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Mathieu Joseph To Be Evaluated For Lower-Body Injury

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Mollie Walker of New York Post Sports reports that New York Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey has been upgraded from a non-contact jersey and skated in a regular one today at Rangers practice. The 31-year-old sustained a lower-body injury during the preseason and has yet to dress in a regular game after playing 80 games last season and 81 the year before.

The Boston, Massachusetts native only resumed skating last Thursday and could play at some point this week if he progresses. New York has been using a revolving group of forwards in Vesey’s absence and re-called Matt Rempe yesterday from Hartford to presumably fill in until Vesey is ready to return.

In other evening notes:

  • Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nicolas Hague remains day to day with a lower-body injury (as per Jesse Granger of The Athletic). The 25-year-old was injured in the second period of Friday night’s 6-4 win over the Ottawa Senators after scoring his first goal of the season earlier in the game. Kaedan Korczak replaced Hague on Saturday against San Jose, and it appears as though Hague will miss tonight’s game against Calgary. Hague has a single point on the season in eight games and has struggled to start the year as his possession numbers have been abysmal with a 37.8 CF% at even strength (as per Hockey Reference).
  • St. Louis Blues forward Mathieu Joseph will be returning to St. Louis to be evaluated after he suffered a lower-body injury in Saturday’s 5-2 loss to Montreal (as per Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post Dispatch). Joseph will reportedly miss the remainder of the Blues road trip which sees them in Ottawa tomorrow night and Philadelphia on Thursday. Joseph has had a decent start in his first season with St. Louis posting two goals and two assists in nine games while being one of the team’s top penalty-killing options.

Scott Perunovich Set To Make Season Debut

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  • According to Lou Korac of The Hockey News, St. Louis Blues defenseman Scott Perunovich is expected to make his season debut tomorrow night. Perunovich is buried on the Blues’ depth chart to start the season thanks to offseason additions Ryan Suter and Pierre-Olivier Joseph. He managed 17 assists last year in St. Louis in 52 games played but there were considerable concerns with his play on the defensive side of the puck. Perunovich may find himself on the waiver wire in the coming days when Nick Leddy is activated so his inclusion in tomorrow’s lineup could be interpreted as an informal tryout.

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Blues Place Robert Thomas On Injured Reserve, Activate Oskar Sundqvist

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12:35 p.m.: The Blues have activated Sundqvist off IR, per a team release. That fills Thomas’ vacant roster spot and has the Blues back at the maximum of 23 players. He’ll likely play tomorrow for the first time since sustaining a torn ACL against the Golden Knights in late March.

11:18 a.m.: The Blues have placed center Robert Thomas on injured reserve, per a team release. The star forward sustained a fractured ankle in last night’s loss to the Jets and will be re-evaluated in six weeks.

Thomas left the game in the second period after blocking a shot from Winnipeg’s Neal Pionk. A standard IR placement means he’d be eligible to return on Oct. 29, but he’ll be out until at least Dec. 4. That means Thomas will miss St. Louis’ next 19 games at the very least – nearly a quarter of the regular season.

The 2017 first-round pick has a laundry list of minor injuries throughout his seven-year NHL career, but seldom few have lasted more than a couple of weeks. Only one, a broken left thumb sustained in February 2021, sidelined him for as long as this ankle fracture will.

However, no injuries affected Thomas last season; he played in all 82 games for the first time. Various injuries and illnesses cost him nine games in 2022-23, and he’s also had a pair of semi-serious shoulder injuries in the past few years. But he’s still made at least 70 appearances on four occasions, including last year’s career-best 60-assist, 86-point campaign.

Now in his prime, the 25-year-old is emerging as the Blues’ top forward and one of the league’s better playmaking centers. He’s produced precisely a point per game since the beginning of the 2021-22 season, tied for 30th in the league over that timeframe. He’s also become a strong option in the dot, winning over half his draws the past few years. That was especially important for St. Louis after making natural winger Pavel Buchnevich their No. 2 center, a tricky proposition considering his career 32.5 FOW%. This year, Thomas had a goal and five assists through seven games.

Thomas joins Nick Leddy and Oskar Sundqvist on injured reserve (Torey Krug is on LTIR and out for the season after ankle surgery). They’ve opened up a roster spot with his IR placement. With Alexey Toropchenko still day-to-day with a lower-body injury, they’ll likely summon a forward from AHL Springfield before tomorrow’s game against the Maple Leafs. Captain Brayden Schenn, who has just two points through seven games but a 51.5 FOW%, could replace Thomas as their top-line center.

Blues Place Nick Leddy On IR, Activate Alexandre Texier

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The Blues announced today that they’ve placed defenseman Nick Leddy on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. It’s presumably retroactive to his last appearance on Oct. 15 against the Wild, so he’ll be eligible to return whenever he’s cleared to play. He remains day-to-day, so his absence shouldn’t stretch for too much longer. They’ve filled his roster spot with forward Alexandre Texier, who’s coming off IR and will play tonight against the Jets, he told NHL.com’s Lou Korac.

