The Blues opened training camp running drills you'd normally see a couple of weeks in, not on day one. According to Yahoo Sports, the reason is simple: the regular season starts in two weeks, so Jim Montgomery split his players into groups that already resemble an NHL roster, with veterans competing for limited spots. The season opens October 2 in Dallas.
That changes what camp is for. There's no long mixing-and-matching phase, no experimental line combinations just to give a player a look. For fans trying to follow along, the practical question is what to actually watch. Here's a checklist, built from what happened on day one at Centene Community Ice Center. We covered a connected angle in How the 12-Team Playoff Actually Decides Who Gets In.
For more on how compressed schedules shape outcomes across sports, see our competitions coverage.
Why is camp running at in-season speed?
Because there isn't time for anything else. The Yahoo Sports report describes a typical camp opener as a quagmire of players, everyone mixed and matched, veterans skating with junior players, rookies, fringe guys and players in on professional tryouts. This year's Blues camp skipped that phase entirely.
Montgomery's staff instead ran day one like the cusp of camp, when jobs are still being pushed for. The report called it "go time" from the first whistle. If you're watching other teams under a similar compacted schedule, expect the same: fewer gimmick looks, more near-final lineups earlier than you'd think.
Which roster spots are actually open?
This is where your attention pays off. The report identifies two clear competitions:
- The 13th and 14th forward slots, where a cluster of players is fighting for one or two remaining jobs.
- The seventh defenseman spot, with Tyler Tucker and Adam Jiricek competing for it. The top six on the blue line is considered set.
The forward bubble, per the report, includes Nathan Walker, Jack Finley, Oscar Sundqvist, Otto Stenberg and Dylan Dube. Sundqvist is back on a two-way contract. Watch those names in every lineup posting.
How do you read the group assignments?
The Blues skated Group A and Group B on separate rinks on day one. The Yahoo Sports account suggests Group A gave a strong indication of what the opening night lineup in Dallas will look like. That's the practical takeaway for any fan: when a compressed camp splits into groups, the group with the established veterans is usually the projected roster, and the other group is the competition.
So track the groupings, not just the drills. A player moved from Group B into Group A is a signal. A player staying put in the bubble group after a week is one too.
What did day one already settle?
More than a typical opening day would. Per the report:
- The top line is Holloway, Thomas and Snuggerud.
- Pavel Buchnevich slots on the second line with Connor McMichael and Mason McTavish.
- The third line gets Jonathan Berggren with Jake Neighbors and Dalibor Dvorsky, with Montgomery giving that trio some leash.
- The fourth line features newly signed Ross Johnston with Pu Suiter at center and Alexei Toropchenko on the right.
- Joel Hofer and Jordan Binnington form the goaltending tandem.
Montgomery also praised Theo Lindstein and Logan Mailloux as players who look like mainstays for years to come, crediting how they finished last season, according to the Yahoo Sports report.
What should you watch next?
Three things, in order. First, whether the Tucker-Jiricek competition produces a clear winner or a rotation. Second, which bubble forward separates from Walker, Finley, Sundqvist, Stenberg and Dube for those last spots. Third, whether the Berggren-Neighbors-Dvorsky third line keeps the leash Montgomery gave it or gets reshuffled once preseason games start.
The same logic applies league-wide. When a camp is this short, every lineup posting carries real information. If you want the broader picture of how schedules and formats decide who makes it, our piece on what make-or-break weeks decide professional playoff races covers the in-season version of the same pressure. And for the training-side story, our training section follows how teams prepare when the calendar tightens.
What the evidence establishes: a shortened, compacted schedule pushed the Blues into near-final lineups on day one, with a small set of jobs genuinely open. What it doesn't yet tell us: how the bubble competitions resolve, or whether any of these lines survive contact with preseason games. The opener in Dallas on October 2 is the deadline.
