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Blues Activate Justin Faulk, Reassign Matthew Kessel

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The Blues activated defenseman Justin Faulk off LTIR on Monday, signaling he’ll be ready to play in tomorrow’s key Central Division tilt against the Jets, per a team announcement. Defenseman Matthew Kessel was loaned to AHL Springfield in a corresponding transaction to create a necessary roster spot.

Faulk, 31, has been out of the lineup since sustaining a lower-body injury in late January that cost him 12 games. The 13-year veteran will return to his usual spot alongside Torey Krug on the Blues’ secondary defense pairing as they try to gain separation from the streaking Minnesota Wild and get a step closer to overtaking the Predators for the final playoff spot in the West.

Now in the fourth season of a seven-year, $45.5MM extension signed after the Blues acquired him from the Hurricanes in 2019, Faulk has taken a step back with only two goals and 19 points in 40 games this year. He’s posted a -5 rating while averaging 22:14 per game, his lowest usage since his first season in St. Louis in 2019-20. The 2010 second-round pick has still yet to average less than 20 minutes per game in a season, sticking in a top-four role ever since making his debut with Carolina in 2011.

His pairing with Krug has been the Blues’ highest-event unit on the blue line, leading the team in both expected goals for and against per 60 minutes, according to MoneyPuck. As such, their 46.1% expected goals share is by no means elite, but it still leads all St. Louis defense duos with over 100 minutes together this year. He is an upgrade on the now-demoted Kessel, who controlled 43.3% of expected goals when paired with Krug, by any stretch.

Kessel, 23, has cemented himself as St. Louis’ top defensive call-up option for now. He hasn’t stood out among an already poor Blues defense, but he’s gained the trust of their coaching staff enough to dress in 22 games this year, recording two assists and a -4 rating while averaging 17:25 per game. The 2020 fifth-round pick stands at 6-foot-2 and over 200 lbs and was an impressive two-way force with UMass Amherst from 2019 to 2022. He’s in the second and final season of his entry-level contract and will be an RFA this summer with arbitration rights.

Jean-Guy Talbot Passes Away

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Longtime Canadiens defenseman Jean-Guy Talbot passed away Thursday, per an obituary from NHL.com columnist Dave Stubbs. Talbot was 91 years old.

Born in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Québec, in 1932, Talbot was the second-last surviving member of the group of 12 players who remained with the Canadiens during their NHL-record five consecutive championships from 1956 to 1960. Those were the first five full seasons of Talbot’s NHL career – he would go on to win the Cup twice more with Montreal in 1965 and 1966.

Talbot was among the Habs’ many key figures of the late Original Six era, playing over 800 games in a Montreal sweater between 1955 and 1967. While his career-best 1961-62 campaign didn’t result in an eighth Stanley Cup win, Talbot’s five goals, 42 assists, 47 points, and +30 rating in 70 games placed him third in Norris Trophy voting behind the Blackhawks’ Pierre Pilote and the Rangers’ Doug Harvey. He was also named to the year-end All-Star team for the only time in his career.

His Montreal tenure ended when the Canadiens left him unprotected in the 1967 Expansion Draft, where the Minnesota North Stars selected him. He was traded to the Red Wings just four games into the 1967-68 season, though, and switched teams for a second time that year when the Blues claimed him off waivers from Detroit in January. Talbot remained in St. Louis for most of the remainder of his career, closing out his playing days briefly with the Sabres after a trade in 1970-71.

After retirement, Talbot stayed in the game as a coach, taking over behind the Blues bench in 1972-73 after the team fired Al Arbour, who would win four straight Stanley Cups with the Islanders between 1980 and 1983. Talbot resigned from his post with the Blues late in the 1973-74 season and would coach the WHA’s Denver Spurs in 1975-76, which relocated to Ottawa mid-season before folding. He returned to the NHL as the coach of the Rangers in 1977-78 but only spent one season behind the bench.

Talbot resided in Trois-Rivières, Québec, and is survived by his wife of over 70 years, Pierrette, two sons, a daughter, and five granddaughters. PHR extends its deepest condolences to Talbot’s family and the Canadiens organization.

