Read the full transcript of our weekly Blues chat.

Matthew DeFranks: Good afternoon. The regular season is a week away. Let’s get to some questions.

Tylerg: Matty D, T minus 6 days until the season starts, so stoked. The Lacombe and Hughes contracts this week are interesting for Broberg. Fairly comparable ages. stat lines, games played etc (although Hughes has the upper hand for stats). Both players are at 9mil AAV, so do you see 8 yrs x 8.5 AAV for Broberg assuming he signs before/during the season while 8 years can still be on the table? It seems like that’s a comfortably uncomfortable place for Broberg and the Blues to settle into based on the current market. Obviously it begs the question about Holloway too, but I find there to be less comparable contracts with Holloway compared to Broberg. What’s your best guess for Holloway’s next deal? I know Armstrong has played it cool about signing those two but the idea of locking up a core of Holloway, Broberg, Thomas, Kyrou and Buchnevich for $8.5 Mil a year or less for the next 6+ years is enticing with the cap situation. Certainly allows some flexibility to lock up guys like Neighbours, Snuggerud, Mailloux and free agents. Wishing all the best to you and your family, thanks for taking the time today!m, cheers!

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Matthew DeFranks: I think you rightly predict that Broberg falls beneath both Lacombe and Hughes. They both have significant edges in the counting stats that matter in contract negotiations, and both guys figure to be top power-play options on their teams (maybe Hamilton gets more time in NJ). Broberg is fourth on the power-play pecking order in St. Louis behind Fowler, Faulk and Mailloux.

So I don’t think they’re perfect comps, but it is helpful to know where the market is going overall for young defensemen. That’s part of the reason why Doug Armstrong wanted to wait on extensions for Broberg and Holloway to further understand the marketplace and what the other comps could look like.

On a long-term deal, something in the $7M or $8M range feels appropriate for Broberg, but I think I’ll continue to be stunned by the size of some of these deals with the cap going up.

Barry-Blues Fan in Orlando: Happy Friday Matt. Any idea how Zach Bolduc is doing in Montreal? What line does it appear they will have him playing? Thanks for the chats.

Matthew DeFranks: I have not followed Zack Bolduc at all in Montreal. But a quick glance at Daily Faceoff, and he’s projected on the third line with Alex Newhook and Oliver Kapanen, although he apparently missed practice today and is day to day with a lower-body injury.

GD: Prediction for the Blues this season…playoffs, past first round?

Matthew DeFranks: The Blues have such a wide range of outcomes this season. I can see them take a big step forward, combined with Dallas and Colorado’s stagnant rosters, and maybe challenge for the Central. I can see them falling back after the 4 Nations run, and being staying behind Minnesota or Winnipeg, or being passed by Utah. Not saying either is all that likely — my expectations are third in the Central — but there’s a bunch of variability in what this team can do.

I think they’re a playoff team. After that, it’ll depend on the matchup they get.

Sctdog: With the Luke Hughes and LeCombe signings for max years and $9 m per, has the market been set for Broberg? While he only has one full year, he’s part of the Lecombe draft class and the p/60 of these three plyers is very similar.

Matthew DeFranks: Fair point. I just don’t see points per 60 minutes being all that helpful with guys that are used in different situations. And those guys being bona fide power play guys. Which leads us to …

Sctdog: After watching Broberg last season and his few games this preseason, plus watching Faulk man the PP the last two years, I remain confused why our future $9m D is not at least on the second unit. Faulk’s top years on the PP were many years ago, Broberg is building and growing his game.

Matthew DeFranks: It’s a good question. I think there are a few different factors. First, it’s hard to overlook the veteran factor. Good or bad, it’s the truth that veterans get a preferable look over the young players.

Second, I think there’s something to wanting a right-handed defenseman like Faulk on one unit and a left-handed one like Fowler on another. It’s not always that teams can do that, but it helps provide some balance.

