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Blues to open with Tarasenko-Stastny-Steen line

Vladimir Tarasenko,  Paul Stastny

Vladimir Tarasenko, Paul Stastny

AP

The St. Louis Blues will begin their exhibition campaign tonight, and will do so with a pretty intriguing top unit.

Star sniper Vladimir Tarasenko and fellow winger Alex Steen will be centered by Paul Stastny when the Blues take on the Jackets in split-squad action, per the Post-Dispatch.

The move has been met with excitement.

Tarasenko, fresh off a career-high 37 goals -- and a monster eight-year, $60 million extension -- will be paired with Stastny who, despite a disappointing first campaign in St. Louis, is viewed as the club’s best playmaking center. This is a guy who, don’t forget, finished sixth in the NHL in assists (59) during the 2009-10 campaign... on a Colorado team that didn’t have a single 30-goal scorer.

So there’s hope Tarasenko can reach new heights with Stastny in the middle, and that Stastny’s St. Louis career can be kickstarted by the Russian.

As for Steen -- well, he’ll obviously be seen as the third wheel on the line. But it’s important to remember the veteran Swede is coming off a really good campaign of his own, scoring a career-high 64 points.