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Hobbling to a Finish: Breaking Down All the Injuries that the St. Louis Blues Have Suffered in 2015-16

By Patrick Karraker

January 8, 2016; Anaheim, CA, USA; Anaheim Ducks Corey Perry (10) reacts after colliding with St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) during the second period at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
January 8, 2016; Anaheim, CA, USA; Anaheim Ducks Corey Perry (10) reacts after colliding with St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) during the second period at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 17, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; St. Louis Blues center Kyle Brodziak (28) against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 17, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; St. Louis Blues center Kyle Brodziak (28) against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /

Kyle Brodziak

5 games missed from December 19-27 (skate cut and subsequent infection)

In all honesty, Brodziak is probably having the worst season of any Blues regular, as well as the worst season of his 11-year NHL career. He has no points in his past 29 games, and his minus-8 rating is the worst among Blues forwards.

With that said, the Blues did feel the loss of Brodziak when he missed five mid-December games thanks to a skate cut and an infection, mainly due to the sheer lack of fourth-line center candidates available at the time. With Steve Ott and Patrik Berglund, who otherwise would have been candidates to fill the role, injured at the time, the Blues were forced to utilize Scott Gomez, a finesse passing specialist throughout his career, as a makeshift fourth-line center. After that experiment failed, they tested winger Dmitrij Jaskin at the position. Jaskin performed slightly better than Gomez, but still left something to be desired due to his lack of face-off skills.

Now that Brodziak has returned to the lineup, the Blues get his face-off ability and physicality on the fourth line each game, even if it means sacrificing the incremental offensive upgrade that Jaskin or Gomez could have provided in that spot. That fourth-line center spot might be a position that the Blues want to upgrade at the deadline, though they’ve run through enough different candidates over the past year (including Maxim Lapierre, Marcel Goc, and Ott, to name a few) that it might be best to just roll with Brodziak the rest of the way and see if he can straighten things out at some point.

Next: Robby Fabbri

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