Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Blues Rumors

Chicago Set To Host St. Louis In 2025 Winter Classic

at CDT | by

The Chicago Blackhawks are set for a rematch in the 2025 Winter Classic, taking on the St. Louis Blues at Wrigley Field per team reporter Ben Pope with the Chicago Suntimes. This will be a reliving of the 2017 Winter Classic which saw St. Louis topple Chicago 4-1 at Busch Stadium, the home to the MLB’s St. Louis Cardinals. They’ll now move to the home of the Chicago Cubs, effectively embracing the thick rivalries between the two cities.

This announcement will, above all else, provide future NHL star Connor Bedard with the first outdoor game of his NHL career. The top overall selection in last year’s draft is no stranger to outdoor games, with the WHL’s Regina Pats routinely hosting outdoor events like the Hockey Night on Wascana. But he will need to make sure he’s used to the setting if he plans to stay in Chicago. The 2025 Winter Classic will mark the fifth time that Chicago has played in the event. Couple that with two stadium series appearances, and the Blackhawks will take the lead for most outdoor games of any NHL club when they take the ice at Wrigley Field next year. Chicago will be beating out the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have seen three Winter Classics and three Stadium Series games.

This news also sets up Wrigley Field to become just the second venue to host two Winter Classics – fittingly sharing the title with Boston’s Fenway Park. The Blackhawks will hope for a better outcome than their last game at Wrigley, which ended in a 6-4 defeat at the hands of Jiri Hudler and the Detroit Red Wings.

Mackenzie MacEachern To Miss Remainder Of 2023-24 Season

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Currently playing for the Springfield Thunderbirds of the St.Louis Blues organization, Mackenzie MacEachern will have to wait until next season to make his way up the organizational depth chart. The team announced today that MacEachern suffered a shoulder injury in the Thunderbirds’ game on January 27th and that he will undergo season-ending surgery.

Besides a one-year pit stop with the Carolina Hurricanes organization a few years ago, MacEachern has been a part of the Blues organization for the majority of the time since 2016-17. Originally drafted by the team with the 67th overall pick of the 2012 NHL Draft, MacEachern has struggled to carve out a path in the NHL.

Largely destined for a bottom-six role in his future with St.Louis, MacEachern has played in a total of 123 regular season games wearing the blue note, scoring 11 goals and 20 points in the process. This year specifically, MacEachern will finish with one assist over eight games with the Blues, and six goals and 19 points in 34 games with Springfield.

Playing for the last three AHL affiliates for St.Louis, MacEachern has faired much better in the minor leagues, scoring 49 goals and 111 points throughout 252 games split between Springfield, the Chicago Wolves, and the San Antonio Rampage. A quality postseason producer in the AHL as well, MacEachern has scored eight goals and 16 points in 28 games through two Calder Cup playoff runs.

Thankfully for MacEachern, he does have a bit of security on his current deal, given that he is on the first year of a two-year, $1.55MM contract signed with the Blues this past summer. Now taking the foreseeable future rehabbing from shoulder surgery, MacEachern will once again try his luck next season to carve out a full-time role in St.Louis.

Scott Perunovich Out Through All-Star Break

at CDT | by 1 Comment

  • Suffering a lower-body injury in the team’s most recent game against the Los Angeles Kings, Lou Korac of The Hockey News reports that St.Louis Blues defenseman Scott Perunovich was seen wearing a boot on his left foot this morning, and would be out through the All-Star break. Thankfully, the injury does not sound as serious as expected, meaning that Perunovich should be able to return shortly thereafter. On the season, Perunovich has suited up in 31 games for the Blues, tallying 12 assists while averaging about 14 and a half minutes a night.

    [SOURCE LINK]

St. Louis Blues Have Made Several Players Available

at CDT | by 9 Comments

Scott Billeck of The Winnipeg Sun speculated today about what the Winnipeg Jets might do with their available extra roster spot. The Jets currently sit third in the Central Division with a 30-12-5 record and could be looking to make a big swing at the upcoming NHL trade deadline.

The Jets will need a roster spot to activate center Mark Scheifele off the injured reserve but have some other roster moves they could make including waiving Dominic Toninato or Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and sending them down to the Manitoba Moose. Billick wonders if the Jets might opt to do that and call up Ville Heinola so the team can have eight available NHL defensemen.

He also wondered if the Jets might offer up Heinola in a trade if they are looking to make a bigger move at this year’s trade deadline.

