St. Louis Blues: 5 Players with Something to Prove After the All-Star Break

Joel Edmundson

One of the major reasons that the Blues were able to go 5-2-1 between January 9-24, even as they were forced to play without Jake Allen, Paul Stastny, Jay Bouwmeester, Carl Gunnarsson, Magnus Paajarvi, Colton Parayko, and Robert Bortuzzo at various points throughout the stretch, was because defenseman Joel Edmundson truly established himself as an NHL-caliber player. While the 22-year-old Edmundson forced his way onto the team with a great training camp and was defensively responsible during the early going, he was somewhat of a liability from mid-November up until early January, and he added little to no offensive production.

It’s as if a light clicked on for him during the Blues’ January 8 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks, though. Edmundson had his first multi-point NHL game that night, delivering two assists in 17:41 of ice time. Since then, he’s been able to give the Blues over 20 minutes on three separate occasions in eight games, a feat that he accomplished just once through his first 29 NHL games. He’s also contributed another two assists and has an even rating.

The Blues are expected to have all seven of their top defensemen available at the outset of the break, but it will be really beneficial if Edmundson is able to keep up his strong play and establish himself as a blueliner capable of playing top-four minutes. If Edmundson can provide some offense and retain his reputation as a big, aggressive player, he’ll be more of an asset to the team than Carl Gunnarsson, who at this stage in his career is basically one-dimensional as a finesse stay-at-home defender who’s generally reliable in front of his own net.

Next: Patrik Berglund