Blues trim roster by 11

Camp roster down to 32 players including six injured; Blais, Dunn, 

Walman, Thompson, Kostin among remaining prospects; Bennett waived

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Each of Samuel Blais, Jake Walman, Vince Dunn, Tage Thompson and Klim Kostin has smiles inside the Blues locker room but they were guarded ones.

All five were on the ice Wednesday when the Blues were down to one practice group after making 11 cuts to get the roster down to 32 camp players (26 minus six injured players).

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Defenseman Vince Dunn (29) survived the group of cuts the Blues made on

Wednesday, reducing the camp roster down to 32.

Among the cuts, forwards Jordan Kyrou (Sarnia) and Robert Thomas (London) were sent to their respective junior clubs, forwards Conner Bleackley and Mackenzie MacEachern were sent to the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League, forward Adam Musil, defensemen Jordan Schmaltz and Thomas Vannelli and goalie Ville Husso went to San Antonio of the AHL and forward Beau Bennett and defensemen Chris Butler and Petteri Lindbohm were placed on waivers.

That left -- for the time being -- the young fivesome on the main camp roster, and although there will be three more cuts to be made (two once the Blues know where to place goalie Jordan Binnington), and depending on what the status will be for injured Alexander Steen (hand), Jay Bouwmeester (ankle) and Robby Fabbri (knee), one or more could be on the opening night roster Oct. 4 in Pittsburgh.

"The chance to still be here has to be earned and I would say that the guys that have done that," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "That's not to take anything way from the guys that still aren't here. Some of those guys, the meetings and how we let them know were still very, very positive. We're very pleased with some of the things that we've seen from some of our young players, some of the progress that we've seen. We feel that they're not ready yet but we feel that they're very much on the right track and this was a good step for them.

"For the guys that are still here, obviously not all of them will be a couple days from now, we'll see how the game goes tomorrow. We've got a handful of them in the game tomorrow and we'll be ready to make some more decisions after that."

The Blues have two more preseason games remaining, and if they lump guys like Oskar Sundqvist, Ivan Barbashev and Wade Megan into the mix, it's a chance to get a look at them as teams play more of their regular rosters. This is what the Blues will do on Thursday in Kansas City when they play the Minnesota Wild.

"These last two games, I'm kind of excited to that we're getting closer to our group," Yeo said. "The Pittsburgh game was closer to our group and you know the season's right around the corner, the players feel that, too. I feel we had a really good practice today and it's fun knowing that we're getting closer here."

Here were the lines the Blues ran Wednesday in practice:

Jaden Schwartz-Paul Stastny-Vladimir Tarasenko

Vladimir Sobotka-Brayden Schenn-Samuel Blais

Klim Kostin-Ivan Barbashev-Dmitrij Jaskin

Wade Megan-Kyle Brodziak-Chris Thorburn

Magnus Paajarvi-Oskar Sundqvist-Tage Thompson

Joel Edmundson-Alex Pietrangelo

Vince Dunn-Colton Parayko

Carl Gunnarsson-Robert Bortuzzo

Jake Walman-Nate Prosser

For Blais, it's a continuation and reward for how well the 2014 sixth-round pick has performed; he has three goals and one assist in four games.

"It's a good feeling for sure, but I think the work is not done," Blais said. "I still have got to prove that I can play here. I think that's what I'm going to try to do the next few days. 

"They told me I've done a pretty good job, but I have to keep improving on those little details in the defensive zone and I think if I do that, I think I'll get my chance."

Dunn, a second-round pick in 2015 who has improved as camp has progressed and played a team-high five games along with Blais, has played with Parayko in two preseason games.

"It's cut-throat time," Dunn said. "I've just got to make sure I'm dialed in at all times. ... I've got the same attitude as when I came in here. I'm not trying to put any more pressure on myself, especially now that it's go out and play my best hockey. Try not to do too much and be as reliable as I can while I'm on the ice."

Thompson, a 2016 first-round pick, scored his first goal of the preseason Tuesday and well-deserved considering his hard work throughout camp in four games.

"Obviously there's nothing really that I can control with their decisions," Thompson said. "My focus is to just play hard and come to the rink every day with the same attitude. Not too much worry last night. Whatever they have planned for me is obviously in my best interests. I'm just trying to come each day and trying to earn a spot.

