It starts tonight. The much anticipated 2024-25 San Jose Sharks season begins tonight at SAP Center, with the debut of Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith. This is the start of a new chapter for San Jose, with a potential one-two punch down the middle that could bring flashbacks of the good old days with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau.
But the start is expected to be bumpy. Celebrini and Smith will have growing pains and they will not look good night in and night out. It’s hard to expect any teenager to consistently thrive in the best hockey league in the world. That said, the pressure will be off. This is a growth year for the young forwards, a building block to help them become NHL stars. Provided they look like they are taking strides in their development, the numbers on the scoreboard will not matter to Sharks’ management this season.
On the other side of the ice, the St. Louis Blues took big swings in the offseason, acquiring young talent in both the forward position and defense. The two offer sheets for Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway actually worked, and the Blues added two young players without having to give up much in terms of draft picks.
The Blues also added Radek Faksa and Alexandre Texier to try and boost the offense.
In the meantime, Head Coach Drew Bannister will have his first full season behind the bench for St. Louis. He took over for Craig Berube on Dec. 12 of last season.
The Blues have already officially started the season. The team beat the Seattle Kraken 3-2 on Tuesday, scoring three goals in 115 seconds for the come from behind win.
St. Louis Blues lines on Oct. 10, 2024
St. Louis won the game without Brandon Saad, who missed the opening day because of the expected arrival of his third child. Saad is also expected to miss today’s game. Torey Krug will be out for a while after having ankle surgery. Oskar Sundqvist is also injured.
With all that in mind, here’s what Jeremy Rutherford reports the Blues’ starting lineup to look like tonight. Jordan Binnington will play backup and Joel Hofer will get the start.
#stlblues morning skate lineup at San Jose:
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) October 10, 2024
Holloway-Thomas-Neighbours
Texier-Buchnevich-Kyrou
M. Joseph-Schenn-Kapanen
Toropchenko-Faksa-Walker
Leddy-Parayko
Broberg-Faulk
Suter-Kessel
Hofer projected starter
Forwards
Dylan Holloway – Robert Thomas – Jake Neighbours
Alexandre Texier – Pavel Buchnevich – Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph – Brayden Schenn – Kasperi Kapanen
Alexey Toropchenko – Radek Faksa – Nathan Walker
Defense
Nick Leddy – Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg – Justin Faulk
Ryan Suter – Matthew Kessel
Goaltenders
Joel Hofer
Jordan Binnington
San Jose Sharks lines for opening night
As for the Sharks, look for a youth movement in the lineup. In addition to Will Smith and Celebrini, Danil Gushchin will be a part of the starting lineup. Eight of tonight’s starters are 25 or younger.
Not shocked that Mackenzie Blackwood starts in net tonight, the guy helped carry the team last season.
#TheFutureIsTeal lines at practice today, same as last two days. This should your opening night line-up:
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 9, 2024
Eklund-Celebrini-Toffoli
Granlund-W. Smith-Zetterlund
Kunin-Wennberg-Goodrow
Gushchin-Sturm-Dellandrea
Walman-Ceci
Ferraro-Rutta
Thrun-Benning
Forwards
William Eklund – Macklin Celebrini – Tyler Toffoli
Mikael Granlund – Will Smith – Fabian Zetterlund
Luke Kunin – Alex Wennberg – Barclay Goodrow
Danil Gushchin – Nico Sturm – Ty Dellandrea
Defense
Jake Walman – Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro – Jan Rutta
Henry Thrun – Matt Benning
Goaltenders
Mackenzie Blackwood
Vitek Vanecek
How to watch Blues at Sharks Oct. 10, 2024
In a crazy twist of events, you will not be able to watch the Sharks game tonight unless you have ESPN+ or Hulu live television! It’s something Sharks fans saw coming, but it’s crazy that the league let the brass at ESPN get away with it. This is opening night and living in the Bay Area won’t let you see the game on your normal cable provider.
Okay, aside from the rant. Fans can also listen to the game through the Sharks Audio Network. If you’re a Blues fan, listen through the Blues app.
The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. PT/9:30 p.m. CT at SAP Center in San Jose.
If you can’t make the game, be sure to join us here where fans will chat about all the on ice and off ice happenings.
