As first reported by CapFriendly, the St. Louis Blues have removed prospect forward Keean Washkurak from their season-opening injured-reserve list, and assigned him to their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds. Washkurak had left wrist surgery after being injured in the preseason and is now ready to begin his sophomore professional campaign.
The 21-year-old forward was the Blues’ fifth-round choice at the 2019 draft and made his full professional debut last season with the Thunderbirds. A solid top-six forward at the junior level, Washkurak played in a bottom-six role last season and scored a healthy 13 goals and 23 points in 64 games. Washkurak also got some looks on the team’s power play, although he was not a major contributor there.
Now 21 years old and fully in the professional phase of his development, this season will go a long way in determining if an NHL future is in the cards for Washkurak. That makes his return to health after missing just eight of the Thunderbirds’ games so important.
Springfield has gotten off to an uneven start so far in the AHL, with a 4-3-1 record, and they will hope that Washkurak returning to their lineup can help them find the form they showed last season when they made a run to the Calder Cup Final.