Veteran forward, Stanley Cup winner in 2019 is healthy, has to fight for a job with St. Louis Blues despite opportunities to sign elsewhere potentially with guaranteed NHL job, only wanted to be here
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Opportunities presented themselves for Oskar Sundqvist to depart St. Louis one more time to prolong his NHL career in a guaranteed fashion.
But that’s not what the 32-year-old wanted, because St. Louis is where his heart is, and the St. Louis Blues organization means so much to the Boden, Sweden native.
Sundqvist, who has spent eight of his 11 NHL seasons in St. Louis and met his wife here, has been through it all at this level, including reach the pinnacle of winning the Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019. But this is somewhat uncharted territory, and when he signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $850,000 NHL/$300,000 AHL, there was reasoning behind it: his love for this city and franchise.
“Obviously everything. This is where I want to be, this is where I wanted to sign the whole time,” Sundqvist said Friday. “There’s never really any thought anywhere else. It is different, but like I said for me, I love being here, I love being in this organization, I love ‘Monty’ and those guys and obviously ‘Otter’ too. It was an easy decision and obviously how much I like this organization and this city.
“It’s different, but it doesn’t change anything for me. This competition is very healthy for especially the bottom six. This is the tightest it’s been in my years since I’ve been here to grab a spot. All that’s healthy and you’re just pushing each other to be the best version of yourself every day and every play you make out there. For my own sake, I’m just looking at this positively and just trying to do the best I can every day.”
Sundqvist has been part of Group B at the start of training camp, meaning he’s with all the prospects that are likely Springfield-bound or with guys like Nathan Walker, Jack Finley, Dillon Dube, Otto Stenberg, Aleksanteri Kaskimaki and perhaps Dylan Peterson vying to win the remaining two spots (Nos. 13 and 14) on the opening night roster.
If Sundqvist, who had 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in 52 games last season and has fought his own injury demons that have included a pair of torn ACL’s, doesn’t win out a roster spot, he is prone to waivers and if unclaimed, head to Springfield and play for the time being under Steve Ott.
That’s why he understands he’s in a fight for his livelihood to stay in the NHL and with the Blues.
“Play my game and be consistent and show that I want one of those spots, show that I can do what they’re asking me to do and be consistent and be reliable and play my game,” Sundqvist said. “I lost it a little bit last year I feel like the second half especially. It’s more just getting back to where I was and how I was playing and obviously getting the speed up. It’s different skating. It doesn’t really matter how hard you’re trying before training camp starts. It’s a different breed. Just these two days, now we’re back up to speed I feel like and just keep working on it.”
What does Sundqvist, who has played in 545 regular-season NHL games in his career with the Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild, have going for him more than anything? Health.
Blues brass and the coaching staff know more than anyone who Sundqvist is, but coming into a training camp completely healthy for the first time since 2024 has its benefits.
“Just that he has the capability of handling more ice time, he has the capability of not breaking down, his body’s not breaking down,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “There’s a lot of games last year where he was playing and he was playing on a leg and a half, and that’s not the case right now. It’s just to see how much energy he has.
“It says how much he loves being a Blue (signing a two-way contract). I think that’s the simplest thing it says and I think he’s willing to fight for his way into the roster. I do know that this is the best that he’s felt physically in four or five years because it’s the second summer in a row where he hasn’t had to have a surgery. Chronologically, he’s not old, like even for a hockey player.”
Sundqvist said he’s grateful to finally feel healthy again, something that hasn’t been the case for prolonged stretches of his career.
“I talked to Ray (Barile) and he knows about it too and (Ryan) Podell, especially when you have ACL surgeries and knees and stuff like that,” Sundqvist said. “It usually takes two years before it’s fully healed. Last year, you go into a third period and your knees are hurting pretty bad. This summer and these skates that we’ve had a couple week before this and now these two (training camp practices), it’s probably been pain free in the knee. It feels much better and it feels like you can take your stride out a little bit more and push off of it more. It feels really good actually. I’m happy to feel this way.”
And when was the last time he felt this way?
“Right before my second ACL surgery, so that was 2.5 years ago probably,” Sundqvist said. “It’s been a while. It’s good to be totally pain free and feel like I can keep up with guys out there and not limping around.
“It’s nice now, these two days have been a great test for it. It’s been a lot of skating and a lot of moving out there and I haven’t had any problems. It’s been a good test and I’m really happy I don’t have any pain.”
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