Camp starts this Thursday.
The 2022 St. Louis Blues training camp begins Thursday, September 22nd, at the Centene Community Ice Center. Fifty-three players will be suiting up in two practice sessions on Thursday and Friday prior to the team’s first preseason game next Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes in Wichita, Kansas.
The practices are open to the public; the Blues have yet to release a full practice schedule. The times for Thursday and Friday’s sessions are:
Thursday, Sept. 22
- Group A – 10 a.m.
- Group B – Noon
Friday, Sept. 23
- Group B – 10 a.m.
- Group A – Noon
The large pool of participants are broken down into Group A and Group B; specific group rosters will come later, but a full list of camp participants is available on stlblues.com. There are a few notables to mention aside from the returning roster of regulars.
New arrivals Noel Acciari, Martin Frk, and professional tryout signee Tyler Pitlick will all be wearing the Note for the first time, fighting to make a first impression. Out of the three, Acciari has the highest likelihood to stick. Prospects Jake Neighbours, who had a nine-game cup of coffee with the team last year, and Zach Bolduc will also be wrangling for a roster spot. Based on past performance, Neighbours has a decent chance of making it; Bolduc may be able to get into the mix for a few games, much like Neighbours did the previous year. The team’s going to have some space to fill at forward until Alexei Toropchenko returns from injury, so this might be another opportunity for the youth to make a splash.
The Blues’ defense for the year is basically set with Torey Krug, Justin Faulk, Niko Mikkola, Marco Scandella, Robert Bortuzzo, Scott Perunovich, and Colton Parayko. The battle is going to be for playing time more so than cracking the team – much to the disappointment of the other ten defensemen who will begin camp with the team on Thursday.
Goaltending is set with Jordan Binnington and Thomas Greiss, but camp (and preseason) will still be a great opportunity for interested fans to see how prospects Colton Ellis and Joel Hofer are coming along. With concerns about Greiss’ age and consistency heading into this season, it may not be a terrible idea for the team to spend some time evaluating their top two goalie prospects. You know, just in case.
The only members of the Blues’ 2022 draft class who will be present are defensemen Michael Buchinger (3rd Round, 88th overall), Marc-Andre Gaudet (5th round, 152nd overall) and forward Landon Sim (6th round, 184th overall). None of them will more than likely be ready for prime time but if you’re interested in checking out the Blues’ youngest additions outside of a prospect camp setting, here you go. If you’d like to refresh your memory about the team’s 2022 draftees, please head back over to Gabe Foley’s analysis.