St. Louis Blues Activate Jake Allen from IR, Send Down Jordan Binnington and Peter Harrold
The St. Louis Blues will finally get back Jake Allen, who had firmly locked up the starting goalie job prior to his January 8 injury.
As the St. Louis Blues return home to face the San Jose Sharks on Monday night, they’ll have a player that hasn’t been available since injuring his knee on January 8: goaltender Jake Allen, who had started 33 of 44 games in net prior to his injury. It will be the first time in 17 games that Allen has been healthy enough to dress for a game.
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Despite the fact that Brian Elliott had his worst performance of the past six weeks on Saturday night at Arizona, giving up four even-strength goals on 22 shots, the most likely scenario would still involve Elliott starting on Monday as Allen watches from the bench. Even though Elliott’s play dropped off a bit against the Coyotes, it would almost be insane for Ken Hitchcock to immediately yank Elliott from the lineup after he helped the Blues to a 12-3-3 record, including an active five-game winning streak, and ascended to the top of the NHL’s GAA (2.06) and save percentage (.931) rankings in Allen’s absence.
After all, Hitchcock remarked on Saturday that Allen wasn’t healthy enough to back up Elliott for that night’s game, so that might indicate that Allen could need a little bit more practice time before he’s mentally prepared for a start. Once he’s truly ready to go, though, it will be interesting to see how Hitchcock divides up playing time between Allen–who was impressive in his own right earlier this season, earning an impressive 2.17 GAA, .924 save percentage, and five shutouts while going 18-10-3–and Elliott, who’s quite clearly been the team MVP as the Blues have finally gotten things together over the past month.
With Allen back in the fold, the team sent down goalie Jordan Binnington. Binnington, who relieved Elliott for 12 minutes in a January 14 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, had been sent down to Chicago prior to the All-Star break as fellow prospect Pheonix Copley was recalled, but he re-emerged on Wednesday. The transaction allowed Copley, who seems to be more highly-regarded by the organization, to go back to the minors and get some playing time, while Binnington was largely held out of practice as Allen finished the final steps of his rehab process. Now, though, both young goaltenders will have the freedom to develop and get regular playing time at AHL Chicago for the first time since Allen’s injury.
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Defenseman Peter Harrold was also reassigned to Chicago on Sunday. The 32-year-old Harrold was recalled on February 10, but he never played in a game as the Blues stuck with the same game lineup for the entirety of his NHL tenure. Harrold’s demotion could signify that injured defenseman Alex Pietrangelo‘s return isn’t too far away, especially considering that Pietrangelo participated in some on-ice activities during last weekend’s road trip. Sending down Harrold, who’s making a pro-rated portion of $600,000 while he’s in the NHL this season, also allows the Blues to conserve some cap space. If an unexpected injury to a defenseman occurs over the next few days, the Blues shouldn’t have much trouble getting a replacement into town, as they’ll be home on Monday and Thursday, while the Wolves will be in Chicago until Friday.