St. Louis Blues Trim 10 Players from Training Camp Roster

Apr 4, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott (1) and teammates salute their fans after defeating the Arizona Coyotes 5-2 at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 4, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott (1) and teammates salute their fans after defeating the Arizona Coyotes 5-2 at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
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The St. Louis Blues have reduced their training camp roster to 57 players.

The St. Louis Blues announced their first round of cuts on Monday afternoon, reassigning forwards Emerson Clark, Bryce Gervais, Wade Megan, and Brett Sterling along with defensemen Dmitrii Sergeev, Scooter Vaughan, and Gus Young to the AHL Chicago Wolves. Three players were along assigned to their junior teams: forwards Liam Dunda (Sudbury Wolves) and Tanner Kaspick (Brandon Wheat Kings) and goaltender Evan Fitzpatrick (Sherbrooke Phoenix).

Among the players who were sent down, Sergeev and Vaughan were the only two to see action during the Blues’ split-squad preseason opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets yesterday. Sergeev had a plus-2 rating with two shots on goal and a hit in 14:42 of ice time in the day game, while Vaughan was a plus-2 with two hits and five penalty minutes in 15:05 during the nightcap.

Sergeev and Megan are the only players among that group who have two-way contracts with the Blues; the rest are under contract with the Wolves and were invited to camp on a professional tryout basis.

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Some of the notable players who remain after Monday’s first cut include defenseman Kevin Tansey–who’s scheduled to play for the Blues’ ECHL affiliate, the Missouri Mavericks, but is in camp on a professional tryout–as well as junior prospects Adam Musil and Jordan Kyrou. All three players had one thing in common: their coaches (Ken Hitchcock for Tansey, Mike Yeo for Musil and Kyrou) went out of their way to praise their efforts after their respective performances in Sunday’s split-squad games. While the camp roster is so big that none of the three are exceptionally likely to see any more game action, they’ve at least earned a few more days of practice with the NHL club.

Forward Alex Friesen and defenseman Morgan Ellis–who have two-way contracts but did not suit up for either of Sunday’s split-squad games and are not scheduled to play on Monday night, either–also remain on the camp roster.

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With the first round of cuts now done, the Blues’ camp roster stands at 57 players.