Snapshots: Buchnevich, Bogosian, Rosen

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The St. Louis Blues aren’t actively shopping winger Pavel Buchnevich but they are hearing out offers, shares team insider Jeremy Rutherford with The Athletic. Rutherford adds that any deal would likely start at a first-round draft pick and may even need two first-round picks to get done. That’s a steep price for an older veteran with just one year left on his contract but Buchnevich may earn it. He’s been one of St. Louis’ most productive players since joining them in 2021-22, totaling 186 points in 189 games with the club. That includes his 43 points in 53 games this season, a mark that ranks second on the Blues and puts Buchnevich on pace to break 65 points in his third season in a row.

Buchnevich became a pillar of the St. Louis offense quickly, scoring a career-high 76 points in 73 games during the 2021-22 season – a year that saw the Blues score their most goals in one season since 1981-82. He’s maintained that strength through the last two seasons, despite St. Louis’ scoring coming a bit slower, and even adapted to playing a top-line centerman role for parts of last season. His adaptability is evident, and that – as well as a chance to get a head start on contract negotiations – could be enough to convince playoff teams to pay a high premium at the Deadline.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The St. Louis Blues are expected to send down Calle Rosen to make room to activate Scott Perunovich off of injured reserve, per team reporter Matthew DeFranks. Perunovich is returning from a lower-body injury that’s held him out of the team’s last seven games. He will continue his search for his first goal of the season, and his NHL career, recording 12 assists through 31 games this season.
  • Minnesota Wild Defenseman Zach Bogosian is likely to miss at least a week of action after exiting the team’s Wednesday night game with an upper-body injury, per team reporter Michael Russo. Bogosian appears to have suffered the injury after blocking a shot from Nikolaj Ehlers, leaving the game after his shift. Bogosian has scored one goal and nine points in 44 games this season, serving a comfortable role in Minnesota’s top-four. His absence will likely lend way to Declan Chisholm or Jonathon Merrill gaining a larger role, though the Wild also have Alex Goligoski serving as a healthy scratch.

Scott Perunovich A Game-Time Decision For Thursday

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St. Louis Blues head coach Drew Bannister has named defenseman Scott Perunovich as a game-time decision for the team’s Thursday evening game against the New York Islanders, per team reporter Matthew DeFranks. Perunovich has been out since January 28th, nursing a lower-body injury that earned him a retroactive injured reserve placement earlier in the week. This season has marked Perunovich’s official rookie year in the NHL, although he did play in 19 games during the 2021-22 season. But persistent injury, including pre-season shoulder surgery, limited Perunovich to just 22 AHL games last season. He has 12 points, all assists, in 31 games this season. The scoring brings his career totals up to 18 points in 50 combined games, with Perunovich still searching for his first NHL goal.

The Blues will need to send one of Tucker or Rosen back to the minor leagues in order to activate Perunovich off of injured reserve. They could also send down extra forwards Sammy Blais or Nikita Alexandrov, if they prefer hanging on to extra defensive depth. That could be the case, as St. Louis is also down Justin Faulk, who was moved onto long-term injured reserve on Tuesday.

St. Louis Blues Make Several Roster Moves

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In a flurry of roster activity, the St. Louis Blues have recalled forward Zachary Bolduc from their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, while also placing defenseman Justin Faulk on the team’s Long-Term Injured Reserve, with defenseman Scott Perunovich being placed on the injured reserve.

It will not change much in the short-term for the Blues’ roster, as they’ve been without Faulk for the last 10 games and Perunovich for the last seven. Factoring in the requirements to return from both the LTIR and IR, both players are eligible to be reinstated to the active roster whenever they are healthy enough to return.

The most exciting part of this transaction for St. Louis will be seeing the eventual debut of Bolduc. A first-round selection of the Blues back in the 2021 NHL Draft, Bolduc is in his first season within the Blues organization.

Although a member of Rimouski Oceanic during his draft year, Bolduc became a member of the Quebec Remparts as soon as the 2021-22 season under the tutelage of head coach Patrick Roy. Over 126 games in Quebec, Bolduc experienced a great deal of success, scoring 105 goals and 209 points over the regular season.

