The St. Louis Blues have made several roster moves as they prepare for their final game before the All-Star break. Zach Sanford and Tyler Bozak have both been activated from injured reserve, while Jordan Kyrou and Jordan Nolan have been sent back to the minor leagues. Sanford and Bozak had been dealing with concussions.
St. Louis will take on the Anaheim Ducks tonight in a game that actually could have some playoff implications. The Blues have played better of late under head coach Craig Berube, and now sit just five points behind the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche for the wild card spots in the Western Conference. Unfortunately for the Blues there are four teams between them and those spots, one of which being the Ducks. They’ll need to win an awful lot of games like this down the stretch if they want to make a run for the postseason.
To do that they’ll need Bozak to play a bigger role than he did in the first half. Signed to a three-year $15MM contract in the offseason, the 32-year old center was handed a hefty amount of responsibility and minutes through the early part of the year. Unfortunately he has just 18 points through 39 games, not quite the level the Blues were hoping to get from the long-time Toronto Maple Leafs forward. Still, Bozak is as reliable as they come in the faceoff dot and could be a big part of a second half turnaround by St. Louis if they start getting reasonable goaltending and can get some sustained health.