ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Blues have been able to avoid any quagmire when it comes to their roster due to players being injured.
It’s allowed the Blues to wait to make roster decisions on those that would be on the fence whether they are safe at the NHL level or risk being exposed to move to the American Hockey League.
That time is about up with Alexandre Texier (upper-body injury) and Oskar Sundqvist (torn right ACL) each about ready to return to the active roster.
So what do the Blues (3-2-0), who host the Carolina Hurricanes (2-1-0) on Saturday, do? They can only carry 23 players and will have 25 ready to go.
Decisions will need to be made, but which ones?
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Let’s take a look:
* Do the Blues trim from their forward crop — Should the Blues want to keep eight defensemen on the active roster, they will have to trim from their forward crop.
The candidates will likely include: Zack Bolduc, Kasperi Kapanen, and perhaps Nathan Walker.
My feeling is if the Blues go this route, they will assign Bolduc to Springfield and put Kapanen and his $1 million cap hit on waivers.
I think Walker is too valuable to this team for a variety of reasons and someone that can go up and down the lineup where necessary and needed.
Bolduc, in my opinion, has played his way onto this roster. Now, I get that the kid needs to start showing a semblance of scoring and having his name on the scoresheet (one assist through four games), but I don’t think it’s in his best interest to go to Springfield, especially if the Blues are going to keep showcasing him on this roster as a top six forward.
The kid just keeps to keep playing, keep growing and keep expanding his role.
Coach Drew Bannister was impressed with Bolduc’s all-around play on Thursday, particularly utilizing some physicality and contributing in other areas if the puck isn’t going into the net. That bodes well for what the coaching staff and management team think.
As for Kapanen, I’m still in the camp of those that was surprised when the Blues re-signed him this past summer. I honestly thought they were moving on from him, but to the 27-year-old’s credit, he worked himself onto the opening night roster and filled in adequately while Brandon Saad was on paternity leave. However through four games, he hasn’t registered a point and is a minus-3 and was a healthy scratch this past Tuesday.
I say the Blues put the veteran on waivers and should he get claimed, best of luck. If not, the option to…