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Terrible news, Blues fans.
Jaden Schwartz has a broken ankle and will be out indefinitely. Team doctors will re-evaluate Schwartz in six weeks.
Next man up: Ivan Barbashev.
Filling Schwartz’s skates on the top trio will be a Herculean effort for Barbashev, who has 4G,4A in AHL Chicago this season.
Jaden Schwartz will be re-evaluated in six weeks after sustaining an ankle injury Saturday. Ivan Barbashev has been recalled from the Chicago Wolves. https://t.co/edkOQIjRAE #stlblues
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 10, 2017
Prior to the Schwartz injury, the Blues have been actively scouting the league looking for a scoring, two way winger. For instance, I have seen the Blues’ director of player personnel in Buffalo in recent weeks. Evander Kane has been the shiny toy that several NHL teams have been window shopping for.
Since 12/3/16, Kane has scored 41 goals and 28 assists in 99 games played. Entering play Saturday, those 41 goals tied for 20th in the NHL during that span and his 34 even-strength goals tied for ninth.
If Schwartz can’t make a full recovery in 6-8 weeks, I can see a scenario where Blues GM Doug Armstrong makes a serious play for Evander Kane to bolster his top scoring line. Kane-Schenn-Tarasenko would be a sick power trio.
Armstrong would be in a position of weakness and will likely have to deal away a top prospect like forward Jordan Kyrou (19G,38A in Sarnia this season) or Tage Thompson (7G,7A in San Antonio this season). Plus, the Blues would have to include an NHL defenseman in a deal for Evander Kane. Stay at home, physical, steady Eddie defenseman Robert Bortuzzo played for Sabres GM Jason Botterill at AHL Scranton Wilkes Barre. Botterill was GM of the Baby Penguins for a decade before being hired last spring to succeed Tim Murray as Sabres GM. Bortuzzo is 28 and has eight years on NHL service in his hockey bag.
Kyrou, the leading scorer in the Ontario Hockey League today, is entering his fourth season with the Sarnia Sting. A second round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2016, Kyrou is the Sting's most dynamic player. In 66 regular season games last year, Kyrou had an outstanding 94 points, ranking sixth in OHL scoring league-wide. Kyrou won a gold medal for Canada in the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. The Toronto, Ontario native is expected to star for a scoring role on Team Canada at the 2018 World Junior Championship in Buffalo later this month.
Botterill would have to absorb 40% of Kane’s 2017-18 salary, which is $6 million. Kane is a $5.25M AAV this season and will become UFA on July 1, 2018.
Kane for Kyrou or Thompson, and, Bortuzzo.
Would you do it?
Armstrong better figure it out quick. Evander Kane is at the top of the Christmas list of a dozen NHL GMs today.
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Thanks, Blues TV
St. Louis Blues forward Jaden Schwartz has suffered serious foot and ankle injuries in the recent past. On Saturday, Schwartz suffered a ankle/foot injury while blocking a Mike Green point shot against the Detroit Red Wings. His injury was a non-weight bearing injury. Is it a fractured of the foot or ankle?
Schwartz did not return to the game.
Blues fans are now left to hold their collective breath. Schwartz is the member of one of, if not the most prolific scoring line in the NHL in the NHL this season.
Before the injury, Schwartz scored his team-leading 35th point to give the Blues a 1-0 lead. Schwartz now 14 goals and 21 assists this season. Schwartz and his line mates Brayden Schenn (35 points) and Vlad Tarasenko (31 points).
The blues host the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday night.
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Were it not for 48 saves from Robin Lehner, the Buffalo Sabres whould have lost 8-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night. Lehner's 48 saves held the Sabres in the battle while his teammates tried to figure out a solution to Chicago's blitzkrieg of frozen vulcanized rubber. The Sabres were badly outshot 51-28 by the Blackhawks, who ended the affair with a grotesque 95-41 advantage in shot attempts. Lehner faced 8 shots on goal in overtime.
Lehner can't catch a break. The guy has been playing his ass off and has been deserving of "W's". The large and in charge Swede has stopped 83 of 88 shots against him in Buffalo's last two games. Lehner's .943 save % has been sizzling hot in the Sabres OT loss in Chicago and regulation in Denver against the Avs.
Grabbing three of four points in the first two games of a three games in five nights Western road trip is nothing to sneeze at. After the OT loss in ChiTown, Jack Eichel ripped himself to shreds for not scoring on a penalty shot in overtime that would have given Lehner the victory.
After the game, Sabres coach Phil houlsey said that prior to Eichel's penalty shot attempt, his young sniper had just skated a 91-second shift of 3v3 hockey. It's understandable why Eichel was fatigued during his penalty shot attempt on Crawford. Eichel read five hole and ended up logo-snipingth etwo time Stanley Cup champion tendy.
Thanks, Blackhawks TV
Eichel, who skated like a demon during a season high 23:13 TOI in Chicago (6 SOG, 1 assist, 1 takeaway, 2 hits), wasn't making excuses in his postgame scrum. Eichel didn't like his team's lack of aggression and the eye of the absence of the eye of the tiger while in the lead in the third period of a game in the hostile confines of the Madhouse On Madison.
Eichel was fuming after the gutting loss.
"We sit back when we have leads and I thought we did it today too," Eichel said. "We're all guilty of it. We didn't go after them. We're all happy with just getting the puck out of our zone instead of trying to make it hard on them. We would get it out, change, and then they would come at us with speed.
"It's frustrating. We've been in this situation before and we've given up the lead. This is a game we needed to get two points in and we didn't. Yeah, we need to be better than that. I get a chance to win the game in overtime, I don't do it. Yeah, I need to score that goal. Yeah, this sucks. It feels like sh*t....."
Thanks, Sabres TV
The back breaker in Chicago was not Eichel's penalty shot miss. It was the sequence in play when teh Sabres had 6 skaters on the ice during their 5 on 4 power play and yet still allowed a Tommy Wingels shorthanded goal against.
Leading 2-1 late in the third period, the Sabres power play allowed its NHL worst 8th short-handed goal against of the season.
If it weren't for bad luck, they'd have no luck at all.
The Sabres are now 7-17-5 (19 points). They are tied for 31st place with the Arizona Coyotes.
Next stop: St. Louis.