Yahoo Sports As training camp opens, St. Louis Blues feel like they're bigger, faster, stronger
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Some of the biggest needs the St. Louis Blues needed to acquire were on full display Thursday with the opening of training camp for the 2024-25 season.
No, the Blues didn't go out and get any splash acquisitions this past offseason, or the closest thing was the double offer sheet tendered to defenseman Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway with the Edmonton Oilers, who did not match and the Blues were able to sign each restricted free agent to a two-year contract, but with the additions of forwards Radek Faksa (trade with Dallas Stars), Mathieu Joseph (trade with Ottawa Senators), Holloway and Alexandre Texier (trade with Columbus Blue Jackets), along with the additions of Ryan Suter (free agent signing from Stars), Broberg and P.O. Joseph (free agent signing from Pittsburgh Penguins), this is a vastly different Blues team that was 43-33-6 (92 points) last season.
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"We're certainly faster. I think we're bigger, we're heavier," said Blues coach Drew Bannister, who began his first training camp as head coach. "It's certainly going to allow us to play a more aggressive game, which we wanted to do. We thought that was one of our deficiencies in our game. Certainly our deficiencies in all three zones. This certainly let's us play a more aggressive, faster hockey game."
It was quite the admission from the coach that the team needed to add more size and speed. The GM listened and the GM responded.
And the players applauded.
"Super excited," captain Brayden Schenn said. "It's tough not making the playoffs two years in a row. We're going to push hard and keep on building something here in our locker room. We feel we've got a good team with a lot of depth that can push and give teams trouble each night. It's early on but we feel like we have good pieces."
Now it's just a matter of aligning those pieces, which Bannister said after Day 1 aren't etched in stone.
On the first day, duo pairings were taken of note, and Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou were together (with Zack Bolduc); Pavel Buchnevich starting a role at center -- which can change -- with Brandon Saad (and Kasperi Kapanen); a new line trio with Holloway and Mathieu Joseph and Faksa in the middle; Texier with Alexei Toropchenko (and Zach Dean in the middle with Oskar Sundqvist and his ACL injury still recovering); and Schenn and Jake Neighbours playing wings, with Dalibor Dvorsky in the middle.
On defense, Broberg was visibly paired with Justin Faulk; Colton Parayko had Scott Perunovich by his side Suter was paired with Matthew Kessel and Nick Leddy was with P.O. Joseph.
"The lines are the lines," Bannister said. "I don't think the first day of practice really dictates where guys are going to play. I think guys will play in certain situations and different situations, whether it's on the wing or center as camp go on and as we kind of ween guys out and see if guys step up and play above their level or what we expect to make those decisions. I don't think we're hamstrung with anything making any decisions. What you see out there might not be what you see out in Seattle when we start."
The first day was spent getting skaters back into the groove and swing of the season, which really gets going with game action with preseason tilts starting Saturday against the Stars in Dallas, but regardless of the time it takes to get everyone up to speed, the buzz in the room seems quite energetic and positive. And there's a knowledge of what Armstrong did to address the needs.
"I think obviously experience. We brought in a lot of personalities too," Neighbours said. "The Joseph brothers, 'Holly', 'Sutes', these are all guys with great personalities. They're going to bring a lot of life into the dressing room. I think just the speed too. It seems we're a lot faster, we're going to be able to disrupt a lot more plays, be a quicker team, a harder team to play against. It's obviously too early to tell, but from the pace of camp and how it looks so far, it seems pretty exciting.
"We're bigger now too. Our D-corps has gotten bigger, adding some size up front with Faksa, 'Matty Jo' has a lot of experience in the playoffs, bigger guys that have a lot personalities. I definitely think we'll be harder to play against, a better checking team and that obviously involves physicality but it also involves being disruptive."
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