Six Weeks Without Toropchenko, and the Depth Chart Gets Thin Fast

Alexy Toropchenko is out at least six weeks with the shoulder injury he suffered in the opener at Dallas, and the confirmation of that timeline does something the initial news didn't quite do: it forces the question of who fills that spot for the next month and a half.

The Blues went into this season having spent heavily to rebuild the forward group — McMichael locked up long-term, McTavish brought in from Anaheim, Dillon Dube winning a roster spot in camp. The depth behind that core, though, is where it gets uncomfortable. Sundqvist, Walker, and Finley all cleared waivers last week and are in Springfield now. The forwards St. Louis kept over them are now being asked to absorb a six-week absence with essentially no cushion below them on the roster.

The right wing depth in particular is thin. Jimmy Snuggerud is the starter, and the drop-off from there is steep. That was a known issue before Toropchenko went down; it's a more pressing one now.

Nothing here changes the season overnight. But the Blues built this offseason around stabilizing the forward group, and one of those forwards is gone before the second game is played. The blue line was already the story coming in. Now the front of the roster has its own problem to manage.