Krug Placed In COVID Protocol; Schenn Returns To St. Louis

The St. Louis Blues will be without the services of another important player, announcing that Torey Krug has been placed in the COVID protocol. The team has recalled Calle Rosen from the AHL, moving Dakota Joshua down in his place. Not only is Krug is unavailable for the time being, but so is Brayden Schenn, who is dealing with an upper-body injury and has returned to St. Louis for further evaluation.

It’s not all bad news for the Blues, who also are getting Ryan O’Reilly back after his own COVID quarantine. General manager Doug Armstrong explained that O’Reilly has rejoined the team on the road trip and is expected to be ready to play on Sunday. The captain’s return comes at the perfect time as the team deals with both injuries and COVID-related absences.

In fact, the Blues could be in a very tricky situation if anyone else is ruled out. Armstrong told reporters including Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic that given they have just 21 players now and could have to play short. St. Louis doesn’t have the cap space to recall anyone else, given they were already using almost all of the flexibility created by placing Oskar Sundqvist on injured reserve. If they do have to play short at any point, the team would be able to make an emergency recall afterward to bring up a player without his cap hit. That would only be until the injured players are ready to return, but would at least keep them from icing a shortened roster.

Losing Krug and Schenn at the same though is a brutal hit for the team given how important they are. Krug averages nearly 21 minutes of ice time and has eight points in his first nine games, while Schenn had been carrying a big part of the load at center with O’Reilly out. The 30-year-old forward’s six points in nine games trails several others, but he is still a huge part of their game plan at both ends of the rink.