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Scott Perunovich

Afternoon Snapshots: Perunovich, Binnington, Skinner, Three Stars

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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.

Snapshots: Lightning, Perunovich, Tucker, Myers, Slaggert

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Tampa Bay’s defensive depth has been tested this season with several players having extended stints out of the lineup.  Accordingly, it appears GM Julien BriseBois would like to add some insurance on that end as David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports (Twitter link) that the Lightning have spoken with several teams in both conferences and that they’d like to add a blueliner over the next six weeks before the trade deadline.  Having said that, cap space is going to be at a premium once Mikhail Sergachev is activated off LTIR which should come soon after the All-Star break so making the finances work could be tricky.  Meanwhile, Tampa Bay only has one pick in the first four rounds of the draft this year (a third-rounder) which limits what they might be able to move out on the trade front if they find a player they like and can afford.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • 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.
  • The Department of Player Safety announced that they’ve fined Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers $5K for an elbow on Columbus center Sean Kuraly on Saturday. The incident occurred in the third period and the initial major penalty on the play was given to Ian Cole before being changed to Myers after review.  The fine amount is the maximum allowable under the CBA.
  • Last summer, Blackhawks prospect Landon Slaggert declined an offer to turn pro, raising some concerns that he could opt for free agency this coming summer. However, the forward told Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times that he intends to sign with Chicago once his season with Notre Dame comes to an end.  The 21-year-old was a third-round pick in 2020 and is faring much better offensively this season with 25 points in 26 games after putting up just 13 in 35 appearances in 2022-23.

Snapshots: Eberle, Pesce, Perunovich

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The Seattle Kraken have shared that Jordan Eberle is doing alright after suffering a deep cut at the team’s Wednesday practice. He won’t play in the Kraken’s Thursday matchup against the Colorado Avalanche but is otherwise considered day-to-day by the team. The Kraken recalled Shane Wright and Ryan Winterton to the NHL lineup in response to Eberle’s injury.

Eberle has appeared in 13 games with the Kraken this season, netting four points, nine penalty minutes, and a -8. He’s appeared in roles throughout the Kraken lineup through the early season, as head coach Dave Hakstol has tried to help Eberle get it going. The 33-year-old winger scored 20 goals and 63 points in 82 games last season, ranking third on the team in scoring and fourth in goal-scoring. It also tied for Eberle’s second-highest scoring season and marked his first time scoring 60 or more points since 2014-15, when he was still with the Edmonton Oilers.

The Kraken received a waiver to the NHL/CHL transfer agreement that would have required Wright to be assigned to the OHL if he didn’t make the Kraken roster out of training camp. As a result, he’s started the season with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, where he’s scored four goals and six points in seven games. He’s tied for the Firebirds lead in goals. Wright will likely draw into the lineup if Eberle can’t go. He appeared in eight games last season, scoring two points.

Other notes from around the league:

Big Hype Prospects: Silovs, Evans, Lekkerimäki, Perunovich, Vilén

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Welcome to PHR’s Big Hype Prospects series. Like the MLB Trade Rumors series of the same name, we’re taking a look at the performances of top prospects from across the hockey world. We’ll look at drafted prospects who are rising, others who are struggling, and prospects for the upcoming draft who are notable.

Five Big Hype Prospects

Arturs Silovs, G, Vancouver Canucks (Abbotsford Canucks, AHL)
44 GP 26-12-5 .909 sv% 2.44 GAA (regular season) 2 GP 1-1-0 .914 sv% 2.85 GAA (postseason)

Although incumbent starter Thatcher Demko is under contract until after the 2025-26 season, this past campaign Vancouver Canucks fans could not be blamed for placing some increased focus on some of their organization’s younger netminders due to Demko’s struggles. One of those potential “next in line” netminders is Silovs, a 2019 sixth-round pick.

Coming from the hockey-mad country of Latvia, Silovs took a significant step forward this season. For the first time, Silovs was an undisputed starter for his pro team, playing in 44 games in Abbotsford and succeeding to the tune of a .909 save percentage.

Silovs’ exceptional run of form in early February earned him his first NHL start, and although he struggled against the New York Rangers in his first game he ended his set of five NHL starts with a 3-2 record, 2.75 goals-against-average, and .908 save percentage.

Silovs showcased growth with each passing game, even ending his NHL run with a 29-save victory over the Nashville Predators that included this fantastic stop.

Silovs’ best work, though, came after his club season ended and he was tapped to represent his country. Silovs was selected as Latvia’s starter for the IIHF Men’s World Championships, over 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics hero Kristers Gudlevskis. Given a major role in a tournament where games would be played in his home city, Riga, Silovs seized the moment.

