Kenny Agostino Makes an Early Impression for St. Louis Blues
The Blues may have an open spot for a forward if Vladimir Sobotka doesn’t show up, and one young player threw his name into the running with a spectacular performance on Sunday.
On a St. Louis Blues team that very well may be without Vladimir Sobotka this year–the Blues were hoping to have an answer by Sunday as to whether the veteran forward will return from the KHL for the 2016-17 season–there may be a competition for the 13th and 14th forward spots.
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Ty Rattie and Magnus Paajarvi are expected to have the early edge for those positions since they’re on one-way contracts, but they still could face competition from a host of other players on two-way deals and professional tryouts.
One of those other players, Kenny Agostino, definitely inserted himself into the discussion in Sunday’s preseason opener. Agostino, a 24-year-old Yale grad who has played 10 games over two seasons with the Calgary Flames, had two goals and three assists in 11:04 of ice time during the Blues’ 7-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday afternoon. There was some talk that Agostino would receive the credit on a Robby Fabbri tip-in goal at 1:37 in the third period, but the scorer ultimately decided to give him the assist instead. While it doesn’t make that much of a difference in a preseason game, that’s still a bit of a shame, as Agostino could have had a hat trick.
Agostino, who was drafted by the Penguins in the fifth round of the 2010 draft but never signed, was picked up by the Blues as a minor-league free agent this offseason. He’s a year older and slightly bigger, but Agostino has been roughly as productive as Rattie so far through his professional career. He really turned a corner last year for the Flames’ AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat, scoring 23 goals and adding 34 assists over 65 games. He hasn’t seen as much success in the NHL, though, as Rattie has four goals and four assists over 26 games, compared to a goal and an assists over 10 games for Agostino. With that said, Rattie was pointless until his sixth NHL contest and goalless until his 19th, so it’s understandable how things would take a while to click for Agostino.
After the game, Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said that he had been told about Agostino’s ability this offseason by his AHL coach for the past two seasons, Ryan Huska. Hitchcock didn’t showed no reluctance to praise the young forward, saying “He’s going to make it hard for us. He’s a smart player, he’s a guy that knows how to play the game properly…obviously this is a big start for him.”
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Ultimately, it’s going to be tough for Agostino to crack the roster right off the bat, because the Blues can send him to the AHL and pay him less, whereas sending down Rattie or Paajarvi means paying them an NHL salary to play in the minors, and letting go of a PTO guy could mean losing him entirely. But even if Agostino doesn’t make the team right for opening night, he could continue to “make it hard” while in the minors, as Hitchcock likes to say, and he’s got a good chance to contribute in the NHL this year if he keeps establishing himself in this manner.