In other Central Division notes:

  • Elliotte Friedman mentioned on his 32 Thoughts podcast that St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong has made several players available on the NHL trade market but hasn’t been able to generate much in the way of interest. There is one player that Friedman believes that the Blues could trade easily and that is forward Pavel Buchnevich. Friedman adds that moving the 28-year-old would be a pretty easy trade to make which indicates to Friedman that the Blues likely aren’t interested in moving on from him. Buchnevich is having a terrific year in St. Louis with 17 goals and 22 assists in 46 games while averaging almost 20 minutes a night in ice time.
  • Elliotte Friedman indicated on his 32 Thoughts podcast that the Chicago Blackhawks had kicked the tires on Vancouver Canucks forward Andrei Kuzmenko. A potential trade makes sense from both sides given that the Blackhawks are in desperate need of scoring and the Canucks need to move out some salary. Kuzmenko would be a bounce-back candidate for the Blackhawks if they were able to facilitate a move as he had 74 points in 81 games last season but has struggled this year with just eight goals and 13 assists in 43 games. Kuzmenko has a year left on his contract after this season at $5.5MM meaning that the Blackhawks would be acquiring a player they could move at next year’s deadline as a rental if he isn’t a fit with their core.

Afternoon Snapshots: Perunovich, Binnington, Skinner, Three Stars

at CDT | by 4 Comments

St. Louis Blues defenseman Scott Perunovich underwent an MRI on Monday for the lower-body injury he suffered in St. Louis’ Sunday night win over the Los Angeles Kings. Team reporter Lou Korac shares that Perunovich will be out on Tuesday but that the team is hoping the All-Star Break will be enough time for Perunovich to recover.

Perunovich has appeared in 31 games this season, netting 12 assists, six penalty minutes, and -4. The 25-year-old also played in 19 games and recorded six assists in the 2020-21 season, though he’s still searching for the first goal of his career. The oft-injured defender missed the majority of last season with a fractured shoulder that required surgery in October. His only action was 22 AHL games, where he scored two goals and 20 points.

The Blues have recalled Tyler Tucker from his conditioning stint in the AHL to replace Perunovich. Tucker appeared in six games with the Springfield Thunderbirds, recording no points, six penalty minutes, and a +2. He’s also managed two points and 22 penalty minutes in 15 NHL games this season

Other notes from around the league:

  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared on the recent 32 Thoughts Podcast that Jordan Binnington would be a top starting goaltender option for Team Canada, sharing, “Someone was saying to me the other day, if Canada was playing Game 1 of the World Cup right now… Jordan Binnington would be in the conversation to be your starter.” Friedman also mentioned Stuart Skinner as a second option. Binnington and Skinner have both gone through ups and downs throughout their careers but boast winning pedigrees, with Skinner winning the WHL championship in 2018 and Binnington winning the OHL championship in 2011 and Stanley Cup in 2019. Both were also runners-up for the Calder Trophy in their rookie seasons. They have each played in 34 games this season, with Skinner managing 23 wins a .910 save percentage while Binnington has 17 wins and a .907 save percentage.
  • The NHL has announced their ‘Three Stars of the Week’ for the last full week of January. Matthew Tkachuk wins Third Star with eight points, split evenly, in four games; Connor McDavid gets the Second Star by matching Tkachuk’s stat line in just three games; and Nikita Kucherov takes the First Star with four goals and nine points in just three games. The hot week brought Kucherov’s scoring totals up to a league-leading – and frankly dazzling – 85 points in 49 games.

Lower-Body Injury For Perunovich, Tucker Recalled From Conditioning Stint

at CDT | by 1 Comment

  • The Blues announced that defenseman Scott Perunovich suffered a lower-body injury during today’s overtime victory over Los Angeles. The 25-year-old has played in a career-best 31 games this season, notching a dozen assists including two today.  There’s no word yet on how much time, if any, Perunovich will miss.
  • Still with the Blues, they’ve recalled blueliner Tyler Tucker from his conditioning assignment, relays NHL.com’s Lou Korac (Twitter link). The 23-year-old played in six games with AHL Springfield while in the minors.  Tucker, who is waiver-eligible, has been limited to just 15 games with St. Louis this season, collecting two points while averaging 12:31 per game.