Silovs posted a 7-3 record, 2.20 goals-against-average, and .921 save percentage in 10 tournament starts, leading Latvia to some of the biggest wins in its history and the nation’s first-ever IIHF Worlds medal.

Latvia played quite a few high-intensity games against hockey powerhouse countries that brought legitimate NHL talent to the tournament, and even with the pressure of an entire country on his shoulders Silovs managed to show some immense poise. He found himself under siege in many of those games, such as in their quarterfinal against Sweden where he faced 41 shots and stopped all but one.

Silovs’ performance earned him tournament MVP honors, and now he heads into the next season with significant momentum and a legitimate chance to seize the backup job behind Demko from veteran Spencer Martin.

Ryker Evans, LHD, Seattle Kraken (Coachella Valley Firebirds, AHL)
71 GP 6G 38A 44pts (regular season) 26 GP 5G 21A 26pts (postseason)

Although Seattle Kraken fans were undoubtedly disappointed to see their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, lose in overtime of Game Seven of the Calder Cup Final, the performance of Evans, arguably Seattle’s top defensive prospect, has to have been extremely encouraging.

Evans, 21, was selected 35th overall by the Kraken at the 2021 draft, becoming the franchise’s first-ever second-round pick. This came as a surprise to some as Evans was actually an overage talent who had gone undrafted in his first season of eligibility. But the Kraken found Evans’ COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 WHL campaign to be impressive enough to warrant the investment of a high pick, and after Evans’ first campaign as a professional, he is quickly vindicating the Kraken’s leap of faith.

Evans had a strong regular season, posting 44 points in 71 games as one of head coach Dan Bylsma’s most relied-upon defensemen. It’s a major challenge for many prospects to move from junior hockey, where space is far easier to come by, to the AHL, a pro league. For offensively-focused defensemen, that challenge can be even steeper as many need to un-learn habits that worked for them against competition made up of their peers but are ineffective against seasoned pros.

There didn’t appear to be much of a challenge in translating his junior scoring to the AHL for Evans, who led all AHL rookies in assists and was named to the league’s all-rookie team. But even after that regular season, it’s Evans’ performance during the Firebirds’ extended playoff run that’s most impressive.

Evans played a major role on a team that nearly won an AHL title, and with the Firebirds’ regular-season leading defensive scorer Brogan Rafferty’s production sputtering Evans more than stepped up to fill the offensive void.

Evans’ creativity and ability to make something out of nothing from the back-end proved extremely useful to the Firebirds, who boasted a netminder in Joey Daccord who made it incredibly difficult for opposing teams once his teammates bestowed him a lead in a game.

Although breakout NHL blueliner Vince Dunn is set to remain the centerpiece offensive blueliner in Seattle moving forward, it would be no shock to see Evans beat out a veteran for a role in Seattle and potentially even make his way onto the team’s second-unit power play.

Jonathan Lekkerimäki, RW, Vancouver Canucks (Djurgården IF, HockeyAllsvenskan)
29 GP 3G 6A 9pts (regular season) 15GP 5G 10A 15pts (postseason)

For most of 2022-23, it seemed as though the narrative surrounding Lekkerimäki, a Vancouver Canucks 2022 first-round pick, would be that his first season after being drafted was an unequivocal disappointment. Lekkerimäki played his draft season in the SHL, and posted nine points, a strong number for such a young player.

But in his post-draft campaign, Lekkerimäki played a division below the SHL, in the HockeyAllsvenskan, thanks to Djurgården’s relegation the season prior. Despite playing in three more games at a decreased competition level, Lekkerimäki posted the exact same number of points as the season before: nine.

Lekkerimäki suffered a foot injury that took him out of the lineup until the HockeyAllsvenskan playoffs, though, and it was in the postseason where Lekkerimäki really shined. Lekkerimäki re-joined the lineup against BIK Karlskoga and was instantly slotted into a top-line role next to 2022 Minnesota Wild first-rounder Liam Ohgren and two-time Stanley Cup Champion Marcus Kruger.

Lekkerimäki scored a goal in each of his first two games back and began a torrid run of form that would see him nearly push Djurgården back to the SHL, scoring 15 points in 15 games. Lekkerimäki was drafted 15th overall in 2022 on the basis of his offensive talent, with many projecting him to eventually become a difference-making NHL scorer.

