The St. Louis Blues announced today that forward Kasperi Kapanen has been placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury.
Kapanen will be re-evaluated in four weeks after blocking a shot against the Philadelphia Flyers. He appeared in 42 games and tallied 13 points before the injury. Despite a drop in production, he played key minutes on the penalty kill and has two shorthanded points on the season. He had his fair share of struggles this season, and hopefully, he can return stronger from this injury.
Gaudette Gets His Chance in St. Louis
The Blues recalled forward Adam Gaudette from the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Kapanen injury. The club acquired Gaudette in the Ryan O’Reilly trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs before the trade deadline last season. He’s had a phenomenal season for the Springfield Thunderbirds in 2023-24.
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In 37 games, Gaudette has scored 24 goals and 12 assists for 36 points. He leads the AHL in goals and ranks third in overall points. He’s earned the chance to come up to the big club in St. Louis and play some sort of role in the forward group. He hasn’t played in the NHL since 2021-22 when he split time with the Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators. He has 70 points in 218 career NHL games with three different teams as he spent 2017-18 to 2020-21 with the Vancouver Canucks.
He could take Kapanen’s spot or the Blues could look to add Nikita Alexandrov in that spot. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Sammy Blais was healthy scratched again. Either way, Gaudette deserves a chance to play when he arrives with the club. Blues interim head coach Drew Bannister has some important lineup decisions to make.
