Zach Sanford to Join St. Louis Blues Wednesday

Newly-acquired forward Zach Sanford will join the Blues on Wednesday.

Forward Zach Sanford, who was acquired by the St. Louis Blues as part of Monday night’s Kevin Shattenkirk trade, will report to the Blues on Wednesday and could be an option to play as soon as Friday night, when the Blues head to Winnipeg to face the Jets.

The timing of Sanford’s arrival will work well as the Blues attempt to reconstruct their roster. Article 16, Section 4 of the CBA states that the 23-man roster limit expires at 12:01 AM on the day of the trade deadline. Thus, the Blues can add Sanford and also replace Shattenkirk with a defenseman from the AHL without having to worry about getting rid of one of their forwards. That’s good news for Nail Yakupov, who has played in just one of the Blues’ last nine games and doesn’t really appear to be in Mike Yeo’s plans going forward.

The 22-year-old Sanford, who is in his first professional season, has played in 26 games for the Capitals this year. The 6-foot-4, 203-pounder has two goals, an assist, an even rating, and six penalty minutes. He’s also skated in 25 games for the AHL Hershey Bears, scoring 11 goals with five assists, a minus-2 rating, and 14 penalty minutes.

Next: With Shattenkirk Gone, Who Fills His Role?

Meanwhile, forward Brad Malone–who was also included in the trade–will report to the AHL Chicago Wolves. Malone, a 27-year-old veteran of 176 NHL games, has spent his entire 2016-17 campaign in the AHL, collecting seven goals and 13 assists in 52 games for Hershey. It’s likely that Malone will play out the rest of his expiring contract with the Wolves, though he could be an emergency depth option if the Blues have a major injury crisis over the final six weeks of the season.