St. Louis Blues Recall Ivan Barbashev, Place Kyle Brodziak on IR

The Blues will be without Kyle Brodziak for over a month, but the injury will give their top forward prospect an opportunity to see his first NHL action.

Some surprising St. Louis Blues news came down on Thursday morning, as the team announced that Kyle Brodziak was being placed on injured reserve with a right foot injury. His loss will undoubtedly be significant for the Blues, as the fourth-line center has played in all but one of the team’s 48 games thus far, collecting six goals and four assists.

Perhaps more importantly, he’s anchored a fourth line that has arguably been the Blues’ most consistent unit during a very up-and-down season. Though Dmitrij Jaskin has had cups of coffee as part of the trio, Brodziak’s usual partners, Scottie Upshall (five goals and four assists in 42 games) and Ryan Reaves (three goals and four assists in 46 games) have delivered a nice offensive boost while also acting as the Blues’ most physical forward line.

To replace Brodziak on the roster, the Blues recalled 21-year-old center Ivan Barbashev, who was their second-round pick in 2014 and is without a doubt the team’s top forward prospect under contract. Barbashev, who is listed at 6-foot and 180 pounds, had a trying first season in the AHL in 2015-16, collecting just 28 points (10 goals and 18 assists) in 65 games while having to deal with stints on the Chicago Wolves’ fourth line and even a few healthy scratches.

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Barbashev has really broken through so far during the 2016-17 season, though, scoring 19 goals and notching 18 assists through his first 37 games. After struggling defensively during his first pro campaign, Barbashev has an even rating at Chicago this year and seems better-suited to play a two-way game.

It would have been logical to think that Barbashev would be inserted into the Blues’ top-nine group of forwards since they’ve struggled so much to get production from the center position, but he’ll apparently begin his NHL career on the fourth line on Thursday night in Minnesota.

While Barbashev generally has profiled as anything but a fourth-line player, he says that he’s ready to play the same type of game that Scottie Upshall and Ryan Reaves play:

It’s possible that Barbashev’s first stint with the Blues will be a short one, as they have a four-day layoff after Thursday for the NHL All-Star break. He has a two-way contract, so the Blues could save cap money by sending him down for that period, then recalling him on Tuesday wen they face the Winnipeg Jets. If he doesn’t make a major impression tonight, though, Ken Hitchcock may prefer to play Dmitrij Jaskin at the fourth-line center position against a big, physical Winnipeg team.

Next: Blues Will Start Hutton Again Thursday

If the Blues’ timetable for Brodziak’s recovery is accurate, he should be ready to return around the beginning of March, meaning that he should miss between 15 and 20 games.