The Blues reassigned defenseman Theo Lindstein and forward Otto Stenberg to AHL Springfield on Tuesday, per a team release. Both youngsters had been up for the last several weeks to aid in St. Louis’ playoff push, but after the Ducks and Kings locked up the final Western Conference playoff berths last night, they’ll be returned to Springfield to aid in another push for a berth. With three games remaining in the regular season, Springfield has a two-point lead over Lehigh Valley for the cutoff line in the AHL’s Atlantic Division.
With only two games remaining on the Blues’ regular-season schedule, Lindstein and Stenberg won’t be missing much. The 2023 first-rounders were selected just four spots apart at 29th and 25th overall, respectively, and their paths have largely been congruent. Both Swedes made their initial NHL arrivals this season.
Lindstein didn’t get as long a leash as his more offensively inclined counterpart. While Stenberg saw a few call-ups throughout the year, Lindstein didn’t get his first and only one until shortly after the trade deadline. Since his summons on March 9, though, he’s played in 17 straight for the Blues and hasn’t looked out of place. The left-shot puck-mover recorded a pair of goals and assists for four points along with a +6 rating while averaging 15:46 per game. Riding shotgun with Colton Parayko on the second pairing, there were legitimately strong possession impacts underlying those stats. Lindstein’s 52.5% Corsi share and 54.9% shot share at 5-on-5 are both the best marks of any Blues defenseman this season.
His minor-league stat line isn’t nearly as impressive. The Blues’ development plan for the 6’0″, 197-lb Lindstein likely meant they were going to give him an NHL look at some point this year, no matter what, but he was limited to 16 points and a team-worst -24 rating in 56 games with Springfield before his recall. Given that, they’ll be watching what Lindstein does closely down the stretch. If nothing else, the excellent chemistry he showed with Parayko over the last month should give him the inside track toward a roster spot in training camp, assuming the Blues continue a slower-paced retool and don’t load up on defenders in free agency.
Stenberg will almost certainly be with the Blues next October, though. A cerebral two-way piece not unlike his blue line counterpart, he’s a natural center but has skated mostly on the wing thus far in his NHL minutes. That hasn’t stopped him from producing three goals and seven assists for 10 points through his first 32 games, tacking on a +3 rating and 49 hits while averaging 13:37 of ice time per night.
Stenberg has seen some fringe penalty kill usage, just north of a minute per game, in which he grades out well. The 20-year-old needs to shoot more – he averaged a tick under one shot on goal per game – to boost his point totals. His all-around numbers, though, indicate a player well on track to hit his floor of being a responsible bottom-six piece. The Blues controlled 46.8% of shot attempts with him on the ice at 5-on-5. That’s a respectable figure considering he only started 42% of his shifts in the offensive zone.