Though he didn’t exactly look like one for most of his time in HockeyAllsvenskan, his playoff performance serves as a reminder as to why he remains one of Vancouver’s top prospects. Now with Örebro in the SHL, one of the league’s better teams, he’ll have a prime opportunity to put the 2022-23 regular season behind him.

Scott Perunovich, LHD, St. Louis Blues (Springfield Thunderbirds, AHL)
22GP 2G 18A 20pts (regular season) 2GP 0G 0A 0pts (postseason)

Set to turn 25 in August, Perunovich, the 2018 45th overall pick, is a bit older than most prospects featured here. But seeing as injuries have laid waste to his development in recent seasons, he doesn’t have the type of experience under his belt that most second-round picks his age would usually have.

Perunovich only played in 24 total AHL games this past season, and while he played 19 games in the NHL in 2021-22 he didn’t get into any NHL games in 2022-23. As a result of the impact injuries have had on his availability, Perunovich will be waivers-exempt for another season, lessening the pressure for him to make an immediate NHL impact somewhat.

Although the Blues already have Torey Krug, Nick Leddy, and Marco Scandella on the left side of their defense for next season, the minutes Perunovich did play this past season do suggest he could be ready to push one of those veterans for a role in St. Louis. Perunovich was highly productive in the regular season for the Thunderbirds, scoring 20 points in 22 games.

Although the Thunderbirds struggled immensely in the playoffs, eliminated by the Hartford Wolf Pack by a combined 13-2 score, Perunovich actually ended his season on a high note. He quarterbacked Team USA’s first power-play unit at the IIHF Men’s World Championships and posted eight points in 10 games. That ranked him fourth among blueliners at the tournament, and his two points in the bronze medal match against Latvia nearly gave the Americans a medal.

Perunovich’s career has taken quite a hit due to injuries since he won the Hobey Baker Award in 2020, that much is undoubtable. But when he did play in 2022-23, he showed real promise, and he’ll look to deliver on that promise at training camp with the Blues with the hope of earning an NHL roster spot.

Topias Vilén, LHD, New Jersey Devils (Lahti Pelicans, Liiga)
41 GP 9G 8A 17pts (regular season) 17GP 4G 5A 9pts (postseason)

Although some other New Jersey Devils defensive prospects draw quite a bit more attention, such as top draft picks Simon Nemec and Luke Hughes, Devils fans shouldn’t forget about Vilén, the team’s fifth-round pick at the 2021 draft. The six-foot-one left-shot Finnish blueliner has legitimately impressed overseas, though he has just one game as a professional in North America,

Vilén already has 124 games of experience in Liiga, one of the world’s best leagues outside the NHL, and he made some significant strides this past season. Vilén’s minutes per game shot up, going from 14:47 per game in 2021-22 to 19:26 in 2022-23, which ranked second on the Pelicans.

What makes that increase so impressive is not only the fact that Vilén is just 20 years old, it’s also that the Pelicans were one of Liiga’s best teams and ended up the league runner-up to Tappara Tampere.

Vilén made an impact on both ends of the ice, eating minutes in all situations and posting nine goals and 17 points. In the postseason, as the Pelicans made their deep playoff run, Vilén shined, scoring nine points and playing nearly 22 minutes in some important games, such as the team’s 4-1 win over Tappara in the finals.

Although it remains to be seen if Vilén will be able to translate his success in Liiga to North America, where the game is on a smaller ice surface and typically played with more physicality, Vilén could very well be one season of AHL development away from being a legitimate consideration for an NHL call-up to New Jersey.

That’s not a bad return for a late-round pick, especially for a Devils team that will soon need to have a steady pipeline of young talent on their roster playing on cheap entry-level deals thanks to the expensive contracts already on their books.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Blues Re-Sign Scott Perunovich

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The Blues have taken care of one of their pending restricted free agents, announcing the re-signing of defenseman Scott Perunovich to a one-year contract.  It’s a one-way deal worth $775K, the NHL minimum for next season.

The 24-year-old was expected to push for a full-time spot with St. Louis in 2022-23.  However, he suffered a fractured shoulder in the preseason, causing him to miss six months.  Upon his return, Perunovich was assigned to AHL Springfield where he was quite productive, notching 20 points in just 22 games.  That earned him a spot with Team USA at the World Championship where he once again put up the points, collecting eight in ten contests.

Perunovich, a 2018 second-round pick, has just 19 NHL regular season games under his belt, all coming in 2021-22.  That, coupled with a lengthy injury history, didn’t give him much leverage to work with in contract discussions this summer, even with arbitration eligibility.  Instead, the two sides have found a reasonable compromise, one that sees Perunovich take less than his qualifying offer to keep the cap hit low while getting a fully-guaranteed salary.  He will once again be a restricted free agent next summer with arbitration rights.

