Blues Head Coach Craig Berube is bringing a young lineup to Wichita for the preseason opener against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night (7 pm, 101 ESPN).
The most-experienced NHL players in the lineup Saturday are tryout Tyler Pitlick (325 games), Josh Leivo (214 games), Jordan Binnington (162 games), Matthew Highmore (137 games) and Luke Witkowski (132 games).
Without those five players, the remaining 15 have combined for just 183 games of NHL experience. Nine players haven’t played in an NHL regular season game at all.
“We’ll have a young lineup going in there,” Berube said Friday. “(We’re) just taking a lot of young guys. It’s an inexperienced lineup, but at the same time, there are guys that are playing that are out there to prove something.”
Players to watch include first-round picks Jake Neighbors – who got nine games of NHL experience last season before returning to juniors – and Zachary Bolduc.
Saturday’s game will be the first NHL game played in the state of Kansas. The Blues and Coyotes are playing at the 13,000-seat INTRUST Bank Arena, home of the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder.
Fans can listen live to play-by-play and analysis from Chris Kerber and Joey Vitale on 101 ESPN. The radio broadcast will also be available in the Blues App.
PROJECTED LINEUP
Forwards
Zachary Bolduc – Nikita Alexandrov – Josh Leivo
Jake Neighbors – Logan Brown – Martin Frk
Matthew Highmore – Nathan Todd – Klim Kostin
Landon Sim – Keean Washkurak – Tyler Pitlick
Defense
Scott Perunovich – Matthew Kessel
Calle Rosen – Brady Lyle
Michael Buchinger – Luke Witkowski
Goalie
Jordan Binnington
Joel Hofer
.