Toropchenko epitomizes what Blues want their young players to be: hard-working, detail-oriented, dedicated

Imagine thinking you have an outlet taking the puck behind the net, then having to pivot in the other direction, then getting cut off again, pivoting back around the net to the opposite side, only to find another roadblock wearing No. 13, finally giving the puck up to another teammate waiving the white flag, in a sense.

Uncle.

Getting that kind of player to do that is not often seen, and Toropchenko knew it.

"You see Heiskanen, he was like breathing so hard after that," Toropchenko said. "They got icing and our next line comes and he couldn't do anything. We almost score after that. It's just a mindset. It's playing with the heart."

This is who Toropchenko is in a nutshell. Not what one might imagine when thinking Russian hockey player that has speed, skill, puck-producing abilities.

No, this is someone who makes his living working his tail off, and the Blues love to have him for it.

"That's who he is, and he has to be doing that nightly," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. "Heiskanen's an elite skater in the league, maybe as best as they get. For him to be able to hunt down and stay on top of him, that was pretty impressive, but that's the way he's got to play. He's got to be aggressive.

"We missed him obviously when we went to the [Calder] Cup Final (in 2022). He was called up probably in February or March and he earned a spot here. That was somebody we missed a lot in that lineup because we had Mackenzie MacEachern, Dakota Joshua and him on a line and they were tough to handle at that level."

Toropchenko, 24, won't beat you with an Alex Ovechkin howitzer; he won't beat you with a Pavel Datsyuk-ian dangle; he won't beat you with an Ilya Kovalchuk lethal wrister.

But what the Moscow native will beat you with is tenacity, hard work, grit, relentless work, and most importantly, a team-first mentality.

Bannister said that the offensive side of the game is Toropchenko's A game, but the player is such a student of learning and coaching that if he continues to play the game the right way, it can lead to offensive rewards.

"I'm trying to do everything that the coach is saying," Toropchenko said. "Sometimes we can do something on our own, but we need to make sure it will not go the other way, because if it goes the other way, you will be like in trouble, but sometimes you need to make that play, and you need to trust yourself and do it yourself, but if you do things right, maybe sometimes you get the opportunity to make something on your own."

And by doing the little things that tend to get overlooked at times, they can lead to greater rewards in the larger scheme of things.

"It's been always with me, hard work. It's just a mindset, work first and everything else will come," Toropchenko said. "Hard work pays off. Just trying to do everything right. The way the coaches say to us, just be aggressive and give the (opponent) a hard time.

"My style of the game is just grind, be physical, aggressive, great offensive (player) for my teammates, be good in the d-zone."

Toropchenko, who has nine points (five goals, four assists) in 30 games this season and 30 points (17 goals, 13 assists) in 127 regular-season games in his third season, has been a regular fourth-line skater that provides the necessary energy when needed. But with his hard-working mentality, he's been thrust up into the lineup and deservedly so.

In the past couple games, he's been playing with Kevin Hayes and 2020 first-round pick Jake Neighbours in a show of confidence and good faith from Bannister, who has coached Toropchenko at the American Hockey League level at San Antonio and in Springfield.

"Attention to detail has always been there as a younger player," Bannister said. "When he came to us in I guess San Antonio my second year, there was a little bit of a learning curve, but he caught on. I know the COVID year, he stayed back behind, but the year in between him kind of coming to Springfield, there was leaps and bounds there but a detailed hockey player. He knows who he is and he knows what he needs to do to have success. Still a young hockey player. There are some ups and downs in his game, but I think what we saw over the last two games is what we need from him.

"The offense comes from him being around the net and driving wide and bringing pucks to the net, but it's the stuff away from the puck when it's not on his stick that he creates for his linemates."

Just as he did again Heiskanen on Saturday, and what Toropchenko understands playing in St. Louis is that if you play hard and give it your best, no matter the results, they will appreciate you, just as they did in that instance.

"It feels really good when you hear the support from the fans," Toropchenko said. "When they see the little things, it's very important.

"Team wins is only (what) matters. Everyone is involved in team winning. Everybody should do the little things, and big things will come."