Third, Faulk is more of a shot threat than Broberg is. When Broberg ran the power play in Bakersfield in 2023-24, he had 16 assists on the power play, which was sixth-most among AHL defensemen. But he also had zero goals. So Faulk’s shot mentality kind of looks a bit different than Fowler’s look.

I also do think that given what we’ve seen this preseason when Broberg and Mailloux are both in the lineup, I think Mailloux is next in line behind Faulk, not Broberg.

Sctdog: As a rookie if Snuggy scores 20 goals as many appear to be predicting it would be a very good rookie season. However, as one looks at the top line, Buch is now about a 25 goal scorer and Thomas is at 20-25, and the rough estimate of 65 goals seems low for a top line. The second line looks much more dynamic with Holloway, Suter and Kyrou and a legit change as 30/20/35 if not better. At some point will they have to push Kyrou or Holloway up to maximize Thomas and get better all-around scoring?

Matthew DeFranks: They might, but one thing that Jim Montgomery did last year when he arrived was rarely play Thomas and Kyrou together. They played only seven games together under Montgomery, and one of them was Game 7 in Winnipeg. Otherwise, he preferred to keep them separated. I could see at some point in the season moving Snuggerud down when he hits the assumed college wall, and elevating either Holloway or Kyrou to get more minutes.

The most likely scenario in my mind is spreading minutes more evenly among the top two lines. Thomas will play the most among forwards for sure, but I don’t think there will be a drastic drop off to Buchnevich, Suter and Holloway, especially if all of them play both special teams units.

Sctdog: Texier and Joesph appear to be the last in a long line of middle 6 fill-ins and reclamation projects Army has used to patch the team until it developed more internal depth. The days of Hayes, Varna, Hoffman and others I have forgotten appear to be in the rear-view mirror. They could still take some depth, but isn’t the fact that the area of concern being a third line winger a sign of great progress for the team. There were a few years when they didn’t have enough real talent for a top 6.

Matthew DeFranks: Yeah, it’s been interesting to hear Jim Montgomery talk about his roster this fall. He has said multiple times “We know what our top six is going to look like.” Then he pauses, and adds in Neighbours and Schenn and says “We know what our top eight is going to look like.”

As a reminder, here’s last year’s opening night forward lineup

Holloway-Thomas-Neighbours

Toropchenko-Sundqvist-Neighbours

To your point, we can look at Texier last year, or Kapanen the year before and see the question marks. (Also, that third line in 2023 … yikes) The question marks this year are a little different. Is Suter really a 25-goal scorer? How good is Snuggerud in a full NHL season?

But it’s different than “Does Kasperi Kapanen have top-six potential?”

SteveO 57: Is Dvorsky not ready? It seems predictions don’t have him on the opening roster.

Matthew DeFranks: He’s been OK in training camp. Had some good moments, made some definite improvements. But they have good enough options where they don’t need to say “Dvorsky’s been fine, let’s see what it looks like.” They have guys that are serviceable, and Dvorksy can try to dominate the AHL now instead of simply being one of the league’s best young players.

Sctdog: Hard to imagine Dvorsky or maybe even Stenberg can’t give you on the third line what Texier would provide, that doesn’t mean they make the team but means Texier is very replaceable and they have a viable call up when the need for a 14th forward arrives. Lucic offers something that disappears in the playoffs, he won’t get a regular shift in the playoffs and may not in the last quarter of the season. It seems like that makes it Joesph’s job and then just a question of an NHL replacement level player while the youngsters hone their craft or do they give a young player a shot similar to Thomas in 2019?

Matthew DeFranks: Wrote a little bit about this today, but I think the third-line wing spot belongs to Nick Bjugstad. That allows Toropchenko-Sundqvist-Walker to be on the fourth line, and make no mistake, the coaches love what Sundqvist does defensively and covering for his teammates.

I think Joseph has done enough this camp to show that he’s at least worthy of a healthy scratch spot. And Texier could join him in the press box. I believe there’s people inside the Blues organization that believe in Texier’s skill level, even if it’s inconsistent on the ice.