Justin Faulk Out Until After All-Star Break

at CDT | by 2 Comments

  • After being placed on the injured reserve on January 16th with a lower-body injury, the St.Louis Blues will be expecting forward Kasperi Kapanen back after the All-Star break (X Link). As one of the more prominent depth offensive pieces on the Blues’ roster, Kapanen has struggled a bit over the course of the season, scoring four goals and 13 points in 42 games on the year.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Scandella Might Be Blues' Best Trade Candidate

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Blues are one of the teams that are still in the mix for a Wild Card spot but even if they fall out of the race, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic wonders (subscription link) if it could be a quiet deadline as a seller.  Their most prominent rentals up front are the struggling Kasperi Kapanen and Jakub Vrana, who is currently playing in the minors; neither would likely have much of a market.  However, Rutherford suggests that blueliner Marco Scandella could be the likeliest player to garner attention around the league if he isn’t signed to an extension first.  The 33-year-old has had a very limited role this season but can still kill penalties and is the type of depth player that playoff teams will often look to add for injury insurance purposes.  That said, at $3.275MM, St. Louis would certainly have to pay half of that to facilitate any sort of move while an extension, if one was to be reached, should check in closer to the $1MM mark.

Blues Place Kasperi Kapanen On IR, Out 4 Weeks

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Blues winger Kasperi Kapanen will be out a minimum of four weeks with a lower-body injury, the team announced Wednesday. He has been placed on injured reserve.

In a corresponding transaction, the team brought up veteran forward Adam Gaudette from AHL Springfield. The 27-year-old leads all AHLers with 24 goals in 37 games.

The speedy winger has struggled heavily in his first full season with the Blues. Things were looking up for Kapanen after St. Louis claimed him off waivers from the Penguins partway through the 2022-23 campaign, closing out the year with 8-6–14 in 23 games. This season, despite a minimal reduction in usage, he’s notched just 4-9–13 in 42 games, his worst points per game pace since his rookie campaign with the Maple Leafs in 2017-18.

A long-term injury now complicates things further. Kapanen will miss at least ten games and potentially more if his four-week evaluation doesn’t clear him to return.

Blues interim head coach Drew Bannister confirmed today that Gaudette will directly replace Kapanen in the lineup against the Capitals tomorrow, meaning another recent AHL call-up, Nathan Walker, likely sits as a healthy scratch. The Blues are carrying a full 23-player roster, including defenseman Tyler Tucker, who’s suiting up for Springfield on a conditioning loan.

Gaudette didn’t see any NHL action last season, limited exclusively to minor-league play for the first time in his pro career. After notching 34 points in 40 games for the AHL’s Toronto Marlies while under contract with the Maple Leafs, Gaudette found himself in Springfield after his contract was included in the trade return for Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly last season. Tomorrow will be his first NHL game since April 29, 2022, with the Ottawa Senators.

Morning Notes: Alexandrov, Bussi, Ovechkin

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The St. Louis Blues have announced that they’ve recalled forward Nikita Alexandrov from his conditioning assignment with the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League. Alexandrov was loaned to Springfield back on January 4th after he had been a healthy scratch for ten straight games with the Blues.

Alexandrov made the most of the demotion and was very productive with the Thunderbirds as he tallied two goals and five assists in seven games. The 23-year-old has no points in 10 NHL games this season with St. Louis and is a -2. He has averaged 7:28 of ice time per game with the Blues and has struggled badly at even strength.

In other morning notes:

  • The Boston Bruins have announced that they’ve returned goaltender Brandon Bussi to the Providence Bruins of the AHL. Bussi had been recalled on an emergency basis back on January 11th, although he didn’t see any game action during his recall. The 25-year-old has put together an impressive AHL career thus far but has yet to see any NHL action despite being recalled on a number of occasions. This year has been a struggle for Bussi as he has seen his save percentage fall dramatically to just .901 on the season while his goals-against average has climbed to 2.94.
  • Sammi Silber of The Hockey News is reporting that Washington Capitals star forward Alex Ovechkin will be a game-time decision tonight when they take on the Anaheim Ducks. It will make the fifth straight game that Ovechkin is a game-time decision as he tries to battle through a lower-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup since January 11th. Ovechkin has missed two games at this point but did take the entire morning skate with the Capitals today, although he sat out of the power-play reps. Ovechkin has just eight goals this season after tallying 42 last year. The 38-year-old had been heating up leading up to the injury with a goal and five assists in his last five games.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top