"I was getting more confident in each game."

Walman, a 2014 third-round pick, has played a team-high 22:58 per game in four games. The Blues have used him extensively, and although there have been ups and downs, he's still around for the final go-round.

"It's good to be here," Walman said. "It's where I want to be obviously, but with that being said, there's still work to do. I'm here because I'm here to get looked at, I want them to notice me. Anything I can really do to help the team going forward is hat I plan to do. I had a good talk with coach today. He was just telling me about the little things and stuff in the defensive zone is the stuff that's going to help me out. That's what I'm going to work on."

Walman said the amount of minutes has had its benefits and challenging times.

"It's a bit of both," he said. "It's obviously taxing to play that much, but if you're getting put out there for key situations, that's how you get your minutes. I'm happy about it. It's a good way to show my stuff, but I hope the coaches have trust in me to put me out there for that long. It's fun, I love to to play the game as much as I can get out there and make a difference, which is what I'm trying to do."

Kostin, the 31st pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, has two goals in four games and shows the penchant for the goal and can sprinkle in the physicality.

"I would say that he’s shown growth and he’s had moments," Yeo said of the 6-foot-3, 196-pound winger. "He’s had some really great moments. You look at the goals that he’s scored. Physically, I don’t think any of us were expecting us to have the hit that he had and then drop the gloves the way that he did the other night. And he’s also showing us that there’s more growth that needs to take place here. Not unlike all of them, we’re just kind of monitoring his progress and we’ll see where it goes."

Asked if he's grasped the North American game yet, Yeo said, "Not yet, but that’s a pretty hard thing to ask a player to do in a week."

Just because these kids have stuck around, it doesn't mean the Blues will coddle them. But it's a chance to try to break through the door at the finish line.

"I try to be very open with them," Yeo said. "I'm not babying them, that's for sure. I think it's important that I'm challenging them and talk to them about the areas that could prevent them from being on our team. I'd like to think that I've done that with these kids. I think it's very important that you point out the good things that they've done and have them understand why they're still here, but there are some areas that we need to see some growth and in some cases, we've seen it. In some cases, we haven't seen it quick enough. I think that every player that we would consider that is still trying out for for a spot, has a good sense of what they need to do whether they're in the game or not.

"Obviously we've got a couple of injuries and that's sort of changed the dynamic of how we're approaching things. Originally, I had figured that our last two games, we would be down to sort of our final group. I would say that we've got at least four or five decision-related people in the lineup tomorrow. Obviously Sunday, that will be very close, to if not, our lineup that we'll go to Pittsburgh with. This is the process and I'm happy with how it's gone. I'm happy with the competition that we've had. This has been a big storyline obviously for our training camp, even heading into training camp. I think that we're happy where we're at."

Bennett, 25, was signed as a free agent on July 1, a one-year, one-way contract for $650,000. The Blues haven't given up on the injury-prone winger but in three preseason games, Bennett didn't show enough to last through the first big cut day.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues' 2017 first-round pick Robert Thomas (left) was among the 11 players

the team cut on Wednesday. Thomas was returned to London of the OHL.

"I can’t give you the answer for that, but I would agree with that assessment," Yeo said of Bennett. "I think that the opportunity was there, the games where there. For whatever reason, I don’t think that he did enough to separate himself. Now he’s on waivers, we’ll see how that goes, and if he clears waivers, things always reset and you need to call up players. The message is pretty simple: if you do get picked up, congratulations, and if you don’t, make sure you’re the best player when the time comes."

The last few roster decisions will obviously come down to who can A) continue to thrive when the temperature rises, and B) the status of injured players becomes more clear. Whatever looms, the regular season starts in one week.

"For me, it's exciting and that's what you want, I think that's what your players need," Yeo said. "I think that's good for your culture when you get what you deserve as opposed to having a sense of entitlement. I haven't felt that from our veteran players. I don't think that anybody's come in here just with the idea that their spot is there and they don't have to put the work in. I think that our leaders have set a good example. I think that there were some guys that knew there was competition and stepped up their game, and some of these young kids have done a nice job of pushing and separating themselves from obviously the group that's not here. It's been a good camp and I like that mentality. I think that it should be a situation where you get what you deserve."