The St. Louis Blues have their roster set to begin the 2024-25 NHL season. Seven players who were not on the roster at any point last year will be making their Blues debuts. Today, we are going to take a look at the season-opening roster and discuss any surprises, mistakes, and project the team’s line combinations for their opening game.
The 2024-25 Blues Season-Opening Roster
Forwards
#10 Brayden Schenn (captain)
#12 Radek Faksa
#18 Robert Thomas (alternate captain)
#25 Jordan Kyrou
#26 Nathan Walker
#42 Kasperi Kapanen
#63 Jake Neighbours
#71 Mathieu Joseph
#81 Dylan Holloway
#89 Pavel Buchnevich
Defenceman
#4 Nick Leddy
#22 Ryan Suter
#48 Scott Perunovich
#51 Matthew Kessel
#55 Colton Parayko (alternate captain)
#72 Justin Faulk (alternate captain)
Goaltenders
#30 Joel Hofer
Injured/Non-Rostered
#37 Adam Jiricek
#47 Torey Krug
#80 Simon Robertsson
#20 Brandon Saad
#70 Oskar Sundqvist
Torey Krug will not play this following an arthritis diagnosis. Furthermore, Oskar Sundqvist, who is recovering from an ACL injury, will not start the season on the active roster. Sundqvist did not play in any preseason games, but was hoping he would be ready to open the season. That is not the case. A timeline for his return is unknown at this time. Adam Jiricek and Simon Robertsson are expected to return the American Hockey League after recovering from their respective injuries. Lastly, Brandon Saad will miss the start of the season while on paternity leave.
The Surprise
The biggest surprise is the inclusion of defenceman Scott Perunovich. Somehow, the young defenceman finds himself on the season-opening roster. Perunovich did not impress this preseason, with the exception of a goal scored over the weekend in the final preseason game. While Perunovich does posses offensive capabilities, he has not shown much of it in his NHL career so far. This roster spot should have gone to someone like Tyler Tucker, who at least displayed some physical moxie during the preseason.
However, we are not labeling this as a mistake. If Perunovich is used as a healthy scratch who enters the lineup from time to time, the Blues can still pair a left-handed defenceman with a right-handed one, which is the best combination for this team. Basically, this can work if Perunovich is used in the right away. If he is used in the right way, it is a surprising edition to the roster, but not a mistake.
The Mistake
How on earth is Zachary Bolduc not on the roster? This is especially true knowing Saad is unavailable to start the season. Bolduc had a strong preseason and deserves the opportunity to begin the season in the Blues lineup.
However, the situation is not that simple. The salary cap does play a part in the decision. The maximum salary the Blues can carry on the active roster is $88 million. The team is currently at $87.5 million. Furthermore, despite not being on the roster for now, Saad’s cap hit still counts, so the team does not, even briefly, free up additional money from him. Bolduc has a $864 thousand cap hit. It would have been hard to get him on the roster.
Hard, but not impossible. The Blues could have created a spot for Bolduc by going with seven defenceman on the roster as opposed to seven. Furthermore, Perunovich and his $1.15 million cap hit would have been more than enough to get Bolduc on the roster. Would the Blues have run the risk of losing Perunovich on waivers? Yes. However, that would have been a risk worth taking. The Blues are in a retool and Bolduc is part of the Blues future. There was an opportunity to give Bolduc time on the top-six and the Blues are making a mistake by not taking advantage of it.
Game 1 Line Projections
Forwards
Dylan Holloway– Robert Thomas– Jake Neighbours
Alexandre Texier– Pavel Buchnevich– Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph– Brayden Schenn– Kasperi Kapanen
Alexey Toropchenko– Radek Faksa– Nathan Walker
Defence
Goaltenders
Drop the Puck!
The Blues begin the new season with a three-road trip on the west coast before returning home to Enterprise Center for the home opener.
Main Photo: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
