St. Louis Blues Place Paul Stastny on Injured Reserve

While the Blues hoped that Paul Stastny would only miss a game or two, it appears that his injury is more serious than initially thought.

Despite the fact that a lower-body injury he suffered in last Thursday’s victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs was thought to be relatively minor, center Paul Stastny was placed on injured reserve by the St. Louis Blues on Thursday. That means he’ll miss at least the next two games and possibly more.

Stastny has been the Blues’ most productive center this season, collecting 15 goals and 20 assists in 54 games. While the fact that Patrik Berglund is currently playing out of his mind has eased things for the Blues in Stastny’s absence, the lineup is certainly weaker without him. After trying Alexander Steen at center on Saturday night–an experiment that the Blues have quickly abandoned on multiple occasions this season–they’re set to begin Wednesday’s game with rookie Ivan Barbashev centering the third line and Dmitrij Jaskin moving down to center the fourth line.

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It doesn’t appear as if the Blues will be making an immediate call-up to replace Stastny on the roster, but perhaps they’ll make a move before they play the second end of a back-to-back on Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks. Center Wade Megan, who has 23 goals and 22 assists at AHL Chicago this season plus a goal in his only NHL game–which came on December 22–could be an option.