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Dakota Joshua

Injury Notes: MacEachern, Bruins, Flyers

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The regular season is over for Mackenzie MacEachern, but fortunately his Blues are planning to play well beyond then. The team announced today that MacEachern has been placed on the Long-Term Injured Reserve with an upper-body injury. The LTIR placement requires that MacEachern sit for ten games and the Blues have just eight games left on the regular season slate. The 27-year-old forward did his best to stay off the shelf; after missing the past three games, MacEachern was back at practice today but was forced to leave early, reports Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The cap-strapped Blues had little choice but to add MacEachern to the LTIR and recall forward Dakota Joshua from AHL Springfield on an emergency basis. The swap actually adds the superior player to the roster, as Joshua has more games played, average time on ice, goals, points, plus/minus and more with the Blues this season.

  • It took injuries to David Pastrnak, Hampus Lindholm, Matt Grzelcyk, Brandon Carlo, and Linus Ullmark to send the Boston Bruins into their first three-game losing streak of the season, the final team in the NHL to fall in three straight this year. As the team looks to right the ship on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, they’re hoping that improved health could help. Grzelcyk was back in the lineup on Thursday night and defense partner could be the next to return, reports beat writer Eric Russo. Carlo was back at practice on Friday and there is optimism that he can return tomorrow from an undisclosed injury. Ullmark, who left Thursday’s game after the first period, did not practice and could be dealing with a concussion, but for now is considered day-to-day. Pastrnak and Lindholm skated by themselves on Friday and there is still no timetable for their return. While there is something to be said for being bit by the injury bug before the postseason, especially for a Boston team that has been decimated in the playoffs in recent years, this rough patch is potentially costing the Bruins their shot at divisional playoff berth as opposed to a wild card spot.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers had no update on injured defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen today, as it is looking increasingly likely that his season is over. Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays that head coach Mike Yeo does not expect Ristolainen to return “any time soon” from an upper-body injury. There was also no update on Cam York, who is out with a lower-body injury and considered day-to-day. There is slightly more optimism surrounding Cam Atkinson, who is also out with a lower-body ailment. Atkinson won’t play on Saturday at Buffalo, but could suit up on Sunday for the second game of the home-and-home with the Sabres.

St. Louis Blues Extend Robert Bortuzzo, Logan Brown

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The St. Louis Blues have had a busy morning, announcing contract extensions with two players. Robert Bortuzzo has inked a new two-year deal that will keep him under contract through the 2023-24 season and carries an average annual value of $950K. Meanwhile, Logan Brown has re-upped for one more year at $750K, the league minimum.

It wasn’t all good news though. The team has also moved Scott Perunovich to injured reserve with an upper-body injury, recalling Dakota Joshua to take his roster spot.

Bortuzzo, 32, has been with the Blues since 2015 when he was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins and has been a loyal soldier in the years since. Never confused for a top-four option, he’s averaged just over 14 minutes over his 341 games with the Blues and recorded just 46 points. Still, that kind of reliable depth on defense is incredibly important, especially when it comes with size–Bortuzzo stands 6’4″ 216-lbs–and physicality. The big defenseman played in 17 games for the Blues in their 2019 Stanley Cup run, actually scoring two goals including a game-winner against the San Jose Sharks.

A two-year deal may normally come with a little risk for a player like him, the $950K cap hit effectively eliminates any. Bortuzzo could be buried in the minor leagues if the Blues run into any cap issues and the two-year term would likely actually help him clear waivers if it was necessary. All this means is that the team’s sixth or seventh defenseman will be a reliable one with nearly 500 games of NHL experience.

Brown meanwhile is in a very different situation. The 23-year-old has just 47 games at the NHL level, 17 of those coming with the Blues since they acquired him from the Ottawa Senators at the beginning of the season. The 6’6″ forward was selected 11th overall in 2016 but has never been able to translate his mix of size and skill to the NHL. There are some signs that is perhaps changing, as he gets a few regular minutes with St. Louis but there is still no guarantee he becomes a reliable full-time member of the lineup.

