With the pre-season complete and a few days until opening night, the St. Louis Blues returned from Michigan where they practiced and worked out at Yost Arena, home of the Michigan Wolverines. Monday, the roster was set and it put a few young rookies in places they did not necessarily expect to be.
At the forward position, perhaps the most surprising addition might be that the Blues kept Robby Fabbri instead of sending him back to his junior hockey team in Guelph (OHL) to start the season. The 5’10”, 170 lb., 19-year old came in with an opportunity to win a spot and he did. He will have as many as nine games to stay with the Blues before a decision has to be made on whether to send him back to his junior team.
After nine games, the Blues will have to decide on whether to keep him for a full year, which would spend a year of his entry-level contract. The second option is to send Fabbri back to Guelph and leave the year remaining on his contract. Junior players under the age of 20 cannot play in the AHL or ECHL, so it’s either NHL or juniors for Fabbri this coming season.
Fabbri’s place in the Blues’ line-up will be on the second line with Dmitrij Jaskin and David Backes or on the third line with Jori Lehtera and Jaden Schwartz. Fabbri will change spots with off-season arrival Troy Brouwer, depending on the opponent. The left-handed shot, natural center was a 1st round selection by the Blues in the 2014 draft (21st overall).
For Guelph over the last three seasons, the Mississauga native netted 80 goals and 171 points in 147 games and added 133 penalty minutes.  He also added a gold medal while representing Canada in the World Junior Championships earlier this year. He is expected to provide speed and scoring touch in a balanced attack across St. Louis’ three lines. Fabbri will wear uniform #15.
Scottie Upshall, who had been on a professional tryout, made the final Blues roster and signed a one-year, two-way contract. He’ll make $700K annually with the Blues and $200K if he sent to Chicago (AHL). The 31-year old, Ft. MacMurray, Alberta right winger appeared in 63 regular season games with the Florida Panthers last season, registered 8 goals and 15 points along with 28 penalty minutes.
At 31, the 6 feet and 200 lbs. Upshall is a veteran of 12 NHL seasons which include stints with Florida, Columbus, Phoenix, Philadelphia and Nashville. During his career, he has gained 115 goals and 234 points to go along with 480 penalty minutes in 553 career regular season games. He has 4 goals and 10 points to go with 48 penalty minutes in 26 career postseason games. He was originally drafted by Nashville in the 1st round (6th overall) in the 2002 NHL Draft. Upshall will wear uniform #10.
To make room for Fabbri and Upshall, Magnus Paajarvi and Ty Rattie, currently under contract for $700K and $772K respectively this season were sent to Chicago (AHL). Scott Gomez, 35, who like Upshall was on a professional tryout, still might make the club as Patrik Berglund remains out for an extended period of time. Paajarvi might yet be waived by the team and Rattie needs playing time.
St. Louis’ top line features Alex Steen, Paul Stastny and Vladimir Tarasenko while the fourth line will see a rotation of Scottie Upshall, Steve Ott, Kyle Brodziak and Ryan Reaves. Reaves is still recovering from a collision with Yannick Vellieux in late September.
At the defense position, there was a surprise when the final roster was set. It was expected that Chris Butler would remain with the Blues, but he was sent down to Chicago (AHL) where he will earn $675K. Joel Edmundson and Colton Parayko, who enjoyed solid camps, made the big club. Edmundson has a cap hit of $742,500 for his three-year deal and Parayko has a cap hit of $905K for his two-year deal. Both represent not just youth, but tremendous size.
With Carl Gunnarson out with injury, his fourth since arriving a little more than a year ago, St. Louis wanted to bolster their backline and believed they could do it without having to poach the free-agent market or through trade.
Joel Edmundson, at 22, is 6’4”, 207 lb. He impressed coach Ken Hitchcock early on and will get a well-earned taste of NHL speed. The Brandon, Manitoba-native brings his left shot to the sixth defenseman position. He was a 2nd round pick in 2011 (46th overall). In 94 games in Chicago (AHL), he registered 8 goals and 20 points in 94 games and added 157 penalty minutes to a +12 rating.
Edmundson will need a little work on his foot speed. He also needs a little work on his angling, reverse pivoting and gap control. Goaltenders love having him on the ice as he is excellent at clearing the front of the crease and delivering impactful body checks. Recently, Edmundson has shown an offensive upside, led by his booming shot from the point. He will wear uniform #6.
Colton Parayko, also 22, is 6’5”, 214 lbs. He also impressed the coaching staff who believed he was ready to make the jump to the NHL and was a better option than Butler. The St. Albert, Alberta native was a 3rd round pick in 2012 (86th overall). Parayko split time last season between college and the AHL. In Chicago, he appeared in 17 games netting 4 goals in 7 points to go with 6 penalty minutes and a +4 rating. In three seasons at the University of Alaska, he appeared in 94 games scoring 17 goals and 56 points with 55 penalty minutes.
Parayko is a big, physical defensive defenseman that has solid positioning, makes a good first pass and breaks up plays with his long reach. He has some offensive skills, a good transition game and possesses a hard point shot. He will need to improve his overall skating (reverse pivoting, stride extension and stronger balance). He will wear uniform #55.
Alex Pietrangelo, Jay Bouwmeester, Kevin Shattenkirk, Robert Bortuzzo and Petteri Lindbohm are the top five defensemen.
The Blues are set in net with Brian Elliott, 30, and Jake Allen, 25. Elliott was among the league’s pre-season leaders and will likely be the starter when St. Louis hosts Edmonton to open the season.
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