Oct. 31: Toropchenko will indeed be ready to go for Wednesday’s tilt against the Avalanche, head coach Craig Berube said today (via Lou Korac of NHL.com).
Oct. 29: Dealing with lower-body issues during the preseason for the St. Louis Blues, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic is reporting that Alexey Toropchenko will once again miss some time with a lower-body injury. Specifically, Rutherford notes that it is considered day-to-day, which should give him solid time to recover, given that the team doesn’t play again until this upcoming Wednesday.
Operating as a bottom-six forward for much of the season last year, Toropchenko became a decent depth scoring option for a middle-of-the-pack Blues offense. In 69 games played, Toropchenko scored 10 goals and nine assists, his best offensive production in a single year over the course of his short career.
In each passing game, Toropchenko appears more and more likely to become a relatively niche part of St. Louis’ offensive scheme. He does play extremely physically, which is a benefit for most teams, but with an unimpressive rating throughout his career, mixed with well below-average possession numbers, Toropchenko does not strike as a player headed for a huge breakout, although it could happen.
Like much of the Blues offense to start this season, Toropchenko has yet to score a goal in the team’s first seven games, averaging about a minute more ice time than he did last year. Being only one of two teams not to average two or more goals a game in the first two weeks of the season, St. Louis will need to make some sort of change to revigorate its offense before things deteriorate too quickly.
Put Torp on IR…recall Gaudette and Peca and send Neighbors to Springfield.