St. Louis Blues Recall Defenseman Peter Harrold from AHL Chicago Wolves
The St. Louis Blues recalled a grizzled veteran to serve as their seventh defenseman while Alex Pietrangelo recovers from a knee injury.
The St. Louis Blues have been rolling with just the minimum six defensemen required to play a game since their top defenseman, Alex Pietrangelo, suffered a knee injury this past weekend that will keep him out for at least three weeks. With a two-game road trip to Florida coming up this weekend, however, they opted to add an extra blueliner, as defenseman Peter Harrold was recalled from the AHL Chicago Wolves.
The 32-year-old Harrold, who signed a two-way contract with the Blues last summer, has played in 274 regular season NHL games over nine seasons, collecting 13 goals, 29 assists, 74 penalty minutes, and a minus-29 rating while playing with the New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings.
More from Arch Authority
- St. Louis Cardinals: Randal Grichuk to begin Double-A rehab stint
- John Brebbia deserves a shot as the St. Louis Cardinals’ closer
- St. Louis Cardinals place Randal Grichuk on DL, recall José Martínez
- St. Louis Cardinals release RHP Corey Baker from organization
- St. Louis Cardinals activate Kolten Wong and Kevin Siegrist from DL, option Luke Weaver and Alex Mejia to Triple-A
He’s also played in 19 playoff games, 17 of which came for the 2011-12 New Jersey Devils team that advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.
In 45 games for the Wolves this year, Harrold has one goal, 19 assists, 20 penalty minutes, and a plus-6 rating. He’s generally teamed with Andre Benoit as part of the Wolves’ top defensive pairing, and he has served as an alternate captain all season.
Assuming that he plays in a game, Harrold will be the 11th different defenseman to suit up for the Blues this season. Beyond their regular top seven, the Blues have a wealth of NHL-caliber defensive talent at Chicago, so they likely want to see everyone among Benoit, Chris Butler, Petteri Lindbohm, and Harrold should they need one of them to play a role down the stretch or in the playoffs.
In this situation, however, Harrold’s greatest advantage was likely his righthanded shot, as the Blues probably would prefer to play a double-righthanded pair with Colton Parayko on the left side, rather than using a double-lefthanded pair. Benoit, Butler, and Lindbohm are all lefthanded shooters, so that would have been necessary had one of them been recalled and then one of the three remaining righthanded shooters–Parayko, Kevin Shattenkirk, or Robert Bortuzzo–had been unable to play.
Next: Blues Activate Jaden Schwartz from IR
In what’s perhaps a sign of first-year assistant GM Martin Brodeur‘s connections, Harrold will be the third former New Jersey Devil to spend time with the Blues this season. He follows forwards Scott Gomez and Martin Havlat, who were both with the club earlier this season before being granted their respective unconditional releases.