ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Blues have managed to avoid any quagmire when it comes to their roster due to injured players.
This allows the Blues to wait to make roster decisions on those who would be at risk if they are safe at the NHL level or risk being exposed to a move to the American Hockey League .
That time is almost up with Alexandre Texier (upper body injury) and Oskar Sundqvist (right ACL tear) each set to return to the active roster.
So what do the Blues (3-2-0), who host the Carolina Hurricanes (2-1-0) do on Saturday? They can only carry 23 players and will have 25 ready to go.
Decisions will have to be made, but which ones?
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Let’s take a look:
* Do the Blues cut their crop before — If the Blues want to keep eight defensemen on the active roster, they will have to reduce their forward group.
Candidates will likely include: Zack Bolduc, Kasperi Kapanen and possibly Nathan Walker.
My feeling is that if the Blues go this route, they will assign Bolduc to Springfield and put Kapanen and his $1 million cap hit on waivers.
I think Walker is too valuable to this team for a variety of reasons and someone who can move up and down the lineup when needed and needed.
Bolduc, in my opinion, has made his place on this list. Now, I understand the kid needs to start showing some semblance of scoring and getting his name on the scoresheet (one assist in four games), but I don’t think it’s in his best interest to go to Springfield , especially if the Blues are going to continue to feature him on this list as one of the six best attackers.
The child simply continues to play, grow and expand his role.
Coach Drew Bannister was impressed with Bolduc’s overall play Thursday, especially using some physicality and contributing in other areas if the puck isn’t going into the net. This bodes well for what the coaching staff and management team are thinking.
As for Kapanen, I’m still in the camp of those who were surprised when the Blues re-signed him last summer. I honestly thought they were moving away from him, but it’s a credit to the 27-year-old he worked the opening day roster himself and filled it out adequately while Brandon Saad was on paternity leave. However, in four games, he has not recorded a single point and is minus-3 and was healthy last Tuesday.
I say the Blues put the veteran on waivers and if he gets claimed, good luck. Otherwise, the possibility of sending him to Springfield to play and have as a safety net if someone got hurt was there.
* Make the Blues eliminated from the defensive group — If the Blues do not remove two players from their attacking group, the likely scenario would be that a striker and a defender are eliminated.
When training camp began, there was a three-way battle to win one of the two available spots.
The Blues decided to keep eight defensemen and Tyler Tucker was the odd man out in a field battle with Scott Perunovich and Pierre-Olivier Joseph.
Honestly, if Bolduc stays with the big club, the Blues will have to have a forward and a defenseman, which would give them 14 forwards, seven defensemen and two goalkeepers.
I think OP Joseph has a firm grasp on that seventh spot, maybe even sixth depending on how Matthew Kessel plays.
That leaves Perunovich on waivers and let’s be honest, he’s the eighth defenseman on this list and hasn’t even sniffed the game this season, and with Joseph making himself more visible every time and without any injuries on the blue line ( aside from Nick Leddy dealing with a lower-body injury on a daily basis), it will be difficult for Perunovich to break into the lineup.
As with Kapanen, if Perunovich remains on waivers and is claimed, it might be best for him to start over elsewhere. And if not, he needs to play and he would go to Springfield to play a lot. At 26 years old, he has played a total of 73 regular season games in the NHL and that’s nothing. He just needs to play. Period.
*Prediction — If the Blues believe Leddy is only a matter of when, not if he plays soon, they put Kapanen and Perunovich on waivers and take their chances when Texier and Sundqvist are each activated. But if Leddy misses time, then they have the luxury of sending Bolduc back because he’s waiver-exempt, but only if Leddy misses some time. And in that case, they would have to keep an extra man and that would be Perunovich.
Once again, there’s a feeling that the 21-year-old Bolduc has made his mark as an NHL regular and deserves to be here. So, in a perfect – and healthy – world it is Kapanen and Perunovich who are exposed.
But we’ll see.
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