Perunovich is still waiver-exempt next season until he plays in 37 games.  As a result, it’s possible that he remains with the Thunderbirds in 2023-24 but if St. Louis is able to move one of their veteran blueliners in the coming days or weeks, he’ll be in line to push for a full-time spot with the Blues while giving their back end a boost offensively.

Snapshots: Wisconsin, Sabres, Perunovich, Krys

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The Wisconsin Badgers have announced the hiring of new head coach Mike Hastings. Most recently, Hastings had been the head coach of the Minnesota State Mavericks.

Since he took over as head coach during the 2012-13 season, Hastings led Minnesota State to eight appearances in the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament, topping out in a finals appearance against the eventual champion Denver University Pioneers last season. In total, Hastings will leave the state of hockey with a 299-109-25 record. In Wisconsin, he will be replacing the vacancy left by NHL veteran Tony Granato.

Since Granato took over for Wisconsin before the 2016-17 season, the team went 105-129-16, ending up in the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament one time in 2021. As the Big Ten already features top teams such as the University of Michigan Wolverines and the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, it appears that Wisconsin is looking to turn the corner and become a competitive team once again.

More from around hockey this afternoon:

  • Bill Hoppe, a beat writer for the Buffalo Sabres, gave several updates on some key injuries to the lineup before tomorrow night’s game against the New York Rangers. As top prospect Devon Levi looks to make his NHL debut, Hoppe writes that forwards Tage Thompson and Jordan Greenway, as well as defenseman Mattias Samuelsson could all see their return to the lineup the same night. Currently, the Sabres sit five points back of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with nine games remaining in the regular season.
  • Speaking with St.Louis Blues head coach Craig Berube today, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reports that St.Louis defenseman Scott Perunovich will finish his season with the Springfield Thunderbirds, the Blues AHL affiliate. Since being activated from LTIR on February 20th of this season, Perunovich has scored one goal and 10 assists for the Thunderbirds in 17 games.
  • Contributor for the NHL, Mark Divver reports that now-former Brown University captain Luke Krys will be transferring to Providence College for the 2023-24 NCAA season. In his 92 games playing at Brown, Krys scored nine goals and 29 assists, wearing a letter in his final two seasons.

St. Louis Blues Activate Marco Scandella, Scott Perunovich

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The St. Louis Blues are getting two defensemen healthy for the first time this season. As announced by the team, Marco Scandella and Scott Perunovich have been activated from injured reserve, while Jake Neighbours replaces them as he lands on IR with an upper-body injury.

Scandella could make his season debut Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes. The 32-year-old is in the third season of a four-year, $13.1MM contract but hasn’t played since undergoing hip surgery last September.

Perunovich remains one of the organization’s best prospects despite missing significant time over the past three seasons with various injuries. A talented offensive defender, Perunovich underwent surgery to repair a fractured left shoulder last October after he sustained the injury in a preseason game.

The 45th overall selection in the 2018 draft, Perunovich has been assigned to the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds as he continues to adjust to game action. He’s already recorded one assist in two games on a conditioning stint.

Neighbours officially lands on injured reserve after head coach Craig Berube told reporters yesterday he’d be out long-term. Per the team, Neighbours will be reevaluated in five weeks, meaning he could return with a handful of games left in the season.

It’s been an especially long road to recovery for Scandella, who’d been skating for nearly three months before returning to full health. As he enters the twilight of his NHL career, Scandella is coming off a 14-point effort in 70 games last season.

Perunovich could see NHL action near the tail end of the campaign to prime him for a full-time role in 2023-24. However, with so little professional experience under his belt over the past few seasons, some consistency in his ice time (and routine) at the AHL level could prove beneficial.

Scott Perunovich Sent To AHL On Conditioning Assignment

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The St. Louis Blues have announced that defenseman Scott Perunovich has been assigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, on a conditioning assignment.

The terms of injury conditioning assignments allow Perunovich to remain in the AHL for up to two weeks as he looks to get back to full speed. Perunovich underwent shoulder surgery in October, with a timeline that expected him to miss most of this season. The blueliner’s recovery process has presumably gone well, though, as he’s seemingly nearing a return with a solid chunk of the season still yet to be played.

Perunovich, 24, was a second-round pick of the Blues at the 2018 draft and has long ranked among the team’s top defensive prospects. He had a stellar three-year NCAA career at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, registering 105 points in 115 games en route to back-to-back NCAA championships as well as a Hobey Baker Award win in 2019-20, among quite a few other honors.

