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Jordan Kyrou

St. Louis Blues Place Vladimir Tarasenko On LTIR

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The St. Louis Blues had to wait until the first day of the regular season, but as expected, Vladimir Tarasenko has been placed on long-term injured reserve. The move allows them to recall both Jordan Kyrou and Mackenzie MacEachern from their taxi squad.

Tarasenko, 29, will miss the first part of the regular season following his multiple shoulder surgeries and is set to be re-evaluated in February. The powerful winger was able to play in just ten regular season games last season but did manage to return for four postseason contests. He seemed a shadow of himself in those matches, recording zero points and now it’s unclear exactly what kind of season he’ll be able to put together in 2021.

The Blues have now used long-term injured reserve for both Tarasenko and Alex Steen, though as CapFriendly explains on Twitter they actually were unable to maximize the relief available. Moving Tarasenko to LTIR gives them his full $7.5MM in room, at least until he returns to the lineup later in the season. That’s why Kyrou and MacEachern can move back to the active roster.

The team will now be able to fill those two taxi squad spots with other names, providing even more depth for the NHL team to travel with.

Central Notes: Rantanen, Foligno, Kyrou, Johns

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The Colorado Avalanche have finally gotten the news they were hoping for as the team announced that star forward Mikko Rantanen will be returning to the lineup tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks. He has been out for the past 16 games with a lower-body injury, but has been a full participant at practice since Tuesday.

Rantanen has been a key first-line wing option for Nathan MacKinnon, who has been without his two linemates for quite some time. Gabriel Landeskog has also been out with an injury of his own. However, with Rantanen back in the lineup, the first line should regain some of its previous success with Joonas Donskoi filling in for Landeskog. The 23-year-old has only appeared in nine games for Colorado this year, but was impressive in that span, scoring five goals and 12 points before going down against the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 21.

  • StarTribune’s Sarah McLellan reports that Minnesota Wild winger Marcus Foligno is close to returning the lineup and could break up some of the team’s recent success as he is likely to break up some the team’s current fourth line of Victor Rask, Ryan Donato and Ryan Hartman. Foligno, who has been out since Nov. 7 with a lower-body injury, could return to the lineup Sunday, but head coach Bruce Boudreau hasn’t decided on whether he will use Foligno yet. With Foligno’s return, the Wild will also have to take one of their current fourth-liners out of the lineup.
  • With a number of key injuries on their forward lines, the St. Louis Blues have recalled a number of players from the San Antonio Rampage, their AHL squad. However, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford (subscription required) writes that the team still hasn’t recalled youngster Jordan Kyrou, who returned from offseason knee surgery in early November. While his numbers have been impressive (five goals and 11 points in 11 games with San Antonio), the team wants to make sure he’s ready to take over a top-nine role with the team, which will likley come in the next few weeks.
  • The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro reports that Dallas Stars defenseman Stephen Johns, who hasn’t played since the 2017-18 season due to post-traumatic headaches, has been cleared to practice with the team again and did so on Saturday. He is taking the necessary steps to return to NHL action, although he still has a ways to go, according to head coach Jim Montgomery.

Jordan Kyrou Loaned To AHL

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According to the AHL transaction page, St. Louis Blues forward Jordan Kyrou has been loaned to the San Antonio Rampage. That would indicate that Kyrou is close to returning from the offseason knee surgery that had him on season-opening injured reserve to begin the year.

Kyrou, 21, is one of the top prospects for the Blues after impressing in the AHL last season. Though he recorded just three points in his 16 games with St. Louis, he was often the best player on the ice in the minor leagues and had 43 points in 47 games to show for it.

There’s obviously no guarantee that he’ll be back with the Blues right away whenever he is deemed healthy, but Kyrou could give the team another option as they look to overcome their sluggish start. Sitting at 4-2-3 so far, the team has allowed 30 goals in nine games and doesn’t quite look like the stingy team that took home the Stanley Cup just a few months ago.

Central Notes: Spurgeon, Koivu, Thomas, Avalanche, Copp

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The Minnesota Wild announced earlier today they signed Jared Spurgeon to a seven-year, $53MM extension that will kick in during the 2020-21 season. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports that Spurgeon’s deal has a no movement clause this year as well as the first four years of the first contract. After that, Spurgeon has a 10-team modified no-trade clause for the final three years, which will kick in during the 2024-25 season.

  • Sticking with the Wild, Minnesota got some good news about injured forward Mikko Koivu, who had surgery to repair a torn ACL back in February. The 36-year-old, who was expected to be eased back into practices and scrimmages in training camp, told coach Bruce Boudreau that he’s ready and is expected to participate in scrimmages on Monday, according to StarTribune’s Sarah McLellan. Koivu was cleared for practice on Thursday, but now looks like he’s ready for full play. He scored eight goals and 29 points in 47 games last season before going down with the knee injury.
  • NHL.com’s Lou Korac reports that the St. Louis Blues have been without forward Robert Thomas for a second straight day as he recovers from offseason surgery to repair a tendon in his left wrist. He and Jordan Kyrou, out with a knee injury, are expected to be brought back slowly from their injuries. “We’ve got them in that third group right now,” Blues head coach Craig Berube said. “We’ve got to be a little cautious with them right now.”
  • BSN Denver’s A.J. Haefele writes that Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar had quite a few positive to point out after Day 2 of training camp. Bednar pointed out quite a bit of improvement in the play of winger Andre Burakovsky and the standout play of A.J. Greer and the impressive leaderships skills of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. He also said that he believes that the next step for defenseman Samuel Girard is his offensive game. The 21-year-old scored four goals and 27 points last season. While both were career highs, Bednar would like to see those numbers rise this season.
  • The Athletic’s Ken Wiebe reports that the Winnipeg Jets are without a few player at the moment. The team has been without forward Andrew Copp due to a minor groin injury, while Kristian Vesalainen and Sami Niku were stiff Saturday after being in a fender-bender on Friday. They should return soon.

 

St. Louis Blues Sign MacKenzie MacEachern To One-Year Extension

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Mackenzie MacEachern knew his game-winning goal against the Nashville Predators earlier today was significant, but the rookie benefitted more than that as the St. Louis Blues announced they have signed the 24-year-old forward to a one-year, one-way extension worth $750K.

MacEachern has come a long way since last summer when he re-signed with the team to a one-year, two-way deal in which he was coming off a 2017-18 campaign in the former Michigan State University scorer, tallied just 10 points last season with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. However, MacEachern turned a corner this year, putting up nine goal and 16 points in 33 games with San Antonio of the AHL  before getting called up on Jan. 10. He has two goals and three points in 10 appearances, including Saturday afternoon’s game-winner in the second period against the Predators.

MacEachern, who was making just $650K on a two-year deal, now gets a small pay raise and must continue to show that he can contribute at an NHL level like he did when he tallied 33 goals in three seasons at Michigan State. He might have a tough time earning that however, as the team only has one player, Patrick Maroon, who will be an unrestricted free agent and isn’t expected back. However, with lots of youth like Robert Thomas, Sammy Blais and Jordan Kyrou expected to vie for more playing time next season, as well as a number of other young prospects fighting for a spot such as Klim Kostin, MacEachern will have his work cut out for him.

Deadline Primer: St. Louis Blues

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With the trade deadline fast approaching, we will be taking a closer look at the situation for each team over the coming weeks.  Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs? As we continue with the Central Division, here is a look at the St. Louis Blues.

Alex Pietrangelo? Vladimir Tarasenko? Colton Parayko? Sorry, but they aren’t going anywhere. The St. Louis Blues have quietly climbed within three points of a playoff spot and the early-season panic is over. Granted, the team is still in the middle of a cluster of teams fighting for just a few postseason berths, but the Blues have games in hand on the whole bunch and have been playing some of their best hockey lately. St. Louis is now a legitimate threat to slip into the playoffs and, once there, could do some damage. In fact, the potential on paper of this team is yet another reason why a fire sale is unlikely. There is no excuse for their first half failures, but many, including their own GM Doug Armstrong, have expressed optimism about what this core can do next season. They may have considered tearing it all down at one point, but that’s no longer a realistic possibility.

With that said, the Blues have fallen short of expectations all year long and no one would be surprised if they do in fact miss the playoffs this year. As such, they need to hedge their bets and continue to take offers as a seller. The team has a handful of impending unrestricted free agents they can trade, as well as others that they may entertain moving. The bulk of the St. Louis lineup isn’t going anywhere and will continue their playoff push, but Armstrong and company are likely to move out some extraneous pieces and play both sides of the market as the trade deadline approaches.

Record

22-22-5, sixth in the Central Division

Deadline Status

Moderate Seller

Deadline Cap Space

$7.2MM of full-season cap hit, 0/3 used salary cap retention slots, 46/50 contracts per CapFriendly

Upcoming Draft Picks

2019: STL 2nd, STL 3rd, STL 5th, STL 6th, STL 7th
2020: STL 1st*, STL 2nd, STL 3rd, STL 4th, STL 5th, STL 7th
* – Blues owe their 2019 first-round pick to the Buffalo Sabres as part of the Ryan O’Reilly trade, but have option to keep that pick if it is top-ten and send 2020 first-round pick instead

Trade Chips

Brayden Schenn is a name that just won’t go away. Even as the Blues’ play has improved of late, Schenn’s name continues to bounce around the rumor mill. The 27-year-old center broke out for 70 points last season, but is back to his regular 50-point pace, if that, this year and has been an underwhelming presence this season for an underachieving team. Logic would dictate that if the Blues want to keep their core intact for another try next season, they’ll refrain from moving Schenn. However, if the market interest forces his hand, Armstrong will move the talented forward, who has one year remaining on his contract, for the right price.

The same goes for winger Jaden Schwartz. Once the epitome of consistency and clutch in the Blues’ lineup, Schwartz, 27, has been streaky and largely ineffective on offense this season. His 21 points thus far is one of the biggest disappointments of St. Louis’ season. Schwartz has quietly continued to be a solid two-way force for the Blues though, even if it doesn’t show up on the score sheet. Schwartz has shown immense talent previously and his trade value is at an all-time low. Maybe he does just need a change of scenery, but Armstrong is unlikely to sell low on the two-way forward this season.

Not every trade decision will be as difficult as Schenn and Schwartz. For example, veteran forward Patrick Maroon has been an utter failure this year for St. Louis and is all but gone before the deadline. Earlier this month, it was rumored that Maroon was likely to be dealt when his full no-trade clause expired at the end of January. In the nine games since the report, Maroon has one lone goal. Hometown product or not, the Blues are likely to move Maroon – who has proven before to be a deadline commodity – for the best offer. Veteran grinders Jordan Nolan and, to a lesser extent, Chris Thorburn could also have value on the market and their absences would mean little to the Blues.

Defensemen Jay Bouwmeester and Carl Gunnarsson have not struggled like Maroon, but are also likely goners as impending UFA’s. Bouwmeester, 35, is a respected veteran around the league but has undoubtedly slowed down over the past couple of seasons. He’s currently fourth among St. Louis defenders in time on ice and has the worst plus/minus of the group. Bouwmeester isn’t going to be extended by the Blues, but he’s also still a serviceable and experienced blue liner who could help a true contender. He’s worth more elsewhere than he is for this fringe St. Louis team. The same goes for depth defender Gunnarsson, who has actually been a quite effective possession defenseman in limited opportunity this year, but has a higher value as an added option to a contender than to a team that may not make the playoffs. Jakub Jerabek and Chris Butler are also impending UFA defensemen who may have some slight value on the market. Don’t be surprised if 25-year-old Jordan Schmaltz has his name thrown around too; the Blues have made no effort to get him NHL minutes and he could use a new opportunity.

One of the major issues of this St. Louis team is underachieving forwards and it’s not just the veterans. Sure, the Blues might like to move Alex Steen or Tyler Bozak, but no-trade clauses alone will limit that possibility. The team would be far more likely to find takers for some of their disappointing young forwards, of which there are many. Robby Fabbri, Zach Sanford, Ivan Barbashev, Nikita Soshnikov, and Sammy Blais are all getting too old to be called prospects, but have yet to prove themselves as difference-makers in the NHL. Each one is an impending restricted free agent this summer and the Blues likely don’t plan to bring the whole group back. St. Louis could benefit from swapping out a young forward or two of their own for other teams’ disappointing forwards in hopes that a new system can turn their game around.

Five Players To Watch For: F Brayden Schenn, F Patrick Maroon, D Jay Bouwmeester, D Carl Gunnarsson, F Sammy Blais

Team Needs

1) Scoring Depth: Obviously, goaltending is the biggest long-term concern of the Blues, but that isn’t going to be addressed at the deadline this year. Next in line then is scoring. As previously mentioned multiple times, one of the fatal flaws of the Blues this season has been a lack of scoring and disappointing efforts from too many regular forwards. St. Louis is 22nd in goals for this season and, even if the veteran core returns to form this season, the fringe pieces lack some upside in the production department. As the team moves out forwards from the roster, old or young, the Blues could benefit from taking a waiver on other teams’ frustrated young forwards to test this season for whether there is a there is a fit moving forward. The Washington Capitals’ Andre Burakovsky, the Vancouver Canucks’ Nikolay Goldobin, or the Montreal Canadiens’ Charles Hudon could all be intriguing options. Finding another name to add to the blossoming next wave of Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Klim Kostin, and Dominik Bokk should be a priority.

