West Notes: Jiricek, Kesselring, Hague
The St. Louis Blues have reassigned defenseman Adam Jiricek to the Ontario Hockey League’s Brantford Bulldogs (news release). Jiricek was the 16th overall pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft and will bring a wealth of experience to the Bulldogs, having already accumulated 31 games of professional experience in his native Czechia.
The younger brother of Columbus defenseman David Jiricek has played quite a bit internationally in the last few seasons, including appearances in the U17 World Hockey Challenge, U18 World Hockey Championships, Hlinka-Gretzky Cup & World Junior Hockey Championships.
In other Western Conference notes:
- Utah Hockey Club defenseman Michael Kesselring is out with an illness and will be a game-time decision tomorrow night (as per Belle Fraser of the Salt Lake Tribune). Kesselring logged almost 23 minutes in ice time last night in a loss against the San Jose Sharks but woke up and was sick with a fever today. The 24-year-old has seen a huge increase in ice time this season, averaging over 20 minutes a night in the absence of top-four defensemen John Marino and Sean Durzi. Kesselring has filled in admirably, posting two goals and three assists in 10 games this season.
- Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nicolas Hague has been officially ruled out for tomorrow night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings (as per Sin Bin Vegas). The 25-year-old skated by himself as he ramped up his efforts to get back into the lineup. Hague last played on October 25th and will miss his third consecutive game with a lower-body injury. Kaedan Korczak will likely continue to fill in for Hague on the Golden Knights backend. Korczak has dressed in three games this season, posting a single assist while averaging over 16 minutes of ice time per game.
Blues Extend Alexey Toropchenko
The Blues have signed forward Alexey Toropchenko to a one-year extension worth $1.7MM, per a team release. The Moscow native was set to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer.
Toropchenko, 25, has quietly emerged as a full-time fixture in the Blues lineup over the past few seasons. He played in all 82 games last season and hasn’t seen an AHL assignment since heading to Springfield for a conditioning stint early in the 2022-23 campaign. He’ll now stick around in St. Louis for at least one more season, but his future is far less certain past that, as the extension walks him directly to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2026.
The 2017 fourth-round pick has settled into a fourth-line role, staying there to start 2024-25 even as injuries have taken Mathieu Joseph and Robert Thomas out of the forward lineup. He’s played in seven of St. Louis’ nine games this year, missing a pair of contests earlier in the month due to a lower-body injury. He has one assist, 7 PIMs, and 18 hits while averaging 11:37 per game, down slightly from last season. He’s been deployed heavily in defensive situations at even strength, and as such, the Blues are only controlling 43.5% of shot attempts and 33.3% of expected goals with him on the ice.
2023-24 was a strong showing for Toropchenko, who inked a two-year, $2.5MM contract the prior offseason. He set career-highs in goals (14) and points (21), recording 114 shots on goal and 165 hits while averaging 12:31 per game. He’s likely reached the end of his development track, but he has done enough to prove he can be a useful fourth-line piece due to his size (6’6″, 222 lbs), physicality, and legitimate chance-generation ability.
The Blues now have $86.06MM already dedicated to 20 players for next season. Notable pending free agents still include Radek Faksa, Joel Hofer, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Kasperi Kapanen, Scott Perunovich, and Ryan Suter.
Mathieu Joseph To Be Evaluated For Lower-Body Injury
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
- 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.
[SOURCE LINK]
Blues Place Robert Thomas On Injured Reserve, Activate Oskar Sundqvist
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
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
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
- 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.
[SOURCE LINK]
Morning Notes: Broberg, Holmberg, Walman
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?
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.