Doug Armstrong mentioned a few times this training camp about not having to rush the young players now, so while they could probably do an OK job, Stenberg and Dvorsky are likely better suited for larger roles as 20 year olds in the AHL.

OneNationSTL: Matt, I am excited for Thursday night. EC is going to be rocking!!

Matthew DeFranks: Should be a good time.

Sctdog: Is the difference in a 4C role between Faksa and Sunny likely to be material?

Matthew DeFranks: Neither is all that fast. Both are physical. I think Faksa brings a bit more nastiness and he’s better on draws. But the coaches love Sundqvist’s smarts. For 12 minutes a night, it’s not a big difference, but it is a little bit.

Easy Ed – fan since 1967: Hey Matt, just joining. If there’s an upset on the roster, which forward would supplant who? Also, which defenseman would replace Kissel? That one fellow played excellent d this camp. Thanks.

Matthew DeFranks: I think the upset up front would be Lucic taking Texier’s spot on the roster, even if that’s as a healthy scratch and 14th forward.

On the back end, I think Kessel still is the seventh defenseman from an asset management standpoint (they had him in the NHL after the trade deadline last year because they didn’t want to lose him on waivers). But Hunter Skinner would probably be the guy closest to him right now.

OneNationSTL: Can you explain the 10 day PTO once the regular season begins? I might be saying this wrong, so if Lucic did not make the roster, the Blues could offer him again a 10day PTO to stay with the club and then make a decision on him?

Matthew DeFranks: Right, so it’s new in the next CBA that team’s can sign players to a 10-day PTO during the season. And it’s one of the elements of the CBA that was implemented this season.

So the Blues could decide to not sign Lucic to a contract. Then sign him to a 10-day PTO. Lucic would not be allowed to play in games, but he could practice with the team and be paid in meals and per diem.

I suppose teams could sign a player to multiple 10-day PTOs, but not sure why the player would want to be strung along. If a player is on a 10-day PTO, the team he’s with can match any contract offer from another team, too.

GoThunder: I really like Kerbs and Joey, but oh man, I’m not sure this simulcast is a good idea. Have you watched any games on TV?

Matthew DeFranks: I watched the one in Dallas on the stream, and the stream in Columbus had the Blue Jackets announcers on the broadcast.

I would wait until the full broadcast goes on FanDuel to pass judgement on how the simulcast will go.

Hall Plante: Is there a way for Lucic, if he agrees, to go to AHL for a month or two? It would give him a chance to prove himself, presumably with understanding that at end he would be promoted or released. In this scenario, Lucic would sign an NHL two-way deal at a salary that would not count against team’s cap, correct?

Matthew DeFranks: Yeah, there are multiple different avenues for that. He could sign an NHL contract and then the Blues could waive him to the AHL to play there until they want to recall him. He could sign an NHL contract and then go on a conditioning loan to the AHL for up to 14 days, although that cap hit would still count against the Blues.

He could sign an AHL contract and report to Springfield with the idea that he can earn an NHL deal. Or he could go to Springfield on an AHL PTO, which is good for 25 days, and play games down there.

So there are a bunch of different ways to get him to Springfield. Some involve an NHL contract, and others don’t. Some count against the cap, and others don’t.

mrr: Matt, thanks for doing these chats!! The Blues seem like a deep team, but lacking at the very top end of talent. Is that a blueprint for regular season success but post season limitations? how do they compare to other teams?

Matthew DeFranks: It’s one of the biggest reasons why the 2019 Blues team is an outlier among recent Stanley Cup champions. The 2020 and 2021 Lightning had superstars with Kucherov, Hedman, Vasilevskiy. The 2022 Avalanche obviously had MacKinnon, Makar, Rantanen. The 2023 Golden Knights would probably be the closest to the Blues in terms of really good players, but not superstars.

Then the 2024 and 2025 Panthers could rely on Tkachuk and Barkov.

I think we’ve seen some teams with super high-end talent like Edmonton get close and fail to win Cups. Same with deep teams without Hart Trophy guys like Dallas and Carolina.

