Neal placed on waivers, three others sent to Springfield, as team makes roster room for returning players.
www.stltoday.com
Something strange and wonderful is happening to the Blues’ roster.
Unless, of course, you happen to be James Neal — who was placed on waivers Sunday. Or one of the three players sent back Sunday to the Springfield Thunderbirds: goalie Charlie Lindgren, forward Alexei Toropchenko and defenseman Calle Rosen.
But five injured players returned to the lineup Thursday, against Edmonton. Four more returned from either injury, COVID, or non-COVID illness in Saturday’s Winter Classic contest against Minnesota.
That’s nine players, more than one-third of the active roster, returning over three days. Many of those nine are skilled forwards. And skill never is a bad thing.
So moves had to be made. And those taking place Sunday left the Blues with 21 players on their active roster — or two under the maximum — with 12 forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies.
The Blues still have two players on the COVID list, defenseman Robert Bortuzzo and forward Dakota Joshua. Brayden Schenn (upper- body) remains on injured reserve. And Nathan Walker is on the taxi squad.
Bortuzzo and Joshua could come off the COVID list as early as Monday, and Schenn’s removal from IR is imminent. Schenn, in fact, came close to playing in Saturday’s 6-4 win over the Wild at Target Field in Minneapolis.
But Schenn and Bortuzzo probably will go to the active roster this week, and Joshua either goes to the taxi squad or back to Springfield.
And when that happens — brace yourselves — the Blues will have their full roster available for the first time this season. Repeating: For the first time this season.
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