St. Louis Blues 2025 first-round pick Justin Carbonneau (left), with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman after being selected. (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Doug Armstrong will have a very interesting lookout when training camp opens in mid-September for the 2025-26 season.
That's based off what the St. Louis Blues general manager saw in early July when the organization held its yearly development camp.
And what did Armstrong, heading into his final season as Blues GM, come away with?
"It's been interesting," he said. "A couple of years ago, two camps have really stood out. One (was) two years ago, [Dalibor] Dvorsky's first camp, and the time we had Robert Thomas, [Jordan] Kyrou, Tage [Thompson] in Traverse City, it was like, 'Wow, there's a lot out there.' Just because we didn't have a lot of picks this year, defensemen have a harder time standing out than forwards, and we had a lot of 'D' drafted last year, so I'm excited where those young 'D' are at. I think [2025 first-round pick Justin] Carbonneau's had a very good good camp. Getting to know him, he's got a lot of personality in a positive way. He draws people to him."
The Blues will have a lot of younger skaters and/or prospects at this year's main camp, including Carbonneau, who declared recently that he will not attend college at Boston College and instead will stay at junior and leave the possibility of perhaps making the big club immediately.
There were a lot of players that opened eyes, and Armstrong mentioned a couple players we touched on here at The Hockey News:
