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St. Louis Blues Issue Three Qualifying Offers

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The St. Louis Blues have extended qualifying offers to three of their six pending restricted free agents, retaining the negotiating rights to forwards Hugh McGing and Alexey Toropchenko, as well as defenseman Tyler Tucker.

Notably, forward Logan Brown and defenseman Dmitri Samorukov were not issued qualifying offers and will become unrestricted free agents on July 1 if they’re not qualified within three days. AHL defenseman Brady Lyle was also left unqualified.

A 2018 fifth-round pick, McGing made his NHL debut two months ago and is making strides in the minors. The 24-year-old picked up a career-high 17 goals, 22 assists, and 39 points in 71 games with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds, where he’ll likely return next season.

Toropchenko, also 24, became a full-time NHLer this season, a role he’s expected to reprise in 2023-24. Selected a year before McGing in the draft, Toropchenko recorded 19 points in 69 games with the Blues and is developing into a capable bottom-six piece. If he signs his qualifying offer, he’ll be retained next season on a two-way deal worth $787.5K in the NHL, although he’ll likely negotiate (and receive) a higher-paying one-way deal.

Tucker, the 200th overall selection in 2018, is an outside candidate to crack the Blues’ lineup out of camp next season after some strong defensive showings in the minors. He got 26 games in the NHL lineup with St. Louis last year, too, recording four points and a -9 rating. The hard-nosed defender posted 21 points in 41 games with Springfield and will also earn $787.5K in the NHL on a two-way deal if he accepts his qualifying offer.

As part of this, the Blues are parting ways with a couple of reclamation projects that didn’t pan out in Brown and Samorukov. The Blues acquired Brown, the 11th overall pick in 2016, from the Senators in September of 2021 in exchange for forward Zach Sanford. He’s managed 69 games for the Blues across two seasons since then but scored just six goals and 17 points while continuing to struggle with injuries. If he stays with an NHL organization, he’ll be settling for a two-way deal on the open market. Europe is also a strong possibility for the 6-foot-6, 25-year-old center.

The Blues also acquired Samorukov in a swap, getting him in exchange for Klim Kostin from the Edmonton Oilers at the beginning of the 2022-23 campaign. He appeared in just two games for the Blues and took a step back defensively in the minors after the trade, posting just 20 points in 69 games for Springfield and a +1 rating after besting both those paces the year prior in the Oilers organization. A return to Russia could be in the cards for him.

Blues Assign Tyler Tucker And Nikita Alexandrov To AHL

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With an off day on their schedule, the Blues have opted to make a pair of roster moves.  They announced that they’ve assigned defenseman Tyler Tucker and winger Nikita Alexandrov to Springfield of the AHL.

Tucker has played in 24 games with St. Louis this season, his first taste of NHL action.  He has held his own at the top level, picking up four points while averaging just shy of two hits per night while averaging 14:33 of ice time per contest.  The 23-year-old also has suited up in 30 games with the Thunderbirds this season where he has been more productive, picking up 15 points along with 55 penalty minutes.

As for Alexandrov, he has seen action in 28 games for the Blues, tallying three goals and four assists in what has primarily been a fourth-line role as he’s logging less than 10 minutes a night.  It is also his rookie year at the NHL level.  The 22-year-old has also played in 29 games with Springfield where he has collected 13 goals and 10 helpers.

St. Louis opted to paper both players down just before the trade deadline, recalling both using two of their four post-deadline regular recalls in the process.  Accordingly, if they were to be brought back up now, they’d cut into those final two recalls unless emergency conditions arise.  NHL.com’s Lou Korac adds (Twitter link) that their intention is to keep both players in Springfield for the time being to help aid in their push for the playoffs; the Thunderbirds enter play today in fourth place in the Atlantic Division in the minors.

Blues Notes: O’Reilly, Buchnevich, Perunovich, Tucker

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The St. Louis Blues stole today’s thunder by dealing Vladimir Tarasenko to the New York Rangers, but there’s even more Blues news to discuss on the injury front. Head coach Craig Berube said today that another trade chip, Ryan O’Reilly, is possible for Saturday night’s game against the Arizona Coyotes but has yet to be cleared.

O’Reilly added to his coach’s comments, saying he has to be 100 percent sure his injured foot is healed before returning to avoid re-injury. A 12-year NHL veteran, O’Reilly last played in their New Year’s Eve matchup against the Minnesota Wild. He’s missed the following 14 games with the injury. The winner of the 2019 Selke and Conn Smythe Trophies, O’Reilly is in a down season with a -28 rating and just 16 points in 37 games. He’s in the final season of a seven-year, $7.5MM average annual value contract.