Before Leddy’s injury, it was a tough start to the season for him. The 33-year-old went without a point and posted a -3 rating in four appearances, including a team-leading eight giveaways at the time of his injury. While he averaged over 22 minutes per game, he’s arguably already been usurped as the team’s top left-shot defender by Philip Broberg, who’s on an early-season tear with six points and a +6 rating through six games.

Texier, 25, will suit up tonight for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury in St. Louis’ season opener against the Kraken two weeks ago. The offseason trade pickup from the Blue Jackets had an assist and two shots in 13:03 of ice time in his Blues debut. He’s coming off a career-high 12 goals and 30 points in 78 games for Columbus last year.

Blues Sign Jake Neighbours To Two-Year Extension

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The Blues will avoid restricted free agency next summer with young winger Jake Neighbours. He’s put pen to paper on a two-year, $7.5MM extension, per a team release.

It’s a solid bridge deal for the 2020 26th overall pick. Now 22, Neighbours emerged as a top secondary goal-scoring option for St. Louis last season. He tied with Pavel Buchnevich for second on the team in goals with 27, although he only added 11 assists for a more pedestrian 38 points in 77 games. He averaged 15:42 per game, sixth among Blues forwards, and shot at a team-high 18.6%. The 6’0″, 201-lb winger was also one of their more physical players, registering 138 hits.

Neighbours serves in a top-six role, most recently at right wing alongside Buchnevich and sophomore Zachary Bolduc. But last season’s showing demonstrated that the ingredients are there for Neighbours to remain an effective second-line piece or even a complementary first-line one if the Blues return to routine playoff contention soon.

The Calgary native got off to a slow start this season without a point through his first four appearances but rebounded over the past few days with two goals and an assist in wins over the Islanders and the Hurricanes. He’s averaging 15:48 per game so far this season, up slightly over last year’s usage, and has a -2 rating with 12 shots on goal. His luck should continue trending upward – his possession metrics thus far are pristine (59.6 CF%, 50.0 xGF%) compared to last year’s underwhelming totals (45.1 CF%, 46.7 xGF%).

Neighbours is in the final season of his entry-level contract, which counts $835,834 against the cap and pays him just $832.5K in base salary this season. He won’t receive any performance or signing bonuses this year. PuckPedia reports his extension breaks down to a $3.5MM base salary in 2025-26 and a $4MM base salary in 2026-27 with no bonuses included, working out to a cap hit of $3.75MM.

The Blues now have roughly $8.14MM in cap space for next season, with only four roster spots to fill. That’s assuming the upper limit rises to $92.5MM, as expected. They still need to extend or replace a few depth pieces, namely pending RFA netminder Joel Hofer, but there’s no genuinely groundbreaking offseason business left in 2025 for the Blues’ front office.

The base salary breakdown means Neighbours will be due a $4MM qualifying offer upon expiry in 2027. He’ll be an RFA at that time with one year remaining under team control before becoming eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2029.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Alexandre Texier Expected To Return Tomorrow

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  • A formal roster move from the St. Louis Blues is expected tomorrow as Lou Korac of The Hockey News reports Alexandre Texier should be activated from injured reserve for the team’s contest tomorrow night. The Blues have a full 23-man roster at the moment meaning one player will have to be demoted to their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, or placed on injured reserve in some capacity. Defenseman Nick Leddy should be a popular candidate for the latter option as the veteran defenseman hasn’t suited up since October 15th after sustaining a lower-body injury.

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Morning Notes: Broberg, Holmberg, Walman

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One of the league’s most eye-opening offseason acquisitions has been making a significant impact with his new club early on. When the Blues signed former Oilers Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to successful offer sheets, most viewed their contracts as a bet on their upside rather than their current prowess. That was especially true in Broberg’s case, as the Blues inked him to a two-year deal with a $4.58MM cap hit despite the 2019 eighth overall pick spending most of last season in the minors.

But early on, Broberg’s been worth the cash and then some. He’s embarked on a six-game point streak to begin his tenure in St. Louis, tying for the team lead in scoring with six points (1 G, 5 A) and tying for the team lead with a +6 rating. What’s more – all of that production has come at even strength, and he’s averaging nearly 20 minutes per game. There’s more about Broberg’s early-season emergence in today’s video breakdown from Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic (subscription required).

Here are a couple of more things from around the hockey world this morning:

  • A successful offseason by most accounts from Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving means more forward depth for new head coach Craig Berube to play with. That’s led to a rotation of notable healthy scratches thus far, including late-offseason pickup Max Pacioretty. The next one might be Pontus Holmberg, who Berube said “has got to battle a little bit harder” after last weekend’s 4-1 loss to the Rangers (via Nick Barden of The Hockey News). He was potentially looking to lock down a spot as the team’s third-line center, and while he’s done well in the faceoff dot with a career-high 55.2 FOW%, he’s played mostly on the wing thus far and has an assist and a -1 rating through five appearances. Possession numbers have been extremely unkind to him in heavy defensive usage as well.
  • Defender Jake Walman was a surprise mover this summer when the Red Wings attached a second-round pick to deal him to the Sharks. Most thought at least one Detroit defenseman would be on the move, but not one of the team’s best skaters who’d flourished in a top-pairing role alongside Moritz Seider over the past couple of seasons. Walman recently spoke to The Athletic’s Max Bultman about the move, which he said left him “shocked and heartbroken.” He’s off to a fresh start in San Jose, where he’s averaging over 23 minutes per game as their top blue-line option with two assists and a -2 rating through six appearances.