Outside of the regular season, Bolduc became a solid playoff performer as well, scoring 19 goals and 31 points over 30 postseason games for the Remparts, helping the team to a Memorial Cup championship in 2022-23. Now transitioning to professional hockey, Bolduc has not maintained the same degree of offensive production in his rookie season, managing only eight goals and 23 points over 48 games for Springfield this year.

Jordan Binnington Fined By Department Of Player Safety

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The Department of Player Safety announced today that they have fined St.Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington a total of $5,000 for high-sticking Nashville Predators forward Luke Evangelista in last night’s game between the two teams. The fine was the maximum financial punishment allowable in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.

During the play in question, as Evangelista was making his way behind Binnington and the Blues’ net, Binnington raised the butt-end of his stick to meet Evangelista’s face. There was a high-sticking penalty called on the play, and Binnington did appear apologetic to Evangelista after, but the Department of Player Safety did not feel that the original punishment sufficed.

[SOURCE LINK]

Scott Perunovich Returns To Ice; Justin Faulk Does Not

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Kasperi Kapanen Cleared To Play

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  • Blues winger Kasperi Kapanen is ready to return from a lower-body injury ahead of Saturday’s game against the Sabres, interim head coach Drew Bannister said (via Lou Korac of NHL.com). Kapanen, 27, missed seven games with a lower-body injury sustained on Jan. 15 against the Flyers. St. Louis has an open roster spot and won’t need to make a corresponding transaction to take Kapanen off injured reserve. Despite scoring only four times in 42 games this season, he’s projected to return in a top-six role alongside Jake Neighbours and Brayden Schenn. Now in the second year of a two-year, $6.4MM contract ($3.2MM cap hit), the 2014 first-round pick has 12 goals and 27 points in 65 games with the Blues after they claimed him off waivers from the Penguins in February 2023.

St.Louis Blues Place Justin Faulk On Injured Reserve

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  • Per a team announcement, the St.Louis Blues have placed defenseman Justin Faulk on the team’s injured reserve for the second time this calendar year. Once again suffering from a lower-body injury, it does not appear to be connected to the injury that kept Faulk on the injured reserve from January 4th to January 11th. However, unlike his last injury, Faulk’s timeline has been listed as week-to-week.

Blues Recall Calle Rosén

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The Blues recalled defenseman Calle Rosén from AHL Springfield on Thursday, per a team release.

Rosén, who turned 30 earlier this month, joins the Blues with Justin Faulk and Scott Perunovich out of the lineup with lower-body injuries. The recall gives them seven healthy defensemen on the active roster in case their two injured defenders can’t re-join the team by Saturday’s game against the Sabres, their first after the All-Star break.

This is Rosén’s first recall since clearing waivers during training camp and heading to the minors in October. He’s scored twice and added 23 assists – which ranks first among Springfield defensemen – in 44 games, along with a +3 rating.

23-year-old right-shot defenseman Matthew Kessel drew into the lineup in 14 straight games before the break, averaging 17:17 per contest. He didn’t get on the scoresheet, however, and despite his even rating, his 43.1% Corsi share at even strength left something to be desired. If the Blues opt to replace Kessel with Rosén in the lineup, or if one of Faulk or Perunovich is ready to return, Kessel would not need waivers to return to Springfield.

After playing in a career-high 49 NHL games last season, it’s surprising it took until February for Rosén to see his first recall of 2023-24. He was quietly one of the best depth defenders in the league, posting eight goals and 10 assists for 18 points with a +19 rating despite logging only 15:36 per game. His 46.8% Corsi share at even strength was third among Blues defensemen behind Torey Krug and Tyler Tucker, and his expected +2.5 rating was second on the entire team behind depth winger Josh Leivo.

The Blues’ roster size is now at the 23-player maximum after Rosén’s recall. He is in the second season of a two-year, $1.525MM extension signed in 2022 that carries a $762.5K cap hit. A pending UFA, Rosén can return to Springfield without clearing waivers if he plays less than 10 games and stays on the roster for less than 30 days.

Joining the league as an undrafted free agent signed by the Maple Leafs in 2017, Rosén has since appeared in 87 games across five seasons for Toronto, Colorado and St. Louis. He’s played more of a role since coming to St. Louis in 2021, recording 10 goals and 25 points in 67 appearances.

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