2) Top Prospect Defenseman: In the course of making possible trades of Schenn or Bouwmeester or a young forward, Armstrong would be smart to target a top young defender in the return. The Blues have some nice 25-and-under pieces on the NHL blue line right now, but the AHL unit lacks much upside and the organization does not really have a blue chip defenseman in the pipeline other than collegiate rearguard Scott Perunovich, who will already be 21 next season when he begins his junior year at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. St. Louis has many exciting, talented forwards waiting to take over a role in the NHL; the team desperately needs to add a defenseman into that group. If they can’t find one via trade, they should focus on the draft and adding picks to make up for their first- and fourth-rounders this year.

Minor Transactions: 01/24/19

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The league is has gone dark as they prepare for the All-Star festivities to start tomorrow, and with it teams will be sending their eligible players down to the minor leagues. This is done to save a few days of cap space and give young players a chance to continue their development. As always, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.

  • Along with Jordan Kyrou and Jordan Nolan who were sent down yesterday, the St. Louis Blues have assigned Mackenzie MacEachern and Sammy Blais to the minor leagues over the break. The Blues don’t play again until February 2nd, meaning the set of forwards can get some extra ice time in for the San Antonio Rampage.
  • Colin Blackwell has been sent down by the Nashville Predators, returning the 25-year old center to the Milwaukee Admirals after three games in the NHL. Blackwell is still waiting to register his first NHL point, and could get that chance later on in the year.
  • After bringing up Ryan Graves for last night’s game, the Colorado Avalanche have returned him to the minor leagues. Graves will be accompanied by both Dominic Toninato and Sheldon Dries, two other waiver-exempt players that can spend the break in the AHL.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have returned Alex Nedeljkovic to the minors where he’ll resume starting for the Charlotte Checkers, and Haydn Fleury has also been sent down to get some more ice time. Fleury has been a regular scratch in the NHL this season as the odd man out among the Carolina defense corps.
  • Trevor Moore played again for the Toronto Maple Leafs last night but is now on his way back down to the AHL to participate in that league’s All-Star game. The speedy forward has made quite the impact this season with 19 goals in 32 AHL contests.
  • Joel Eriksson Ek spent some time in the minor leagues earlier this year to get his game right, and now he’ll get another chance to hone his skills in the AHL. Eriksson Ek and Luke Kunin have both been sent down for the time being, though one or both could see a recall immediately after the break.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights have flipped backup goaltenders, sending Maxime Lagace back down and recalled Oscar Dansk. Dansk won’t be starting anytime soon for the Golden Knights, but will receive a bigger paycheck while the team lets Lagace get back on the ice.

Four Players Added To AHL All-Star Rosters

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While the NHL All-Star Game has to deal with players pulling out due to injury, the AHL contest also has to deal with players being recalled at a moment’s notice. That forces the league to replace players regularly, and today they’ve added four new names to the upcoming event.

Jordan Szwarz, Christian Wolanin, Nathan Gerbe and Cooper Marody have all been added, given the lack of availability for Ryan Fitzgerald, Lawrence Pilut, Zac Dalpe and Conor Garland. Wolanin was just sent down by the Ottawa Senators today, just in time to play in the AHL even that takes place on Sunday and Monday. The full rosters now sit as follows:

Atlantic Division:

F Greg Carey, Lehigh Valley Phantoms
F Michael Dal Colle, Bridgeport Sound Tigers
F Colin McDonald, Lehigh Valley Phantoms
F Anthony Greco, Springfield Thunderbirds
F Andrew Poturalski, Charlotte Checkers
F Jordan Szwarz, Providence Bruins

D Sebastian Aho, Bridgeport Sound Tigers
D Ethan Prow, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
D Trevor Carrick, Charlotte Checkers
D John Gilmour, Hartford Wolf Pack

G Samuel Montembeault, Springfield Thunderbirds
G Vitek Vanecek, Hershey Bears

North Division:

F Drake Batherson, Belleville Senators
F Alex Belzile, Laval Rocket
F Reid Boucher, Utica Comets
F Cory Conacher, Syracuse Crunch
F Nathan Gerbe, Cleveland Monsters
F Trevor Moore, Toronto Marlies
F John Quenneville, Binghamton Devils

D Christian Wolanin, Belleville Senators
D Zach Redmond, Rochester Americans
D Calle Rosen, Toronto Marlies

G MacKenzie Blackwood, Binghamton Devils
G Connor Ingram, Syracuse Crunch

Central Division:

F Joel L’Esperance, Texas Stars
F Daniel Carr, Chicago Wolves
F Denis Gurianov, Texas Stars
F Jordan Kyrou, San Antonio Rampage
F Cal O’Reilly, Iowa Wild
F Chris Terry, Grand Rapids Griffins
F Logan Shaw, Manitoba Moose

