James Neal will look to build on his impressive preseason debut as he seeks to land a contract with the St. Louis Blues out of training camp this season.

On Saturday, Neal recorded a hat trick to propel the Blues to a 6-2 victory in their first preseason game at the Enterprise Center.

Neal is expected to be in the lineup again on Wednesday when the Blues travel to meet the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena (6 p.m. CT, 101 ESPN).

The 34-year-old veteran attends pro tryout camp and has played 850 career NHL games in a 13-year NHL career spanning six franchises. He had 294 goals and 261 assists (555 points) in the regular season.

“For me, I’ve been here for a long time, I’ve played for a lot of different teams. There were a few different options for me, but I felt like this team is a very difficult team to play against. played against It’s a team that wants to win and is about to win again, so for me, I just wanted the opportunity to come here and show the work I did this summer. I know that I have a lot of play left. “

Neal was skating on a line with Robert thomas and Jordan Kyrou Wednesday at the Centene Ice Community Center and should be there for Wednesday’s game.

Here is the rest of the roster planned for the game against the Blue Jackets based on Wednesday’s practice:

PROJECTED RANGE

Before

James Neal – Robert Thomas – Jordan Kyrou
Ivan barbachev – Logan Brown -Michael Frolik
Hugh McGing – Dakota Joshua – Klim Kostin
Keean Washkurak РMatthieu P̩ca РMathias Laferriere

Defense

Marco scandella – Colton Parayko
Jake walman – Steven santini
Tommy cross – Josh Wesley

Goalkeepers

Joel hofer
Charlie lindgren