St. Louis Blues Defense Pairings Look Vastly Different On Day 1 Of Training Camp

The boys are back on the ice and Day 1 of training camp is in the books.

The St. Louis Blues have divided their training camp into three groups. The defense pairings in Groups A, B, and C indicate that two young defensemen on the roster will have the chance to compete for a top-four role in the early going.

Below, we will review all the defensive pairings from Day 1 and analyze the noteworthy combinations.

View the original article to see embedded media.

Group A Pairings:

Philip Broberg – Justin Faulk
Tyler Tucker – Samuel Johannesson
Marc-Andre Gaudet – Corey Schueneman
William McIsaac – *Adam Jiricek (injured)

The first thing that jumps off the page is seeing Philip Broberg paired up alongside veteran Justin Faulk. We recently made a bold prediction that Broberg and Colton Parayko would become St. Louis’ top defense pairing by the end of the season. It’s extremely early, but it would appear we could be on track for that.

Related: 3 Bold St. Louis Blues Predictions in 2024-25

Broberg and Faulk as a potential second-pairing for the Blues is enticing. Both players move pucks well and accurately on the breakout and provide offense from the blueline.

However, Faulk isn’t necessarily regarded as a stout defensive defenseman (like Colton Parayko), and pairing him up with a 23-year-old defenseman who still needs to establish himself as a full-time NHLer could cause a bumpy road playing together.

Group B Pairings:

Scott Perunovich – Colton Parayko
Nick Leddy – Pierre-Olivier Joseph
Leo Loof – Anton Malmstrom
Matthew Mayich – Jeremie Biakabutuka

We have discussed at length over the summer that with Torey Krug out for the season, Scott Perunovich is the ideal candidate to replace him. And pairing him up with the 6-foot-6 giant Colton Parayko makes a whole lot of sense.

Perunovich and Parayko make a great pair – one is a reliable defender, Colton Parayko, who takes care of defensive duties, while the other, Scott Perunovich, is an offensive defenseman with the freedom to join the rush, knowing he has a reliable defense partner to cover for him.

The main worry with this pairing is Perunovich’s lack of experience and knowing that the two of them will be out there going up against the opposition’s best players every night. Parayko can handle that and has been doing it for a while, but can Perunovich?

Group C Pairings:

Ryan Suter – Matthew Kessel
Michael Buchinger – Hunter Skinner
Quinton Burns – Scott Harrington
Lukas Fischer

It just felt like a Ryan Suter and Matthew Kessel pairing was inevitable when he signed with the team.

Suter’s play in the playoffs with the Dallas Stars took a bit of a tumble, but if he can showcase that it was just a one-off and that age isn’t catching up to him, he and Kessel should be a safe third pair for St. Louis.

Kessel can lean on Suter’s leadership and experience to improve as an NHL player, but there’s going to be quite the battle for the third-pairing role by the looks of it.

Related: St. Louis Blues training camp primer: Doug Armstrong on making team better, where they’re better at now than before, do they end two-year playoff drought

If we’re looking at the NHL-level defense pairings from Day 1, it shows that Perunovich, Parayko, Broberg, and Faulk round out their top four.

The battle begins with Ryan Suter, Matthew Kessel, and Pierre-Olivier Joseph competing for a spot alongside veteran Nick Leddy. Kessel would have the upper hand as he is the only right-shot out of the three.

There’s plenty of time left until the Blues open up their season on Oct. 8 against Seattle, and preseason games will help decipher which defense pairings Drew Bannister feels most comfortable rolling out with.

St. Louis take on the Dallas Stars on Saturday, Sept. 21, for their first of seven preseason games.

Bookmark The Hockey News St. Louis Blues site to never miss news, interviews, and any updates around the league.