from Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

His name is Robert Thomas.

He is the future, earmarked to be the best player on the Blues in, say, 2023. Even though, really, the future was part of the past – he was a key player on last season’s Stanley Cup run. But the future is also the present, and the future is wow.

Robert Thomas is no longer a rookie or a teenager or, if this was ever said in any sort of negative tone, just a third-liner. Robert Thomas is the Blues player who will take the biggest strides in this coming season.

I’ve been pretty lucky my whole career to see some really good young players,” said veteran Tyler Bozak, who centered Thomas’ line last postseason. “In Toronto with (Auston) Matthews and (Mitch) Marner and with Thommer here. It’s fun to see how good these kids are at such a young age.

“And even watching him skate out here now, he even looks like he took another step.”

The Blues returned to practice this weekend, and there was No. 18, no longer 19. Thomas turned 20 in July, though he shared Saturday that guys in the locker room still call him “kid.” Though in hockey terms, he is a kid, considering he might again be the youngest player on St. Louis and because he cannot drink. Well, we know he physically can drink – he famously paraded around the parade with a celebratory beverage brewed locally.

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