In the organization’s day off leading into the New Year, the St. Louis Blues have sent down a veteran forward to keep pace with their salary cap management. In an announcement from the team this afternoon, the Blues have sent down Mackenzie MacEachern to their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds.
The demotion will not be foreign territory for MacEachern, as he has regularly been used as an extra forward throughout his time in the NHL, both in his first stint with St.Louis as well as a one-year stop with the Carolina Hurricanes last season. Drafted 67th overall back in the 2012 NHL Draft by the Blues, MacEachern is a veteran of 123 NHL games dating back to the 2018-19 season, scoring 11 goals and 20 points overall.
With about twice the amount of games played in the AHL as compared to his time in the NHL, MacEachern has been much more productive, scoring 47 goals and 104 points in 240 games. Although he only played in the Calder Cup playoffs twice throughout his career in the AHL, MacEachern has been relatively more productive when viewing his scoring ratio, putting up eight goals and 16 points in 28 playoff games.
In only eight games with the Blues this season, MacEachern has tallied one assist overall, averaging just under eight minutes of ice time per night, not receiving any minutes on either unit of the team’s powerplay or penalty kill. When the Blues return to action on January 4th against the Vancouver Canucks, it is more than likely that MacEachern will be recalled to the NHL lineup, as St. Louis currently only has 12 forwards on the active roster.