Now that they have their players, St. Louis Blues want Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway to grow accordingly

ST. LOUIS -- Now that they've acquired two young players of first round draft pick ilk, the question that looms is how do defenseman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway fit into the St. Louis Blues' plans?

It's easy to project that the Blues, who tendered offer sheets to each and were able to acquire them after the Edmonton Oilers did not match on Tuesday, went after the players they wanted with the intent of playing them. But how do they fit in and where will they fit?

"When I talked to each player, we view Dylan as a top-nine forward; he's played center coming out of college, he did have wrist surgery that put him on the wing, great skater, size," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. "Going to be really good competition in our forward group this year. I see him touching a lot of areas in that group.

"Broberg we see as top four left-handed defenseman. Now obviously other guys want that job, too. That's the great part of these deals is we’ve added competition into our group, but we’re in a spot now where, as we’re building a foundation, we have the ability to let guys grow into roles from probably 2013-2022 in St. Louis. We didn’t have ability to let players grow into roles. We were trying to win championships. We’re in a different spot right now. It reminds me what John Davidson and Larry Pleau, I thought did a great job setting up. I think we’re at that point. So the roles will be defined, they have to push and take whatever they can."

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Holloway, who turns 23 in September, will likely vie for a role somewhere in the top nine, projected as high as a second-line winger but likely more suited as a third-line winger depending on his play. The Calgary native knows fellow Calgarian Jake Neighbours and has a similar style, which should make Blues fans quite happy.

"Strengths to my game, I’d say I’m a good skater," Holloway said. "I think my skating’s probably my biggest asset. I like to play physical, too, and then mix in some skill and physicality I try to play both types of games.

"I just know Jake Neighbours a little bit. He’s a Calgary guy, played against him growing up a bit. I’ve hung out with him a couple of times. I just know he’s a great guy. I’ve actually been texting him this week. I think he’s pretty excited and I’m excited to be on the same team as him."

Broberg, 23, projects as a top four defenseman, and without putting too much pressure on someone who's played just 81 regular-season games, imagine 6-foot-4, 212 pounds someday lining up and playing alongside 6-6, 228-pound Colton Parayko.

Sort of like when Parayko played alongside 6-4, 206-pound Jay Bouwmeester, perhaps? That duo seemed to do some nice things together in, say, 2019 particularly.

"I see myself as a good skater and I like to use my skating and my defending to join the rush as well," Broberg said. "I like to play with a lot of pace. I like to help the team in any way I can and I like to use my skating a lot."

Armstrong, as he likes to say it, won't put the cart before the horse, but in wanting to build with early-to-mid-20s players, he got what he wanted with these in the hopes to continue their growth.

"These were guys that we’ve always had an interest in but their trajectory is good," Armstrong said. "Right now in our group they’re just in the starting blocks. They’ve come from getting into the NHL and helping the Oilers. I’m not going to say they’re key pieces our team’s going to run through, but they’ll have a bigger role for us than they’ve had before and we have to get them up to speed accepting that."

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