The Blues didn’t hide from the fact they wanted to bolster their lineup at the center position and get younger on defense. They did just that by signing forward Pius Suter to a two-year, $8.25 million contract ($4.125 million average annual value) and forward Nick Bjugstad to a two-year, $3.5 million contract ($1.75 million AAV).

“We like our depth there,” Armstrong said. “[Suter] and Bjugstad certainly change our center ice complexion.”

St. Louis also acquired 22-year-old defenseman Logan Mailloux from the Montreal Canadiens but had to give up forward Zack Bolduc to do it, and in doing so, moved on from veteran Nick Leddy, who was placed on waivers and claimed by the San Jose Sharks. Also, veteran defenseman Ryan Suter was allowed to leave as a free agent.

Mailloux will complement a veteran group that includes Colton Parayko, Cam Fowler and Justin Faulk to go with younger defensemen in Philip Broberg, Tyler Tucker and Matthew Kessel.

“He’s an excellent skater, got an excellent shot,” Armstrong said of Mailloux. “We think he’s NHL-ready now. I talked to him, I told him he’ll have the opportunity … he has a job now. It’s his job to come into camp and keep it.

“With a trade like this, it’s an old-fashioned hockey trade. It was very difficult to include Bolduc in any deal, including this one.”

Suter, who had career highs in goals (25) and points (46) last season with the Vancouver Canucks, could slot in as a second- or third-line center and would complement St. Louis’ top six with Robert Thomas (81 points; 21 goals, 60 assists last season), Jordan Kyrou (70 points; 36 goals, 34 assists), Dylan Holloway (63 points; 26 goals, 37 assists), Pavel Buchnevich (57 points; 20 goals, 37 assists), Schenn (50 points; 18 goals, 32 assists) and Jake Neighbours (46 points; 22 goals, 24 assists).

Jimmy Snuggerud, who made his NHL debut after his final college season at the University of Minnesota, could also be an option for the top six as well. He collected four points (one goal, three assists) in seven regular-season games.

“When I look at our depth on the wing right now, if you go Snuggerud and Kyrou, then you go on the other side with Buchnevich and Holloway, it seemed like an area of strength of ours,” Armstrong said.

Blues coach Jim Montgomery will begin his first full season behind the bench after being hired Nov. 25, 2024, four days after being fired by the Boston Bruins. St. Louis went 35-18-7 after Montgomery was hired.

“I want to tweak some things, look at what some of the best teams are doing that we could maybe copy because it’s a copycat league,” Montgomery said. “There’s some areas of our game that need to get better and we’ll look at those; 5-on-6 is No. 1. And then I just think everybody coming back and having a training camp together and setting the tone of this is how hard we’re going to work.

“We’re going to come and have fun, too, because we get to play a game for a living, but when it’s your turn to go, whether it’s in training camp, it’s an exhibition game, we’ve got to go and I think that’s something that everybody has embraced.”