After going with the bare minimum of 18 skaters on Tuesday night at Nashville, the St. Louis Blues boosted their forward depth on Wednesday afternoon by recalling forwardsColin FraserandJohn McCarthyfrom the AHL Chicago Wolves. Both players have rather significant NHL experience, and they should be good fits for the 13th and 14th forward roles thatChris PorterandMagnus Paajarvihad filled until recently.
It will be interesting to see how the roster changes over the next few days. DefensemanCarl Gunnarssonhas been skating with the team over the past few days and is thought to be close to returning. Since the additions of Fraser and McCarthy bring the Blues back to the maximum 23 players, they’ll need to subtract someone from the roster when Gunnarsson ultimately is activated from injured reserve. That could be one of the two new forwards (most likely McCarthy, since he’s less experienced) or it could be one of the club’s three goalies.
WithBrian Elliotthaving performed very well in his return against the Predators on Tuesday, the Blues shouldn’t have a real need to carry three goaltenders for too much longer. The thought has long been thatMartin Brodeurwould be the player subtracted when the club was back at full strength. However, with the 42-year-old legend having shut out the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night, while rookieJake Allenhas struggled, the decision is becoming more complicated. It’s a near impossibility that the Blues would try to sneak Allen, long thought to be their goalie of their future, through waivers to the minors. Until Brodeur shows signs of his age, though, the decision is going to be complicated.
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Fraser should provide some much needed physicality to the Blues’ lineup, which they clearly lacked on Tuesday withJoakim Lindstromfilling a fourth-line role. The 29-year-old Fraser, who has contributed to three different Stanley Cup champion teams, has 290 penalty minutes over 358 NHL games, and he’s known as an aggressor. While he’s not much of an offensive player–he has just 58 NHL points, and has just seven goals and five assists in 32 games for the Wolves this year–he should be a solid member of the fourth line if the Blues keepRyan Reavesin his newfound role on a scoring line withPaul StastnyandDmitrij Jaskin.
The 28-year-old McCarthy, a 6-foot-1, 195-pounder, has played in 87 games spanning four seasons for the San Jose Sharks. His numbers aren’t very encouraging over that time, as he has just three goals, three assists, and a plus-minus rating of minus-24. However, McCarthy, who has four goals and three assists in 22 games for Chicago this year, should provide the Blues with some good energy.
In addition, McCarthy is a better fit as a practice/depth player with the NHL club than someone likeTy Rattiewould have been. The 21-year-old Rattie leads the Wolves with 22 points (15 goals and seven assists) this year. However, the Blues want him to continue to develop his game in the defensive end, so recalling him to be a role player who will likely be a healthy scratch for the majority of his stay and, if pressed into action, will likely be a fourth-liner, was not in the best interest of his development.
The Blues begin a three-game West Coast road trip on Friday in Anaheim. If their respective NHL stints last for the duration of the trip, it would be reasonable to believe that both players might get a chance to crack the lineup at some point during that three-game stretch.
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