Blues’ Standouts of the Week: Hofer, Dvorsky, and Suter

It is time for our first look at the St. Louis Blues’ standouts of the week. The team played only two games, shutting out the Dallas Stars on Friday and losing a tough one Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche. It may be a short list, but there’s plenty to look at.

Let’s not waste any more time. For the first time this season, here are the Blues’ standouts of the week.

Standout #3: Pius Suter

Pius Suter‘s second season as a Blue started strong on Friday. Centering the fourth line, the Swiss forward made a strong play behind the net, stealing the puck and causing Stars’ goaltender Jake Oettinger to lose his balance and fall. Suter promptly fed Philip Broberg in front of the net, who in turn passed it to Dalibor Dvorsky, who scored. Suter later added a goal of his own into an empty net.

The veteran forward can play anywhere in the Blues’ forward groups, either at center or on the wing. He certainly made plays on the fourth line on Friday. Saturday did not go quite as well (minus-1 and no shots on goal), but Suter is someone to watch among the forwards.

Standout #2: Dalibor Dvorsky

Dalibor Dvorsky is one of many members of the organization’s youth movement. After 12 goals in 71 games last season, the 2023 first-round pick is off to a strong start in 2026-27. He benefited from Suter’s great play on Friday and scored the team’s lone goal in Saturday’s loss.

His performance on the faceoff dot is worth mentioning. In both games, Dvorsky won 40% of his faceoffs. Why is this important? The Blues trusted him to center the third line at the start of the season. Other options included moving Suter up to the third line and placing Dvorsky on the wing. As the season continues, it will be interesting to see if Slovakian can improve on the dot.

He is on pace for 84 goals this season. If he continues that pace, very few will worry about what he does on the dot.

Standout #1: Joel Hofer

The Blues’ MVP from last season continues to show why he’s the organization’s new number one goaltender. Joel Hofer was the first Blues goalie, other than Jordan Binnington, to start a season-opening game since 2018 (Jake Allen). Playing against a strong Stars’ offense, Hofer stopped all 25 shots for his first shutout of the season. After tying for second-most shutouts in the NHL last season, he is off to a strong start as he looks to repeat and exceed that success.

Hofer also showed his stick skills. He played the puck multiple times, and even picked up an assist on Suter’s goal. For now, he is tied for the team lead in helpers. Of course, that won’t last, nor will the fact that he has created more goals than he has given up against. However, we can enjoy that Hofer appears ready to embrace the starting job and truly become the goaltender of the future for the organization.

The Week Ahead

The Blues will play three games this upcoming week. They will conclude their road trip on Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks. After that, the team will play their first home games of the new season, starting by welcoming Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks to the Enterprise Center on Thursday.

The Hockey Writers will continue to provide Blues and league-wide content throughout the week- the first full week of the NHL season!