MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. — Nick Leddy was a full participant in practice on Sunday once again, giving the St. Louis Blues some semblance of when the veteran defenseman could make his way back into the lineup.
Leddy has been sidelined since Oct. 15 with a lower-body injury that has forced the 33-year-old to miss the past 21 games.
A sign that Leddy has a chance at playing soon: he’s heading out with the Blues on a nine-day Canadian trip to Winnipeg (Tuesday), Calgary (Thursday), Edmonton (Saturday) and Vancouver (Dec. 10).
“He’s coming on the trip,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “We thought as a staff evaluating him, significant improvement from just two days ago. So he’s progressing the right way; still don’t have a time line.”
Leddy skated in full with the team on Friday after they returned from the Thanksgiving break and again during a morning skate on Saturday; he’s played in just four games but it was evident he was not at 100 percent at the start of the season. But he looked his usual self, particularly with his skating ability these past few days.
“We have told players be cautious around him just because we want him to get comfortable with the pace of everything before we physically start going full bore,” Montgomery said.
* Faulk, Neighbours, Buchnevich miss Sunday practice — Defenseman Justin Faulk and forward Jake Neighbours each sat out Sunday’s final practice before the Blues (11-12-2) depart Monday to face the Jets.
Faulk led the Blues in ice time of a 3-2 overtime loss against the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday at 25:35, while Neighbours helped the Blues get a point by scoring a 6-on-4 power-play goal with 18.3 seconds left in regulation:
“Both maintenance days,” Montgomery said. “Both will be playing.”
Forward Pavel Buchnevich, who briefly skated during Saturday’s optional morning skate, did not practice Sunday and continues to be day to day with a lower-body ijury.
* Broberg return — Montgomery was not going to hold defenseman Philip Broberg back, playing his first game since a right knee injury Nov. 2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Broberg, who missed 12 games, played 24:08, which was second to Faulk, among the Blues’ blueliners and had three shots on goal (five attempts) and one hit.
“I think you could tell he’s someone that’s going to drastically improve the team like he did early in the year,” Montgomery said. “I think there was a little rustiness there, just in how quickly he was doing things, whether it was killing plays or jumping. But I…