Ready or not, it’s here.
The St. Louis Blues’ 2024-25 season begins today with a matinee game, the start of a three-game road trip that opens against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena (3:30 p.m.; ESPN, ESPN+, ESPN 101.1-FM).
The Blues, with a 43-33-6 record last season, which was good for 92 points but not good for qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which they missed for the second straight season, and are hoping that adding depth will increase their chances of improvement.
“I feel like we’re getting better every game,” said one of those new additions, forward Matthew Josephacquired in a trade with the Ottawa Senators on July 2 for future considerations. “I think there’s a lot of new guys. It takes time to learn the new systems, get to know your teammates, develop chemistry with the guys and see what works. I feel like it’s just a few games I hope we can do it consistently and bring that pace like that, but it’s a step in the right direction and I like the level of competition.”
The Blues added not just one Joseph, but two by signing Mathieu’s younger brother, defender Mr. Josephon a one-year contract. They added the center Radek Faksa via trade – also for future considerations – from the Dallas Stars, acquired forward Alexandre Texier from the Columbus Blue Jackets via trade, signed veteran defenseman Ryan Sutter to a one-year contract as insurance when it was finally announced that his fellow defender Torey Krug would be lost for the season following surgery on his left ankle. But the biggest noise the Blues made was a double offer to the Edmonton Oilers for two 23-year-old players, defenseman Philippe Broberg and forward Dylan Hollowayon August 13, which the Oilers refused to match a week later.
The Blues also added a veteran presence behind the bench with the hiring of a Stanley Cup champion coach. Claude Julien.
The Joseph brothers will become the seventh set of brothers to play for the Blues franchise and the first since Rich And Ron Sutter.
“It took a long time to get here,” said the Blues coach. Drew Bannisterwho got the full-time position on May 2 after replacing Craig Berube December 12, 2023 last season, he went 30-19-5 as interim coach. “It seems like since a lot of us got here in August, things have really slowed down, and you can see the enthusiasm in the group before (Thursday) night’s (preseason) game (against the Chicago Stars). Dallas). I liked our focus.”
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The game group from this 4-3 overtime win over the Stars should be today’s game group as it is the best game the Blues have played by an overwhelming majority in a preseason of 2-5-0.
“Definitely. I think we played a good game,” said the striker Kasperi Kapanenwho landed a job out of training camp after signing a one-year, $1 million contract on July 1. “There’s always little things we can do better, but I thought we played a pretty solid game and we just did that.”
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The Blues revealed their season-opening squad on Monday and will only have 22 of the 23 players available with whom they can maximize their squad. Brandon Saad (paternity leave) unavailable for the opening road trip while awaiting the birth of his third child.
They had to assign ahead Zack Bolduc to Springfield of the American Hockey League to be cap compliant since Saad doesn’t count in the lineup during his absence, but his cap hit does.
Saad is expected to be available when the team returns from the trip, which includes games against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday and the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday when they host the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 15.
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Blues projected lineup:
Dylan Holloway-Robert Thomas-Jake Neighbors
Alexandre Texier-Pavel Buchnevich-Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph-Brayden Schenn-Kasperi Kapanen
Alexey Toropchenko-Radek Faksa-Nathan Walker
Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg-Justin Faulk
Ryan Suter-Matthew Kessel
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.
Healthy stripes include Mr. Joseph And Scott Perunovich. Brandon Saad (paternity leave), Oskar Sundqvist (LCA) and Torey Krug (ankle) are out.
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Kraken projected lineup:
Jared McCann-Matty Beniers-Jordan Eberle
Jaden Schwartz-Chandler Stephenson-Andre Burakovsky
Eeli Tolvanen-Shane Wright-Oliver Bjorkstrand
Ty Kartye-Yanni Gourde-Brandon Tanev
Vince Dunn-Adam Larsson
Jamie Oleksiak-Brandon Montour
Ryker Evans-Will Borgen
Joey Daccord should start in goal; Philip Grubauer would be the backup.
Healthy scratch includes Josh Mahura. The Kraken reported no injuries.
Related: St. Louis Blues 2024-25 Roster Revealed
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Related: Ryan Suter is more than willing to mentor the St. Louis Blues’ young defensemen
