Preview: Blues at Stars

The St. Louis Blues will play the second half of their first back-to-back of the season, visiting the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena in Denver.

The Blues are coming off a season opening (win/loss) against the Dallas Stars..

What: Blues at Colorado
When: Saturday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. CT
Where: Ball Arena in Denver
Watch: Blue Note+
Listen: 101 ESPN

QUICK HITS

BLUES 

AVALANCHE The reigning President Trophy winners recorded 55 wins and 121 points in the standings for a first-place finish in the Central division last season. An overwhelming Stanley Cup favorite, the Colorado Avalanche were unexpectedly swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final.

Looking to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for their 10th consecutive season, the Avalanche made their fair share of offseason moves.

Defenseman Cale Makar signed an eight-year, $20.4 million extension that will take effect in the 2027-28 season. Additionally the club re-signed defensemen Brent Burns (one-year, $850K base AAV), Brett Kulak (five-year, $4.5M AAV) and Sam Malinski (four-year, $4.75M AAV). Former St. Louis Blue Jaden Schwartz signed a three-year $3.25 million AAV contract with the Avs as an unrestricted free agent, scoring 11 goals and 26 points with the Seattle Kraken last season. The Avalanche also announced an four-year extension for head coach Jared Bednar on Sept. 30 that will keep him behind the bench through the 2030-31 season. 

The team also had roster departures, trading forward Valeri Nichushkin to the Columbus Blue Jackets for draft picks, and forwards Ross Colton and Jack Drury to the Nashville Predators in separate packages that brought Fedor Svechkov and Zachary L'Heureux to Denver. 

The Avalanche look to be a force to be reckoned with once again with MacKinnon, Makar, Artturi Lehkonen, Martin Necas, Nazem Kadri and captain Gabriel Landeskog leading the charge.

Colorado enters this matchup against the Blues fresh off an 8-4 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. MacKinnon, who won the Rocket Richard trophy last season with a career-high 53 goals, scored twice and Brock Nelson recorded a goal and two assists.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

BLUES Robert Thomas will be wearing the ‘C’ on the front of his sweater, becoming the 25th player in franchise history to do so. Thomas is just the fifth Blues draft pick to receive the honor (Brian Sutter, Bernie Federko, David Backes and Alex Pietrangelo). The 27-year-old Aurora, Ontario native ranks 10th in franchise history with 460 points (132 goals, 328 assists) and posted back-to-back 80+ point seasons in 2023-24 and 2024-25, becoming the first Blue since Brett Hull (1995-97) to accomplish the feat. 

AVALANCHE After scoring a career-high 38 goals and 100 points last season, Martin Necas will be looking to repeat his success in this year's campaign. Playing on MacKinnon's wing, the Czech's speed, skating ability and transition offense makes him a player to watch. Necas has recorded six goals and 11 points in 13 career meetings vs. the Blues, including his first goal with the Avalanche against the Blues on Jan. 31, 2025, following his trade from the Carolina Hurricanes.

BLUE NOTES

• The Blues are 30-18-6-4 all-time in season-opening games. On the road in season openers, the club is 16-9-4-3.
• The Blues went 1-3-0 against Dallas last season and are 3-5-3 in the last 11 meetings between the teams. 
• Adam Jiricek could make his NHL debut on Friday. A 2024 first-round pick, Jiricek impressed in training camp but was assigned to Springfield. He was recalled following an injury to Mailloux in the final preseason game. Justin Barron, who was claimed off waivers from Nashville, is also a possibility to play on defense.
• Colton Parayko is four games shy of moving past Barret Jackman (803) for second on the Blues’ all-time games played list. Bernie Federko ranks first with 927 regular-season appearances.
• With 14 wins this season, Jordan Binnington will become the first goaltender in franchise history to reach 200 wins with the club.