Alexander Steen’s season started off on a bad note. He injured his left hand during the first pre-season game. He missed the rest of pre-season and the first six games of the regular season before coming back on October 18th. In the three games since Steen has been back, he has been invisible among his teammates. The injury-plagued St. Louis Blues need him to contribute offensively.
St. Louis Blues Need Production From Alexander Steen
The St. Louis Blues are having a good start to their season despite the injuries of Robby Fabbri, Patrik Berglund, Jay Bouwmeester and Zach Sanford. They currently have a record of 6-2-1. They are averaging around 3 goals a game.
The defence has played a major part in the scoring so far this season. The defenceman have scored 10 of the Blues 29 total goals this season. That is mostly thanks to Alex Pietrangelo, who has 11 points in nine games.
The thing to remember is that it not the job of the defenceman to score goals. At some point during the season, their production will slow down and it will be left to the forwards to score. This could be troublesome because of the injuries to forwards that the Blues are dealing with this season. These injuries have given the Blues a lack of forward depth. Luckily, the Blues have five forwards with six or more points including: Jaden Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko, Paul Stastny, Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Sobotka. Every other forward on the team, however, has three or less points. Having Steen back from injury can only help the team score more. If he can pick up the slack, the Blues will continue to play well throughout the season.
Alexander Steen Has Every Reason to Produce
In Alexander Steen’s first three games back from injury, he has zero points. He is averaging almost 19 minutes of ice time per game. He has been playing on the first line with Paul Stastny and Vladimir Tarasenko. In the last three games, Stastny has two points and Tarasenko has three points. The opportunities are there for Steen to score, but it has not happened yet. There is a possibility that he has not fully recovered from his injury. He could also just be taking it slow instead of jumping into every play in hopes that he does not re-injure his hand. Perhaps he has not fully gotten into game shape, after being off the ice for so long. Either way, the Steen that Blues fans have come to know and love over the years has not been present since he came back from injury.
Alexander Steen’s Career
Alexander Steen was drafted in the first round by and played for the Toronto Maple Leafs for his first three and a half seasons in the NHL. In 2008-09, he was traded to the Blues with Carlo Colaiacovo for Lee Stempniak. He has played nine seasons with the Blues since then. In Alexander Steen’s previous 12 NHL seasons, he has played in 825 games and accumulated 532 points (213 goals and 319 assists). He is expected to score at least 15 goals a season. If he can do that again this season, the Blues have a chance of continuing to play well despite all of the injuries the Blues are dealing with this season.
Main Photo:
SAN JOSE, CA – MAY 21: Alexander Steen #20 of the St. Louis Blues skates with the puck against the San Jose Sharks in Game Four of the Western Conference Finals during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center on May 21, 2016 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Rocky W. Widner/NHL/Getty Images)