Toropchenko And Leddy Day-To-Day; Could Kapanen Be A Waiver Candidate?

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The Blues announced (Twitter link) that winger Alexey Toropchenko is listed as day-to-day due to a lower-body injury.  The 25-year-old was a quality secondary scorer last season, notching 14 goals along with 165 hits while playing in all 82 games, predominantly in a bottom-six role for St. Louis.  Toropchenko has been deployed similarly through the first five contests of 2024-25 where he has an assist and a dozen hits in a little under 11 minutes a night.

Meanwhile, defenseman Nick Leddy, who missed Thursday’s game with a lower-body injury, has been ruled out for tonight’s contest against Carolina and is questionable to return on Tuesday versus Winnipeg.  The veteran has logged over 22 minutes a night in his first four appearances of the season, good for third among Blues blueliners.

  • Still with the Blues, Lou Korac of The Hockey News wonders if winger Kasperi Kapanen could be the odd man out up front when St. Louis gets their full complement of forwards back. The 28-year-old did well after being claimed off waivers in 2023 but struggled in his only full season with them, collecting 22 points in 73 games last year.  Kapanen has been held off the scoresheet in four games so far this season.  Still, the Blues opted to give him a one-year, $1MM contract in the summer, one that could be appealing if he lands on the waiver wire in the coming weeks as other players return.

Nick Leddy Out Day-To-Day, Sundqvist Cleared For Contact

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St. Louis Blues defenseman Nick Leddy is being listed as day-to-day after having an injury surface yesterday (as per Lou Korac of NHL.com). The lower-body ailment kept the 33-year-old off the ice today as well making him questionable for the Blues game tomorrow night against the New York Islanders. Leddy blocked a shot against the Minnesota Wild last night that may have been the cause of the injury, but nothing has been confirmed at this time.

Leddy has not been good to start the season, as he and his defensive partner Colton Parayko have not had a lot go right in the first four games of the season. Leddy has been on the ice for a total of eight goals this season through four games and is -3 plus/minus with no recorded points.

In other Blues news, forward Oskar Sundqvist has been cleared for contract as he tries to work his way back into the lineup from an ACL tear he suffered back in March (as per Chris Pinkert of NHL.com). Sundqvist underwent surgery shortly after the tear and was expected to require six months to recover. The news that he is cleared means that his return should happen in the next week or two, putting him right on schedule to return.

Sundqvist returned to the Blues in the summer of 2023, signing a one-year deal with a club that had traded him just 17 months prior. Sundqvist did enough in his first year back with the team to earn a two-year extension worth a total of $3MM. It was less than three weeks later that he would suffer the ACL tear.

Blues Place Alexandre Texier On IR, Activate Brandon Saad

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The St. Louis Blues have placed forward Alexandre Texier on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. In a corresponding move, St. Louis has also activated forward Brandon Saad after he missed the start of the year to attend to the birth of his third child. The two forwards will likely swap spots in the lineup as St. Louis prepares for their home opener on October 15th.

Texier was one of many new faces added to the Blues offense this summer, with St. Louis acquiring him via trade from Columbus and signing him to a two-year, $4.2MM contract extension. That figure was likely helped along by Texier’s career-high 12 goals and 30 points from last season, continuing his gradual climb up Columbus’ scoring charts. Texier started his North American career with seven AHL games in 2018-19. He was quickly called up after scoring at a point-per-game pace, but couldn’t do much to carve out a consistent role in the lineup. Texier would appear in just 121 of a possible 220 games for Columbus between 2019 and 2022, despite being on the roster full-time. Still, he showed flashes of scoring upside through the spot starts, scoring 21 goals and 48 points through the three seasons.

Texier finally received a daily role last season and seemed to meet his expectations as a depth scorer, though his daunting 3.3 xGA/60 (expected goals-against per-60 minutes) ranked worst among all Blue Jackets forwards last season, per Evolving Hockey. A change of scenery was meant to be the catalyst for Texier to continue earning a daily role. He’s earned it so far, recording an assist in his Blues debut, but he’ll now have to wait at least a week before continuing to fight for his spot in the lineup.

Texier will also now face the pressure of the veteran Saad, who managed an impressive 26 goals and 42 points from St. Louis’ middle-six last season, while appearing in all 82 games. Saad – once a two-time Stanley Cup winner in Chicago – has become St. Louis’ go-to glue guy over the last three seasons, capable of handling roles from third-line center to net-crasher on the top power-play unit. He’s totaled 128 points in 231 games with the Blues, including goal totals of 24, 19, and 26 respectively through his three seasons. Saad will enter his 14th NHL season when he returns to the Blues lineup, boasting 499 points through 863 career games.

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