, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; St. Louis Blues left wing Chris Porter (32) skates against the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center. The Blues defeat the Stars 7-5. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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T.J. Galiardi St. Louis Blues
Jan 3, 2015; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Winnipeg Jets forward T.J. Galiardi (21) celebrates his goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second period at MTS Centre. Mandatory Credit: Shawn Coates-USA TODAY Sports /

3. T.J. Galiardi

T.J. Galiardi is the first player on this list who really seems to have a legitimate chance at cracking the Blues’ roster. While Galiardi spent the 2015-16 season in Sweden, he’d been in the NHL for the previous seven seasons, and he’s not that far removed from being a fixture in an NHL club’s lineup. He had played 321 games for the Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks, Calgary Flames, and Winnipeg Jets before deciding to move overseas.

As if that’s not enough for a player who should still be in his prime at 28 years old, Galiardi has had quite a bit of NHL success in the past, and his greatest success came while he was with the Colorado Avalanche, when he was frequently paired with now-Blues center Paul Stastny. In 2009-10, Galiardi’s first full NHL season, he scored 15 goals and added 24 assists in 70 games for the Avs. With that said, Galiardi hasn’t been that productive in a long time; in fact, he hasn’t had more than 20 points in a season since. He’ll need to show signs of being his former self if he’s going to make this roster.

Particularly if Vladimir Sobotka comes back as planned, it would be hard for the Blues to find a spot on the roster for Galiardi; it’d likely require both Ty Rattie and Magnus Paajarvi being passed through waivers and sent to the AHL. Neither Rattie or Paajarvi has as much of a history of productivity in the NHL as Galiardi does, though, so if the 28-year-old is impressive enough during camp, it’s definitely possible that he could make a push for the roster.

Next: Eric Nystrom

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