St. Louis Blues Prospect Ty Rattie Named to 2015 AHL All-Star Game Roster
It was announced on Tuesday afternoon that St. Louis Blues prospect Ty Rattie will represent the Blues’ minor-league affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, at the American Hockey League All-Star Classic on January 25 and 26.
Rattie, who will turn 22 next month, has 15 goals and 8 assists with a plus-minus rating of 4 through 35 games for the Wolves this year. It’s his second professional season, as he scored 31 goals and added 17 assists through 72 games in 2013-14 before making a brief two-game cameo with the Blues in which he had no points and a plus-minus rating of minus-2. He also added a goal and an assist in nine AHL playoff games last year.
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Rattie, who is now considered the Blues’ most NHL-ready prospect following the recent graduation of forward Dmitrij Jaskin to the big club, has made a pretty strong case for a promotion this season. While Rattie has been impressive, coach Ken Hitchcock recently reaffirmed that the Blues want Rattie to get more experience and develop his skills in the defensive end before they’re ready to promote him to the NHL. With a seemingly obvious opportunity to give Rattie a brief look last week, the Blues instead called up veteran forwards John McCarthy and Colin Fraser before sending down both within three days of their promotions as two injured players, Carl Gunnarsson and Jaden Schwartz, returned from injuries.
If Rattie doesn’t make his way into the lineup at some point this season due to injuries or by him forcing the issue, he could definitely earn a spot next season, as three forwards–Maxim Lapierre, Joakim Lindstrom, and Chris Porter–are unrestricted free agents who probably won’t fit into the budget as the Blues try to clear up cap space for restricted free agent Vladimir Tarasenko, who should command a large salary. That’s not even to mention guys like Patrik Berglund and T.J. Oshie, who may have to become trade bait as the Blues free up all the space possible in order to retain their leading scorer.