Per The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford, O’Reilly resumed skating on Tuesday, and NHL.com’s Lou Korac said the Blues captain practiced in full equipment today.

  • Berube also told reporters Pavel Buchnevich is possible for Saturday after missing the past two weeks with an ankle injury. Buchnevich, with 38 points in 38 games, is the team’s leader in points per game, just ahead of Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. If he’s cleared to return, along with O’Reilly, they’ll likely skate together on the second line alongside Brandon Saad.
  • In a very positive development, top defense prospect Scott Perunovich has been cleared for contact and, per Berube, is “ready to do everything.” Perunovich, 24, hasn’t played in all in 2022-23 after sustaining a preseason shoulder injury. After missing the entirety of 2020-21 and most of 2021-22 with injuries, a strong finish to the season could salvage Perunovich’s stunted development. He showed true flashes of stardom in the minors last season, recording 22 points in just 17 games with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds.
  • Defenseman Tyler Tucker is coming up from Springfield to replace Niko Mikkola’s now-vacant spot on the roster, as he was included in the trade to New York earlier today. Tucker, a seventh-round pick in 2018, has shot up the Blues’ depth chart to play in 12 games this season, recording one assist.

St. Louis Blues Recall Nikita Alexandrov; Reassign Tyler Tucker

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After activating Robert Bortuzzo yesterday, the St. Louis Blues ended up with eight healthy defensemen on the roster. That was never going to last long, and today they’ve solved the problem by sending Tyler Tucker to the AHL. Nikita Alexandrov has been recalled in his place.

Tucker, 22, has played in 12 games for the Blues this season, showing he’s much more than the average seventh-round pick. The young defenseman has just one point but rarely looks overmatched, and should likely play a role on the team in the future.

For now, though, he’ll rejoin the Springfield Thunderbirds where he has 13 points in 25 games.

Alexandrov, 22, continues his yo-yo season, coming back up after just a few days. The young forward has four points in 16 games so far and should also get a bigger look down the stretch, especially if the Blues end up selling at the deadline. The 2019 second-round pick has 12 goals and 20 points in 23 games with the Thunderbirds.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

St. Louis Blues Recall Tyler Tucker

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The St. Louis Blues have announced that defenseman Tyler Tucker has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds.

In order to create room to add him to their roster, the team has placed forward Logan Brown on injured reserve.

This move brings Tucker back to the Blues roster just a few days after he was sent back down to the AHL. With Steven Santini up to the Blues roster as part of that transaction, this recall gives the Blues eight defensemen on their active roster.

The recall of Tucker, then, could be motivated by recent news that Nick Leddy will miss tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens due to injury. With Leddy out of commission, Tucker’s recall gives the team seven healthy blueliners to work with.

Tucker, 22, is a nice developmental success story for the Blues. St. Louis selected him in the seventh round of the 2018 draft, 200th overall, and let him marinate for a few years in the OHL. He had a solid season in the AHL last year, helping the Thunderbirds reach the Calder Cup final, and earned his first few NHL games this season.

He’s averaging 13 minutes per game in the NHL this season and has registered six blocked shots and eight hits through four games of action. At the AHL level, Tucker has played in a top-four capacity and has posted 13 points and 45 penalty minutes in 25 games.

St. Louis Blues Recall Steven Santini; Reassign Tyler Tucker

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The St. Louis Blues have put Tyler Tucker in the lineup just four times this season, with none of those coming since his latest recall. Instead of staying as the extra defenseman in the NHL, he’s headed back to the minor leagues to play. The Blues have reassigned Tucker to the Springfield Thunderbirds while recalling Steven Santini to take his place on the active roster.

Tucker, 22, was a seventh-round pick of the Blues in 2018 but quickly became a fan favorite at the minor league level thanks to a fearless attitude and all-around ability. In his AHL career, the defenseman has racked up 193 penalty minutes in 125 games, adding 38 points. He was integral to the Thunderbirds’ playoff run last season, and came back this year with a bit more offensive flair to his game. Thirteen of those 38 career points have come in just 24 games.

If the Blues think they might have something in Tucker, he can’t sit in the press box all year. Santini, Despite once being an intriguing prospect in his own right, is now 27 and doesn’t have much developing to do. He can serve as the extra defenseman at the NHL level, where he has 119 games of experience over his career.

The Blues are back in action tomorrow night in New Jersey, before heading to Montreal and Minnesota to finish the road trip.

Blues Place Torey Krug On LTIR, Recall Tyler Tucker

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The Blues will be without a key member of their back end for the next little while as the Blues announced that they’ve placed defenseman Torey Krug on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) due to a lower-body injury.  In a corresponding move, St. Louis has recalled blueliner Tyler Tucker from AHL Springfield.

