Thomas scored a goal and fired five shots on net in Thursday's 2-1 preseason loss to the Blackhawks.

EDGE Analysis

Thomas led all Blues forwards with 21:25 of ice time. Now that Ryan O'Reilly has moved on, Thomas is expected to be the team's No. 1 center and should be handling similar ice time this season. After O'Reilly was traded last year, Thomas averaged 19:41 per game and posted five goals and 12 assists over 22 outings. We'd like to see him fire the puck on net more often -- he posted just 106 shots on goal in 73 games last year -- but his passing abilities along with the increased ice time will make him an intriguing fantasy option again this year.