Connor McMichael is delivering early returns for the St. Louis Blues as he begins his tenure with the club.
The 25-year-old forward leads the Blues in scoring with four points (2g, 2a) in four games, while skating on the team’s second line and second power-play unit. With his goal on Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks, McMichael now has goals in back-to-back games.
Connor McMichael scores for Blues against Sharks
McMichael combined with another Blues offseason addition, Mason McTavish, to score his second goal of the season. The two have built early chemistry on their new team and are the only Blues to have recorded more than two points so far this year.
“I think it’s been really good,” McMichael said after Thursday’s game. “I think it’s been easy for me, to be honest, coming to the Blues at the same time as him. It’s been like a breath of fresh air, kind of having another guy in the same scenario as me. So we’ve been bouncing a lot of things off each other and just looking to keep that rolling.”
McMichael, who is wearing jersey number 77 with the Blues, arrived in St. Louis when the Washington Capitals sent him, a 2026 first-round draft pick, and prospect Milton Gastrin to the Blues in a trade for winger Jordan Kyrou on June 23.
Kyrou has recorded just one assist through three games for the Caps, struggling to find chemistry on a line with brothers Aliaksei and Ilya Protas.
McMichael vs Kyrou
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connor McMichael | St. Louis Blues | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -2 |
| Jordan Kyrou | Washington Capitals | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -5 |
McMichael was Washington’s 2019 first-round pick and played parts of six seasons in the organization. Thursday’s game marked his first in front of Blues fans as the club dropped their home opener 3-2 in overtime to the Sharks.
“Yeah, it was pretty special,” McMichael said. “I mean, when I first got traded here, that was the first thing I found out: that it was a huge sports city, and the fans for sure backed that up tonight with the player intros and then the energy early on there. So it was a lot of fun.”
McMichael’s first goal with the Blues also came in a losing effort, as he scored the second goal in a 4-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
Connor McMichael scores power-play goal against Blackhawks
McMichael, who was a restricted free agent this past summer, signed a six-year, $40.5 million contract extension with the Blues in mid-July, avoiding salary arbitration.
The deal will see McMichael earn $6.75 million against the NHL salary cap through the 2031-32 season. The final four years of the contract include a three-team no-trade list.
