St. Louis Blues Promote Goaltender Niklas Lundstrom to AHL Chicago Wolves
The St. Louis Blues have promoted goaltender Niklas Lundstrom from the Alaska Aces of the ECHL to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. Lundstrom, a 22-year-old Swede who was a fifth-rounder in the 2011 NHL Draft, had a 13-12-2 record, a 3.21 goals-against average, and an .888 save percentage over 27 games in Alaska.
The ideal scenario for the Blues would have been to have Lundstrom backing up Jordan Binnington in the AHL for the entirety of this season. However, since the Blues do not own the Wolves, instead engaging in a player development contract with them, the Wolves’ management is allowed to sign several of their own independent players and utilize them, and one of those guys is Matt Climie, a 31-year-old goalie with five games of NHL experience.
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Thus, Lundstrom was forced to spend the first season of his American career in the ECHL, which is a notch below the AHL in terms of player quality. It’s the same fate that Binnington suffered in his first pro season last year, spending nearly the entire season with the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings as now-Blues goalie Jake Allen got the bulk of the starts for the Wolves.
Now Climie is hurt, though, which should give Lundstrom an opportunity to get some playing time at a higher level. Climie suffered a lower-body injury, and while the severity of that ailment hasn’t been detailed, one would think that due to the fact that the team went to the effort to transport Lundstrom all the way from Alaska to the Midwest, it is an injury that will sideline Climie for a prolonged period of time.
With it appearing likely that Martin Brodeur will retire following the All-Star break, getting Lundstrom some work in the AHL could prove to be valuable for the Blues down the stretch. Though Brodeur would always be available to be brought out of retirement if necessary, Binnington and Lundstrom would be the Blues’ next two options if Brian Elliott and/or Jake Allen happened to suffer any other injuries during the remainder of the season.