While undersized by traditional standards at five-foot-ten, 175 pounds, Perunovich is extremely talented with the puck on his stick and has the potential to be an offensive difference-maker and a valued asset in transition. He made his professional debut last season, excelling at the AHL level to the tune of 22 points in 17 games.

He had some issues staying healthy, and adjusting his game to the pace and physicality of the NHL sometimes proved a challenge, but he impressed enough to see time in the Blues’ run to the second round of the 2022 playoffs.

Now, he’ll get a chance to return to playing a top role at the AHL level as he works his way back from an injury. With rumors swirling about other potential trades coming to St. Louis after the team already dealt Vladimir Tarasenko and Niko Mikkola, it’s possible that additional room on St. Louis’ roster opens up right when Perunovich gets back to full health and is ready to return to the NHL.

Blues Notes: O’Reilly, Buchnevich, Perunovich, Tucker

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The St. Louis Blues stole today’s thunder by dealing Vladimir Tarasenko to the New York Rangers, but there’s even more Blues news to discuss on the injury front. Head coach Craig Berube said today that another trade chip, Ryan O’Reilly, is possible for Saturday night’s game against the Arizona Coyotes but has yet to be cleared.

O’Reilly added to his coach’s comments, saying he has to be 100 percent sure his injured foot is healed before returning to avoid re-injury. A 12-year NHL veteran, O’Reilly last played in their New Year’s Eve matchup against the Minnesota Wild. He’s missed the following 14 games with the injury. The winner of the 2019 Selke and Conn Smythe Trophies, O’Reilly is in a down season with a -28 rating and just 16 points in 37 games. He’s in the final season of a seven-year, $7.5MM average annual value contract.

Per The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford, O’Reilly resumed skating on Tuesday, and NHL.com’s Lou Korac said the Blues captain practiced in full equipment today.

  • Berube also told reporters Pavel Buchnevich is possible for Saturday after missing the past two weeks with an ankle injury. Buchnevich, with 38 points in 38 games, is the team’s leader in points per game, just ahead of Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. If he’s cleared to return, along with O’Reilly, they’ll likely skate together on the second line alongside Brandon Saad.
  • In a very positive development, top defense prospect Scott Perunovich has been cleared for contact and, per Berube, is “ready to do everything.” Perunovich, 24, hasn’t played in all in 2022-23 after sustaining a preseason shoulder injury. After missing the entirety of 2020-21 and most of 2021-22 with injuries, a strong finish to the season could salvage Perunovich’s stunted development. He showed true flashes of stardom in the minors last season, recording 22 points in just 17 games with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds.
  • Defenseman Tyler Tucker is coming up from Springfield to replace Niko Mikkola’s now-vacant spot on the roster, as he was included in the trade to New York earlier today. Tucker, a seventh-round pick in 2018, has shot up the Blues’ depth chart to play in 12 games this season, recording one assist.

Scott Perunovich To Undergo Shoulder Surgery

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It is another lost season for Scott Perunovich, who will undergo surgery on a fractured left shoulder later this week. The St. Louis Blues have announced a six-month timeline before Perunovich is even re-evaluated, meaning he will miss most, if not all of the 2022-23 campaign.

This is the second major shoulder injury that Perunovich has suffered since turning pro, though Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic tweets that it is unrelated to that torn labrum that kept him out the entire 2020-21 season. Still, it is the same shoulder, and means another surgery to correct a serious injury before he ever really gets his career off the ground.

Now 24, Perunovich was the 2020 Hobey Baker winner with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where he racked up 105 points in 115 games. The smooth-skating defenseman was a second-round pick of the Blues in 2018 and showed he could dominate the minor leagues when he recovered from that first shoulder injury, racking up 22 points in 17 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds. Nineteen NHL regular season games resulted in six points, and Perunovich managed to add another four assists in seven playoff games.

It appeared as though there was an opening for him with the Blues this year but instead, questions will now arise over whether he’ll even be with the organization for very long. He will be a restricted free agent again after this season and at some point, St. Louis will have to ask whether or not they believe he’ll ever be healthy enough to contribute on a regular basis. There’s obvious talent, but another serious injury like this will not only put him behind but allow other young players to move up the depth chart in his place.

It’s a brutal blow for a talented young defenseman and one that he can hopefully overcome. A six-month timeline puts the re-evaluation at the start of April, meaning there is at least an outside chance that he could return for a Blues playoff run if needed.

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