About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Logan Mailloux wasn't a fan of having to take a seat for nearly the first quarter of the season for the St. Louis Blues .
But a broken right hand at the expense of a preseason fight with Chicago Blackhawks forward Cole Smith put the Blues defenseman on the shelf following surgery on Sept. 28.
Mailloux was originally expected to be re-evaluated in eight weeks but he was activated off injured reserve on Monday and will make his season debut at home Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings .
The Blues also assigned defensemen Adam Jiricek and Theo Lindstein to Springfield of the American Hockey League and recalled veteran Calle Rosen.
"I feel good," Mailloux said after practice Monday. "It's been, what, six weeks? I was lucky enough that it was just my hand, so I was able to skate and stuff for a while. I feel good."
Mailloux was paired on D with Philip Broberg, who he finished the season last year with and who he developed some terrific chemistry with. It sort of aligns with how the team planned on starting this season off with aside from Justin Barron, who was claimed off waivers from the Nashville Predators on Sept. 28.
"It gives us a situation where the six D so far this year have been the guys that have played the best," Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. "Our D-corps has really been good this year. The fact that JB and now we have Mailloux back, and the year the other four have been having, to be able to send talented young players down, like Jiricek and Lindstein, so they can get more ice time, I mean what a win-win for the Blues. Those two are both big parts of our future and it's a matter of when, not if."
The Blues were playing the Blackhawks on Sept. 26 when Smith and Broberg collided near the Blues' defensive blue line and the two got crossed up at the knees. Fortunately Broberg wasn't injured on the play but Mailloux wasn't about to let it go unnoticed.
"I wasn't a huge fan of the hit," Mailloux said. "It's not ideal seeing one of your teammates go down in a preseason game like that. I just had to show up and kind of do something."
And Mailloux knew right away something was not right.
"Kind of, yeah. Kind of when I got to the (penalty) box," he said. "Something felt a little off. I didn't know the extent of it it. I was kind of hoping that it wasn't going to be that serious, but it is what it is."
It derailed the solid training camp Mailloux was having on the heels of last season when he finished with 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in 67 games.
"I thought I had a good camp, I was feeling good," Mailloux said. "There's no good time to get hurt. It's definitely not ideal right before the season starts, but it's better I guess at the start of the year than at the end of the year fighting for as playoff spot. I'm just happy to be done with it."
It made for an easy decision for the coaches to put the 23-year-old right back alongside Broberg starting Tuesday.
"Just how he continued to grow. He had a really good summer," Montgomery said. "He was super aggressive. He was taking away time and space defensively, aggressive jumping into the offense, hanging onto pucks, not afraid to make a mistake offensively or defensively -- just playing. He's a big body who's athletic and can shoot the puck. We're excited to have him back in the lineup. He's really going to help us."
As for Jiricek, the Blues' first-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft (No. 16), he wasn't going to be on the opening night roster but was thrust into this role after injuries to not only Broberg but also Tyler Tucker (knee), who's still not practicing. He played in each of the first 17 games and had a goal and two assists and was a plus-2.
The experience of beginning his NHL career and thrust into key roles was so invaluable for Jiricek, who can now go to the Thunderbirds and play even bigger minutes than what he was averaging with the Blues (15:51).
"I think the experience of getting up in the NHL, understanding the speed ... we've seen Jiricek grow already: defensively, offensively with his puck decisions risk-reward, (he's) already made those strides," Montgomery said. "Again, we have a really talented D-corps and he had some opportunity on the power play, but it's hard. You get up and you're just starting and you start on the power play, the penalty kills are so much better than what he saw in junior ... it's a matter of time before he's a power-play quarterback for our team.
"I want him to focus on continuing to do what he's done here. He's going to play against top players, he's going to get the added ice time that you would expect, somewhere in the mid-20s, so just continue to build on moving the puck and growing his offensive game. And what I mean growing, you already see the great passes, but it's when those high-level plays aren't there, what does he do then to continue to build the team game? Otter and his staff are going to make him better."
Lindstein, one of three first-round picks in 2023 (No. 29) along with Dalibor Dvorsky and Otto Stenberg, has been a frequent healthy scratch this season and has just played in six games (minus-1) with two assists.
The 21-year-old needs to play hockey games and continue to grow. With Barron's emergence, he is not coming out of the lineup.
"Theo is just a casualty of JB playing so well and us being so deep on defense," Montgomery said. "But that being said, he's a really good player when he has the puck and the puck's around him, defensively or offensively. Now, where he needs to grow his game is when the puck's not around him, I think he rests instead of … move it, boom, join. It's something I don't have to say to Jiricek. Also, offensively, he is hesitant to be aggressive going down. He skates way too well, his brain's way too well, his hands way too good to not be more aggressive when the puck's not around. And defensively, too, closing the corners.
"I think (rest is) common in all young players. The transitional game, if you want to see someone who transitions well, it's not about speed, it's their first three strides and their last three strides before the transition happens."
The Blues continue to look at both Jiricek and Lindstein as long-term assets and will treat them as such.
"Adam and Theo have done a solid job providing us quality minutes this season," Blues general manager Alex Steen said in a team release. "We want to make sure we continue to do what's best for their long-term development, and going to Springfield will give them the opportunity to gain valuable experience while taking on more ice time in all key situations."
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