It’s a cop out, but ultimately, you need both. You need superstars and you need depth. If Robert Thomas can still take another step, that changes how we look at him. But what about after him? Buchnevich, Kyrou, Holloway are great but not superstar status.

Hall Plante: At Centene Ice Center, I’ve seen Blues start practice on one rink and finish it on other rink. What is rationale for switching rinks?

Matthew DeFranks: They usually do this when they work on special teams. They’ll practice on one sheet, chew it up, and then want a clean, fresh sheet to work on special teams with a smooth surface.

Hrkac Crkac: I watched last night’s game. Lucic had a couple of bad turnovers, whiffed on a shot in the slot, and looked slow and hunched over. Why are the Blues even considering giving this clown a roster spot? If this guy makes the team, everyone involved with the decision needs to be drug tested immediately.

Matthew DeFranks: I’ve decided that my ears think he’s making the team but my eyes think there’s no chance.

So whenever anyone is interviewed about Lucic — teammates, coaches, management — it sounds as if he’s already on the team. They talk about how important that type of role is, and how much they look forward to having him around, and how good in the room he is.

So every interview that happens, my ears think he’s on this team.

But then I watch his game, and there just hasn’t been much to it. He had five hits against Dallas, sure, and that’s what he does, but he hardly affected play. He couldn’t really keep up in the NHL two years ago, let alone today. I think he must have a really good game on Saturday to get a sniff. That’s what my eyes say.

As far as him being hunched over, it’s actually a condition he has called Scheuermann’s disease that affects growth of the vertebrae.

Hrkac Crkac: Big mistake for the Blues wear last year’s jersey (now the third jersey) 10 times this year. We are only seeing these gorgeous new retro blue jerseys in 28 of 41 home games. Why introduce these jerseys and then wear them in less than 70 percent of your home games? What is the rationale here?

Matthew DeFranks: When they explained the decision in June, this is what Blues CRO/CMO Steve Chapman said: “This isn’t about changing everything, it’s just about bringing this element forward. It’s still our sweater and we want it to be a part of the system.”

My personal opinion is that they wore that jersey for 20 years (or some variation of it) that they wanted to keep it around. After all, plenty of people see that jersey and think back to the 2018-19 season.

I do think that they should have worn the white one at home during a preseason game, though. It would have been cool to introduce it to fans that way, and it doesn’t come with the logistical problems that wearing white during the season has. Road teams are coming for just one preseason game (and not a three-game road trip, so to speak) and they can bring a dark uniform.

Hrkac Crkac: Then wear it five times, not 10. Ten times is too much. Love this new sweater and we aren’t seeing it enough.

Matthew DeFranks: I feel like there was a minimum number required by the league for a third jersey, but I can’t remember what it was.

Hrkac Crkac: And scrap that God-awful 1995 jersey altogether. Nobody needs to see that monstrosity ever again.

Matthew DeFranks: I’m sure you’re not alone in that belief.

Hrkac Crkac: If there is a minimum, it’s less than 10 games. Edmonton got a new white third jersey that they are wearing only seven times.

Matthew DeFranks: Good point.

Easy Ed – fan since 1967: Matt, have any of the Blues played below expectations so far? If so, why and/or how much? Also, saw some of the game last night on my computer. Of course it was against Ottowa, but dang, Mailloux and to a degree Broberg looked superior. The way Mailloux attacks in the O zone is impressive. Comment on their O, please, and what did you think of their D?

Matthew DeFranks: I don’t really care much about how veterans look in the preseason because, well, they don’t care what they look like in the preseason.

With Mailloux, I came away more impressed with the way he was able to break out in his own zone under pressure. He handled the forecheck, held on to the puck and found the right pass. That was nice to see.

And offensively, his play on the Buchnevich goal stood out. He jumps into the rush, drives the middle lane and then creates space for Buchnevich. That’s a smart play.

Looks like the queue is empty, so we’ll call it there. Have a good weekend everyone, hockey is almost here!

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