MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. — The St. Louis Blues are down to their final roster cuts, and five were assigned to Springfield of the American Hockey League on Sunday.
The club announced it has assigned 2023 first-round picks, forwards Dalibor Dvorsky, Otto Stenberg and defenseman Theo Lindstein, along with forward Aleksanteri Kaskimaki and defenseman Leo Loof to the Thunderbirds, reducing the training camp number down to 26.
All five played in the preseason finale on Saturday, a 4-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks, but it was clearly evident as things progressed to Monday’s 4 p.m. (CT) deadline for opening night rosters to be submitted that these players had made strides but would not make the initial cut to be on the roster for opening night on Thursday against the Minnesota Wild.
That leaves three more cuts for the Blues to make by Monday, and among those is expected to be goalie Colten Ellis, who has to clear waivers to go to Springfield.
What’s interesting is that defenseman Hunter Skinner is still here and an obvious sign that the organization has given the 24-year-old serious consideration of being the seventh defenseman, if they choose to go 14 forwards, seven D-men and two goalies for the 23-man roster. It’s also possible Skinner could be on waivers, since he needs it to be assigned to the AHL.
Also, Milan Lucic has not been released from his professional tryout, and for that last forward slot, it could very well come down to the 37-year-old and Alexandre Texier.
This section will be updated after comments from coach Jim Montgomery after Sunday’s practice to get reaction.
Observations From Blues’ 4-0 Preseason Win Vs. Blackhawks
The
St. Louis Blues closed out the preseason in impressive fashion with a
4-0
win against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center in Chicago on
Saturday.
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