It was a summer of change, and that change will be visible almost immediately Friday when the St. Louis Blues open the regular season against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center (8 p.m., TNT, TruTV, HBO Max, 101 ESPN),
Five new faces will be in the lineup for the Blues’ season opener: Mason McTavish, Connor McMichael, Ross Johnston and Brandon Carlo are established NHL players making their debut in the ‘Note, and Adam Jiricek — a 2024 first-round pick — will make his NHL debut on defense.
Last season’s incredibly-productive top line of Dylan Holloway, Robert Thomas and Jimmy Snuggerud will start the season together once again. McTavish and McMichael will make up a new second line with Pavel Buchnevich on the wing, while Jake Neighbours and Jonatan Berggren will be centered by Dalibor Dvorsky on the third. Johnston, an enforcer acquired from the Anaheim Ducks, will be on the fourth line with Alexey Toropchenko and Pius Suter.
Preseason injuries to Logan Mailloux (right hand) and Tyler Tucker (right knee) have forced the defense to get a shake up early in the season. Philip Broberg is expected to start on the top pair with the rookie Jiricek, Colton Parayko is paired with Theo Lindstein, and veterans Cam Fowler and Brandon Carlo make up the third pair.
Joel Hofer is expected to start in goal.
