Jordan Kyrou scores 40 goals and breaks the 80-point barrier for the first time in his career. \u2014 Philip H.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been doing my own bold preseason predictions for several years, and I think I\u2019ve had Kyrou eclipsing the 40-goal mark every year<\/a>. He\u2019s been close, hitting 37 in 2022-23 and 36 last year. I\u2019ll agree with you, Philip, that he\u2019s going to do it this season. And with a few more goals and a few more assists, he\u2019ll get to 80 points, too.<\/p>\n Dylan Holloway leads the team in scoring with 42 goals. \u2014 Dana D.<\/p>\n Wow, 42! He had a great season, scoring 26 goals in 77 games before his season ended with an undisclosed injury. However, he\u2019ll be ready for the start of training camp<\/a>, and the expectation is that he\u2019ll be back on a line with Kyrou and Brayden Schenn, so another productive offensive season is possible. But I\u2019ll say 30 goals for him.<\/p>\n Jimmy Snuggerud has 25-plus goals, 20-plus assists and wins the Calder Trophy. \u2014 Matt M.<\/p>\n I spoke with Snuggerud recently<\/a>, and I could hear in his voice how much he wants to make an impact on the team in his first full season. He gained 12 pounds and is up to 197, which will help him win more battles and lead to more offense. I\u2019ll say 20 goals and 40 points, but Montreal\u2019s Ivan Demidov wins the Calder.<\/p>\n Kyrou, Snuggerud, Pavel Buchnevich, Robert Thomas and Jake Neighbours all score 30-plus goals. \u2014 Z A.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll give you two of the five: Kyrou and Buchnevich, with the latter poised for a bounce-back year. I already mentioned 20 for Snuggerud. Thomas may hit 100 points, but that\u2019ll come from a career-high in assists and 25 to 29 goals. With Neighbours, it depends: Will he play regularly on the third line or play one of the top lines?<\/p>\n By the end of the season, Neighbours and Buchnevich will have switched lines, with Jake at first-line left wing and Buchnevich at third-line left wing. \u2014 Aaron S.<\/p>\n Neighbours will definitely see some time in the top six, and perhaps his play will keep him there, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019ll be at Buchnevich\u2019s expense. Buchnevich knows he hasn\u2019t been productive enough offensively the past couple of seasons, and with his six-year, $48 million contract kicking in and the fact that he\u2019ll be starting the season on the wing, he\u2019ll be motivated and more suited for success.<\/p>\n Four players get 70-plus points. \u2014 Harry L.<\/p>\n I\u2019m assuming you\u2019re referring to Thomas, Holloway, Kyrou and Buchnevich. Yeah, I\u2019ll go along with that.<\/p>\n Pius Suter joins the second line, scores 30 goals and has 60 assists.\u00a0 \u2014 Brian R.<\/p>\n Suter did put up 25 goals with the Vancouver Canucks last season, and when I chatted with him earlier this summer<\/a>, he said he felt like he could do it again. Thirty goals are a lot, though. Like with Neighbours, it\u2019ll depend on where he\u2019s playing. Is he centering the second or third line? My guess is he\u2019ll fall short of your numbers.<\/p>\n Thanks to Steve Ott, Suter and Nick Bjugstad will both improve their faceoff percentage and both be around 50 percent on the year. \u2014 Shawn D.<\/p>\n Ott has worked wonders with Thomas and others in the faceoff circle over the past eight seasons. Bjugstad has a career-winning percentage of 48.9, so it wouldn\u2019t take much for him to win 50 percent. Suter has a career winning percentage of 46 percent and was 42.6 percent with the Canucks last season, so that\u2019ll be a little more difficult. But again, working with Ott every day will certainly help.<\/p>\n Suter helps to transform the Blues\u2019 penalty kill into a top-five unit. \u2014 Stuart E.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know about top-five, but Suter will make a difference and the PK unit should be better than where it finished last season \u2014 No. 28 in the NHL. Vancouver was No. 3 in the league last year, and Suter was a big part of that.<\/p>\n Justin Carbonneau makes the team out of camp, and we sit Oskar Sundqvist. \u2014 Ryan R.<\/p>\n As much as I like Carbonneau \u2014 how can you not when you learn about his work ethic and compete level<\/a> \u2014 I don\u2019t see him making the team. Ever since the Blues went into their retool, they\u2019ve preached about the need for patience with prospects and the importance of putting them in positions to succeed. Sundqvist may find himself battling to stay in the lineup, but that will be because guys like Mathieu Joseph, Alexandre Texier, Milan Lucic or even Dalibor Dvorsky are playing well \u2014 not because Carbonneau has arrived in St. Louis.<\/p>\n Dvorsky doesn\u2019t make the opening night roster but joins them after the break and plays on the wing the rest of the season. \u2014 Shawn G.<\/p>\n I could see this happening. I don\u2019t think you can keep Dvorsky in AHL Springfield another full season. Therefore, whether it\u2019s him earning it in the minors or there are injuries, I could see him coming up and playing more wing than center to start.<\/p>\n Lucic makes the team and scores 20 goals playing on the third line with Neighbours and Schenn. \u2014 Terry T.<\/p>\n Going into this article, I thought the bold prediction would be Lucic just making the team. Now we\u2019ve got him scoring 20 goals! Wow, Terry, you really understood the assignment. But Lucic hasn\u2019t scored 20 goals since 2016-17 with the Edmonton Oilers, so even if he\u2019s on the roster, I have to give this a thumbs down.<\/p>\n Kyrou has five major penalties this year for fighting! \u2014 Terry T.<\/p>\n If he fights five times this season, the tough guys on this roster should be put on waivers.<\/p>\n Defensemen<\/p>\n Colton Parayko wins the Norris Trophy \u2014 Vision F.<\/p>\n I like Parayko a lot, and I\u2019m so impressed with the player he\u2019s become. But while he should be in the Norris conversation, he\u2019s never going to put the offense of the Colorado Avalanche\u2019s Cale Makar and Vancouver\u2019s Quinn Hughes, and that\u2019s not going to help him. Whether Parayko ever sniffs the award or not, he\u2019s a very, very solid defenseman.<\/p>\n Colton Parayko showed he\u2019s one of the world\u2019s best defensemen in the 4 Nations Face-Off with Canada in February. (Bruce Bennett \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Cam Fowler breaks his personal best of 48 points in a season. \u2014 Scott F.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2201089024-scaled.jpg\")
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