Krug was on a nice run offensively leading into the holiday break with five points over his last four games and logged nearly 23 minutes on Friday against Vegas so it’s unclear exactly when the injury was sustained.  The 31-year-old has suited up in 31 games for St. Louis this season, notching 17 points, second to only Justin Faulk in terms of production from the back end.  Offensive production has been hard to come by beyond those two as their other rearguards have managed just four goals combined this season so Krug’s absence on that side of the ice will certainly be felt.

There is no firm timetable on when Krug might be able to return as the release from the Blues only mentions that he will be re-evaluated in six weeks.  Accordingly, it stands to reason that he will likely be out of the lineup longer than that.

As for Tucker, the 22-year-old made his NHL debut last month, getting into four games with St. Louis, picking up six blocks and eight hits along the way.  He has spent the rest of the season with the Thunderbirds, collecting 13 points and 45 penalty minutes in 24 contests.

Robert Bortuzzo Activated From Injured Reserve

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The St. Louis Blues are getting a little more defensive depth back, activating Robert Bortuzzo from injured reserve. To make room on the roster, Tyler Tucker has been loaned back to the Springfield Thunderbirds of the AHL.

Bortuzzo, 33, hasn’t played since November 8 and has no points in ten appearances this season. The veteran defenseman is averaging the fewest minutes of his career, so shouldn’t be expected to make a huge contribution. Still, with Marco Scandella and Scott Perunovich sidelined, the team’s organizational depth on defense was rather thin. Tucker is one of just five defensemen in the minor leagues that are even signed to NHL deals, most of whom have no experience at the highest level.

That was the case for Tucker, too, before he got into four games with the Blues this season. The 22-year-old is a seventh-round pick from 2018 that just continued to climb up the depth chart thanks to a physical brand of hockey that is beloved in St. Louis. In his short NHL stint, he managed to record eight hits, six blocked shots, and five penalty minutes, despite averaging just 13 minutes a night.

St. Louis Blues Place Robert Bortuzzo On Injured Reserve

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The St. Louis Blues, stuck in a losing spiral that has them dead last in the NHL, will have to pull themselves out of it without the help of Robert Bortuzzo. The veteran defenseman was placed on injured reserve today with an upper-body injury. Tyler Tucker was recalled from the AHL in his place.

Bortuzzo, 33, has barely seen the ice this season anyway, averaging just over 12 minutes in his 10 appearances. Even with an entire career spent on the third pairing that is the lowest ice time he’s seen, and the results haven’t been very good. With him out, the Blues will have to go in a different direction with that spot, perhaps even the youngster coming up from Springfield.

Tucker, 22, was a seventh-round pick of the Blues in 2018 and has moved his way up the organizational depth chart by being extremely hard to play against. The left-shot defenseman racked up 114 penalty minutes last season for the Thunderbirds and was a wrecking ball in the playoffs, helping the club to the Calder Cup Finals. In 11 games this season he’s turned up the offense with seven points, while still being strong in his own end.

Even earning a recall is a big deal for a seventh-round pick, but it seems like Tucker might actually get into the lineup if the Blues can’t find a way out of this losing streak. Why not try out something different, especially on the back end where the Blues have given up 43 goals in 11 games.

St. Louis Blues Recall Tyler Tucker

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After losing both Justin Faulk and Robert Bortuzzo to injury last night, the St. Louis Blues are in a tricky situation. Jake Walman, who would normally be one of the injury replacements, is still in the COVID protocol after testing positive earlier this month. Without a ton of reinforcements, the team has recalled Tyler Tucker from the AHL’s Utica Comets.

Utica’s season ended a few days ago, but it’s not like Tucker was really knocking on the NHL door before the injuries. The 21-year-old seventh-round pick recorded seven points in 27 AHL games this season, his first professional campaign. In 2019-20, the young defenseman split his season between the Barrie Colts and Flint Firebirds of the OHL and actually did attend training camp with the Blues this year.

Still, if he was ever forced into action, it would be a tough test for a player with such little professional experience. More likely he is just there as insurance and to help at practice like a normal “Black Ace,” with other more veteran names stepping into the lineup. Head coach Craig Berube told reporters that Vince Dunn was a possibility for game three, while Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweeted that Steven Santini is the other likely replacement, should they need both.

The problem will emerge if anyone else gets injured, as Tucker is literally the last defenseman in the organization that could be called up. The Blues do not have anyone else, save for Scott Perunovich who has been dealing with injury all season, signed to an NHL contract.

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