With the conclusion of the 2026 Olympics, the focus now turns back to the 2025-26 NHL regular season.
For the St. Louis Blues, the break was needed, as the season has been a total mess from the get-go. They’ve dealt with numerous injuries, plenty of their star players have massively underperformed, and they sit in 31st place in the NHL.
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Although mathematically they haven’t been eliminated from playoff contention, they sit 14 points back of the final wild card spot in the Western Conference and have shown no signs of turning things around.
The Blues will be sellers at the deadline, and that’s okay.
Despite their low place in the standings, when looking at their roster when completely healthy, it’s difficult to find spots to place their young forwards. That’s especially true for 20-year-old Swedish winger Otto Stenberg.
After a spectacular performance at the Olympics and a strong start to his NHL career, Dalibor Dvorsky may never play in the AHL again. For Stenberg, as it stands, he’s currently down in the AHL with the Springfield Thunderbirds.
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Stenberg hasn’t lit up the AHL offensively as some may have expected. With just four goals and 12 points in 28 games, Stenberg’s numbers aren’t much to rave about, but he plays a balanced game with the mindset to win pucks back at all costs. Stenberg has performed better at the NHL level rather than the AHL level, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the NHL is the best spot for him.
Otto Stenberg has scored one goal and eight points in 18 NHL games. (Terrence Lee-Imagn Images)
The AHL remains a developmental league, and if the Blues envision Stenberg as a top-six forward for their future, they need him to hone his offensive skills and play meaningful minutes, rather than playing in a fourth-line role on the Blues, which is what he would currently play with a healthy Blues lineup.
But Stenberg could be back up with the Blues again this season. The March 6 trade deadline is just 11 days away, and the Blues are expected to move on from several key players. That’s when Stenberg could find his opportunity to rejoin the Blues’ NHL roster.
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At just 20 years old, the results and the production aren’t the most important things for Stenberg; it’s the process. They believe Stenberg has the intangibles and compete level of an NHL player, but his next step is to improve his offensive skill set and slowly turn it into production.
The Blues aren’t making the playoffs, and they aren’t in a total rebuild, so patience is a tool the Blues can utilize to their benefit with Stenberg.
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