The Blues have opened up a roster spot heading into tonight’s game against Chicago. The team announced that they have assigned winger Aleksanteri Kaskimaki to AHL Springfield. Matt Luff took his place in the lineup.
The 21-year-old received his first recall of the season at the beginning of the month and played regularly after, getting into five games with St. Louis. However, while Kaskimaki played more than 15 minutes in his NHL debut against Boston but only surpassed the 11-minute mark once in his other four outings. Overall, he was held off the scoresheet in those appearances while recording six shots and a minus-six rating.
Kaskimaki was a third-round pick by the Blues back in 2022, going 73rd overall. He spent his full professional season with the Thunderbirds in 2024-25 where he had 11 goals and 23 assists in 63 games. So far this year, he’s scoring at a similar clip, notching four goals and three helpers in 16 appearances. He’ll have a chance to add to those numbers now that he’s back in the minors.
There was no corresponding recall so for now, St. Louis will go with one vacant spot on its roster. At this point, none of the four forwards that are currently on IR are close to a return so we’ll see if a recall comes in the coming days. From a salary cap perspective, they’re currently using LTIR even with Kaskimaki’s demotion so that won’t be a factor in whatever move comes next.