D Erik Brannstrom, Chicago Wolves
D Andrew Campbell, Rockford IceHogs
D Matt Donovan, Milwaukee Admirals

G Troy Grosenick, Milwaukee Admirals
G Kaapo Kahkonen, Iowa Wild

Pacific Division:

F Andrew Agozzino, Colorado Eagles
F Joseph Gambardella, Bakersfield Condors
F Cooper Marody, Bakersfield Condors
F Curtis Lazar, Stockton Heat
F Francis Perron, San Jose Barracuda
F Sheldon Rempal, Ontario Reign
F Troy Terry, San Diego Gulls

D Kyle Capobianco, Tucson Roadrunners
D Jacob Middleton, San Jose Barracuda
D Sean Walker, Ontario Reign

G Pavel Francouz, Colorado Eagles
G Josef Korenar, San Jose Barracuda

Four Roster Moves For St. Louis Blues

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The St. Louis Blues have made several roster moves as they prepare for their final game before the All-Star break. Zach Sanford and Tyler Bozak have both been activated from injured reserve, while Jordan Kyrou and Jordan Nolan have been sent back to the minor leagues. Sanford and Bozak had been dealing with concussions.

St. Louis will take on the Anaheim Ducks tonight in a game that actually could have some playoff implications. The Blues have played better of late under head coach Craig Berube, and now sit just five points behind the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche for the wild card spots in the Western Conference. Unfortunately for the Blues there are four teams between them and those spots, one of which being the Ducks. They’ll need to win an awful lot of games like this down the stretch if they want to make a run for the postseason.

To do that they’ll need Bozak to play a bigger role than he did in the first half. Signed to a three-year $15MM contract in the offseason, the 32-year old center was handed a hefty amount of responsibility and minutes through the early part of the year. Unfortunately he has just 18 points through 39 games, not quite the level the Blues were hoping to get from the long-time Toronto Maple Leafs forward. Still, Bozak is as reliable as they come in the faceoff dot and could be a big part of a second half turnaround by St. Louis if they start getting reasonable goaltending and can get some sustained health.

Minor Transactions: 01/13/19

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It’s a relatively busy Sunday for the NHL as six games are scheduled for today, including an afternoon tilt between the Nashville Predators and Carolina Hurricanes. While the league prepares for another important week, we’ll be here keeping track of all the minor moves.

  • The San Jose Sharks have sent Rourke Chartier back to the minor leagues, given the team doesn’t play again until Tuesday. The 22-year old forward has played 13 games with the Sharks this season but has just a single goal. He very well could be recalled once again in a few days.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled Kole Sherwood, a 21-year old forward that spent time in the ECHL earlier this year. The hometown kid has seven points in 22 games for the AHL Cleveland Monsters, but will get a shot to see what life is like in the NHL for at least a little while.
  • Jordan Kyrou and Jordan Nolan have bother been recalled by the St. Louis Blues, giving the team two forward options in very different situations. Kyrou is still trying to get his footing in his first season as a professional, but has recently found his way as the AHL Rookie of the Month for December. Nolan meanwhile is just trying to hold onto his NHL career after finding himself in the minor leagues this season for the first time since 2012-13.
  • In a minor transaction, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that St. Louis Blues’ goalie prospect Evan Fitzpatrick has been re-assigned from the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL to the Tulsa of the ECHL. The scribe adds the transaction is significant because it likely suggests that prospect Ville Husso might be ready to return from injury, which could provide the Blues with a solid emergency goaltender down the road. The 20-year-old Fitzpatrick has served as an emergency backup already, but has spent most of his season in Tusla.
  • The Vancouver Canucks announced they have assigned center Adam Gaudette to the Utica Comets of the AHL as the team expects the return of Josh Leivo, who has been out with back spasms. The former Hobey Baker Award winner spent the early portion of the season with Vancouver, learning as a bottom-line player, but was sent to Utica to get more playing time in. He has been producing in Utica, posting three goal and seven points in seven games, including a two goal, three-point performance on Jan. 5th. He was then recalled after Elias Pettersson went down with his knee injury and scored a goal in his one appearance on Thursday against Arizona.
  • The Arizona Coyotes announced they have recalled goaltender Calvin Pickard from the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL now that his conditioning stint is over. The team claimed Pickard off waivers from the Philadelphia Flyers due to injuries to both Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper. However, with Kuemper healthy once again and the emergence of Adin Hill, the Coyotes would have to keep Pickard around as a third goaltender, which they may not want to do. Pickard struggled in four appearances in Tuscon, despite a 3-0 record, posting a 3.47 GAA and a .889 save percentage.

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