Projected Lineup: Oct. 12 at Dallas

On Thursday night, the St. Louis Blues will begin the 2023-24 regular season against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center (7 p.m., Bally Sports, 101 ESPN).

The start of a new season signifies the end of a long offseason - one that was much longer than anyone in the Blues organization had hoped for.

By all accounts, last season was a disappointing one. A team that had high expectations ended up out of the playoff picture, therefore trading Ryan O’Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ivan Barbashev and Noel Acciari.

Of the 60 players that started with the team this year in training camp, there weren’t many surprises in terms of new faces on the Opening Night roster. Kevin Hayes is the team’s biggest newcomer after joining the club in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers over the summer. Oskar Sundqvist is back, too, and everyone else that made the initial roster - Nikita Alexandrov, Tyler Tucker and Scott Perunovich - have played at least a handful of games with the Blues before.

So while a lot of things aren’t that different, there’s plenty that has changed, too.

Brayden Schenn will begin his first season as the team’s captain after being chosen to lead the club in mid-September. Robert Thomas takes over as the team’s No. 1 center and figures to start the season alongside Jordan Kyrou - both players are beginning the first year of long-term contracts that were signed two summers ago. Pavel Buchnevich will start on the left wing of that top line looking to build on a season that saw him produce better than a point-per-game pace last season.

Schenn will start by centering the second line with Brandon Saad and Kasperi Kapanen, while Hayes debuts in the middle with Jakub Vrana and Sammy Blais on the left and right side, respectively. The fourth line should provide plenty of energy and physicality with Alexey Toropchenko, Sundqvist and Jake Neighbours to throw some weight around.

The defense remains largely unchanged and is a group determined to be better than they were last season. Tucker appears to be starting the season in the Top 6, and Scott Perunovich remains on the roster but won’t start the season in the lineup as he returns from several long-term injuries that has limited him to just 19 games over the last three seasons.

In goal, Jordan Binnington will lead the way but has a new backup in Joel Hofer, who was earned a chance to start the season in the NHL after spending the last three seasons in the AHL.

The Blues put together a 4-2-2 preseason, although there was only one game where the team largely used its full NHL lineup - that was last Thursday against the Dallas Stars - a 4-0 Blues win.

“We took a good lineup and they had a good lineup, that’s (a game) you can judge on,” Blues GM Doug Armstrong said. “I think we should be competitive. (I want to) build that foundation, back to where it was in the past… with experienced players that have the pedigree and perception that they should be winning championships.”

That starts with this group on Thursday night in Dallas.

The Blues held an optional morning skate on Thursday, so the lineup is based on the team's practices this week at Comerica Center in Frisco.

PROJECTED LINEUP

Forwards

Pavel Buchnevich - Robert Thomas - Jordan Kyrou
Brandon Saad - Brayden Schenn - Kasperi Kapanen
Jakub Vrana - Kevin Hayes - Sammy Blais
Alexey Toropchenko - Oskar Sundqvist - Jake Neighbours

Defense

Nick Leddy - Colton Parayko
Torey Krug - Justin Faulk
Marco Scandella - Tyler Tucker

Goalie

Jordan Binnington