Training Camp Is Two Weeks Out. Carlo Still Has No Timeline.

Brandon Carlo remains sidelined with no clear return date, and training camp is closing in. The Blues acquired him from Toronto for two third-round picks this summer specifically to shore up a back end that gave up 3.1 goals per game over the season's final ten games — a number that stood out badly against the 2.4 they'd allowed in the twenty games before that. The whole point of the deal was to have a steadying presence ready before puck drop in October. That plan is now in real jeopardy.

What makes this uncomfortable is that the defensive corps behind Carlo doesn't offer much reassurance. Justin Faulk and Philip Broberg logged the heaviest minutes last season, and Cam Fowler was a minus-20 in 48 games. That's the group that held things together — loosely — before the late collapse. Carlo was supposed to be the addition that changed the calculus. Without him available at full strength, the Blues are essentially running back a version of the same back end that broke down when it mattered most.

The offseason has had its wins. McMichael is locked in long-term, McTavish is in the fold, and the forward group looks meaningfully different than it did in April. But the analyst piece that ran here last week had it right: St. Louis rebuilt the wrong half of its roster, and Carlo's uncertain status makes that critique harder to argue with every day he doesn't practice.