ST. LOUIS — Newly acquired Blues defenseman Marco Scandella will make his debut with St. Louis Thursday night against St. Louis native Clayton Keller and the Arizona Coyotes.
The 29-year-old lefty defenseman will be paired with Colton Parayko.
“It’s gonna be great to play with him,” Scandella said. “I played against him for many years. Big guy who can skate, move the puck. So we’re gonna build that chemistry, and it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
This will be a change for Parayko as well who had previously been paired with another right-handed defenseman in Justin Faulk for a couple of games.
Before this pairing, Parayko had played with Jay Bouwmeester on-and-off for three seasons. Blues head coach Craig Berube believes Scandella’s presence will bring familiarity to the ice for Parayko.
“Big guy, plays physical,” Berube said. “Good defender. Good stick. Two big guys out there that can play against anybody, and be hard on the other team. Be hard on the top players on other teams. You know, Bouw was there for a long time with Parayko, and this is a similar fit.”
This acquisition was made in addition to Bouwmeester being placed on the long-term injured reserve, and Niko Mikkola being sent to the AHL.
Scandella has dressed in 51 games between the Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres this season, totaling 12 points and a +16 rating.
The St. Louis Blues were much more vocal about potential possibilities and avenues they were looking down this year compared to last.
Let’s flashback to days before the 2019 NHL trade deadline when the Blues were silent. The Blues were working their way up the league’s totem pole with a rookie goaltender, an interim head coach, and forward lines that couldn’t seem to keep consistent chemistry.
It was a roster built to make a run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, yet no one outside of the organization seemed to have full faith in the lineup based on its record.
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong kept quiet until Feb. 25 when the team traded a sixth round draft pick for Anaheim Ducks defenseman Michael Del Zotto, a 28-year-old defenseman who had tallied one goal and three assists in 23 games with Vancouver before being traded to Anaheim just eight days prior.
This didn’t seem like the move the Blues needed to make a playoff run, but Armstrong was confident in the players he had. Luckily his decision to keep the roster together paid off.
This year things were different. A month before the deadline Armstrong spoke about the potential desire to pursue a top six forward. At this time the Blues were well ahead in first place in the central division. This conversation died down with time, but still isn’t entirely out of the question. The decision is being based entirely off of Vladimir Tarasenko’s time table.
The conversation shifted once Jay Bouwmeester suffered a cardiac episode on Feb. 11 which resulted in him being placed on the injured reserve.
Bouwmeester being placed on the IR cleared up $3.25 million in cap space. The organization recalled Mikkola from the AHL, which wasn’t the first time this season.
Mikkola’s last stint with the club went well for the young Russian. In five games he tallied one assist and was a +3 on the ice.
Armstrong didn’t feel confident relying on Mikkola as a full-time defenseman heading towards the playoffs.
As of Tuesday afternoon the Blues remain tied for first with Dallas in the central division with 76 points.