The win here for Brown is that the contract is one-way, meaning he’ll earn that $750K no matter which league he plays in. To this point in his career he had only been on two-way contracts, and with the amount of time he has spent in the minor leagues, this $750K deal should appear like a windfall. He also gets to play at home, given he’s a St. Louis native that played minor hockey in the area before going to the OHL.

For the Blues, this is just another bet that it will all click for Brown and some insurance for next year as they approach the salary cap ceiling once again. If he can establish himself as a regular, the team can only benefit from having a player on a league-minimum contract in the lineup. If he can’t, it’ll be waivers again, where his cap hit can be buried in the minor leagues.

Pavel Buchnevich Enters COVID Protocol

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The St. Louis Blues have lost another key player, as Pavel Buchnevich is now in the league’s COVID protocol. Buchnevich played more than 21 minutes last night against the Seattle Kraken. The team has recalled Dakota Joshua under emergency conditions to fill the roster spot, while Alexei Toropchenko and Calle Rosen have been assigned to the taxi squad.

Buchnevich, 26, actually scored the winner last night against the Kraken, his 14th goal of the season in just 34 games. A trade from the New York Rangers in the offseason has given him an even bigger offensive opportunity and the third-round pick has run with it, scoring 35 points already. That’s just 13 shy of his career-high, a number he set last season in just 54 games.

While he’ll miss tomorrow’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Monday’s match against the Nashville Predators, Buchnevich could potentially exit the protocol before the Blues head out on the road next week. In the meantime, the team will need to find a different option on the top line and someone to replace Buchnevich on the powerplay and penalty kill.

Four St. Louis Blues Enter COVID Protocol

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Four St. Louis Blues — forwards Dakota Joshua, James Neal, Ivan Barbashev, and defenseman Robert Bortuzzo — have entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols, per a team release.

There are now five Blues on the protocol list, joining Oskar Sundqvist on the list.

Barbashev’s been a shocking producer to start the year, going on a tear with 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points in 31 games. He’d been averaging over 17 minutes a game, too, so his absence can’t be taken lightly.

Joshua, Neal, and Bortuzzo had combined for just 11 points this year, but it’s just more depth missing from a Blues roster that’s been rocked by absences all year.

Barbashev entered protocol on December 23, so he’s eligible to return three days earlier than the other three players. However, due to an open schedule, all four could come back into action on January 5 against Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, it seems like all four will be unavailable for the Winter Classic on New Years Day.

Blues Place James Neal On Injured Reserve

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For a brief moment, it looked as if the Blues were finally going to have a fully healthy roster at their disposal but that isn’t the case now.  With a few players banged up, they’ve been forced to make a move as the team announced that winger James Neal has been placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury.  Center Dakota Joshua has been recalled from AHL Springfield to take Neal’s place on the roster.

Neal had a strong showing with St. Louis on a training camp PTO which led to him receiving a one-year, $750K contract just before the regular season started.  His preseason production hasn’t quite carried over to the regular season, however, as the 34-year-old has managed just two goals and two assists in 17 games while averaging just 11:54 per game, a career-low.

As for Joshua, this is already his third recall of the season.  He has played in six games with the Blues this season, logging just shy of eight minutes per game on the fourth line.  He also has suited up in 11 games with the Thunderbirds, notching a goal and four assists.

What’s notable here is that St. Louis doesn’t have the cap space to add Joshua to the roster; per CapFriendly, they have less than $100K in room right now and Joshua, like Neal, makes $750K, the league minimum.  David Perron and Klim Kostin are the other injured forwards and one of them (or Neal) could be shifted to LTIR to create the cap space for Joshua’s addition but that means they’d be missing ten games and 24 days.  Otherwise, the cap space would need to come from removing a defenseman from the roster; only Scott Perunovich is waiver-exempt.  While this move was needed to get a healthy forward up, it looks as if there will need to be another one coming to make the money work.

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