The St. Louis Blues have announced that Jay Bouwmeester and Zachary Sanford will both be sidelined to start the season. Sanford dislocated his left shoulder after getting hit into the boards by Dmitrij Jaskin, and Bouwmeester fractured his ankle. While it has been announced that Sanford will receive surgery and miss 5-6 months; Bouwmeester doesn’t have a timetable yet. He will be re-evaluated in three weeks.
Two St. Louis Blues Injuries Announced
Sanford’s Injury
The injuries are significant for the Blues. Both players had an important role to play with the Blues this year. Sanford was finally coming out of his shell and getting an opportunity in the major league. He was likely going to play on the fourth line wing with Kyle Brodziak and Oskar Sundqvist.
Now that he’s out for a considerable amount of time, it throws a little bit of a wrench in the lineup. The Blues have Magnus Paajarvi and Chris Thorburn at their disposal. Paajarvi will likely get the spot, but Thorburn could see a lot more playing time too. Thorburn was originally set to see a max of maybe 30 games, but he could get a lot more early season play now. While the Blues have their tracks covered, it’s still inconvenient to have to fill Sanford’s spot.
Jay Bouwmeester’s Injury
What could prove to be noteworthy is how they fill Bouwmeester’s shoes. The 33-year-old was likely to receive top line minutes with Alex Pietrangelo again. Colton Parayko will likely be the one to fill that void now, but that still leaves the bottom four of their defense messy. On top of Carl Gunnarsson, Robert Bortuzzo, and Joel Edmundson; it’s very likely that either Jake Walman or Jordan Schmaltz get the call. Walman has been the best looking prospect at camp, and has quickly become a fan favorite. For good reason, too. He’s finally starting to look NHL ready, and could arguably be the best prospect in St. Louis right now. With all of these factors combined, it’d be no surprise to see Walman in a Blues jersey come October.
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