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St. Louis Blues Recall Brad Hunt from AHL Chicago Wolves, Place Robert Bortuzzo on IR

By Patrick Karraker

Sep 25, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets right wing Cam Atkinson (13) handles the puck as St. Louis Blues defender Brad Hunt (77) defends during the second period of a preseason hockey game at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 25, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets right wing Cam Atkinson (13) handles the puck as St. Louis Blues defender Brad Hunt (77) defends during the second period of a preseason hockey game at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
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The St. Louis Blues have added defensive reinforcements in case Alex Pietrangelo can’t suit up tomorrow.

The St. Louis Blues have been operating with a reduced defensive corps ever since Robert Bortuzzo suffered a lower-body injury in last Thursday’s shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Though Bortuzzo is expected to miss about 10 days, they haven’t been forced to do anything about it, as Bortuzzo is usually the club’s seventh defenseman anyway, meaning that the primary six defensemen were still healthy and available.

Top defenseman and captain Alex Pietrangelo suffered some sort of lower-body injury in Tuesday’s loss to the New York Rangers, though, and while he still has a chance to play in tomorrow’s game at Dallas, the Blues weren’t going to take the chance of having to play without a full complement of defensemen. They recalled defenseman Brad Hunt from the AHL Chicago Wolves on Wednesday afternoon while placing Bortuzzo on injured reserve.

The move shouldn’t put the team at any disadvantage whatsoever, as Bortuzzo’s IR stint can be backdated to last Thursday, meaning he’ll have missed the requisite seven days by tomorrow and will be eligible to be activated at any time.

With that said, he’s not supposed to return until next week at the earliest, so that shouldn’t make a huge difference. The 28-year-old Hunt is an undersized, offense-first defenseman who has played in 21 games over the past three seasons for the Edmonton Oilers, collecting a goal, two assists, and a minus-10 rating. The 5-foot-9, 185-pound Hunt had three goals, seven assists, and a plus-4 rating in eight games for the Wolves this season.

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Under normal circumstances, the Blues likely would have recalled one of two prospects, Petteri Lindbohm or Jordan Schmaltz, from Chicago, but both have been injured lately. Thus, the choice seemingly came down to Hunt or Chris Butler, who has two points in eight games for the Wolves, and the Blues simply selected the guy who was performing the best at the moment.

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