Roster trimmed

Following last nights 2-1 OT loss to the Avalanche, the Blues have confirmed that defensemen Brendan Bell and Steve Wagner have been assigned to Peoria. Bell will need to pass through waivers. This leaves Darryl Sydor, Alex Pietrangelo, Tyson Strachan and Jonas Junland in a fight for the remaining two roster spots.

The following forwards were also assigned to Peoria: Julian Talbot, Chris Porter, Nick Drazenovic, Ryan Reaves, Aaron Palushaj and Cam Paddock along with goaltender Hannu Toivonen. Philip McRae has been returned to his junior team. The Blues now have 30 players left in Camp.

I thought Bell had done enough to secure himself a spot but he did admit to being a bit “banged up and a little more tired”. Strachan, on the other hand, has been solid and I still feel that, despite his experience, Darryl Sydor is simply too slow now. We have experience in Jackman and Colaiacovo – I don’t feel that we need Sydor. I’d much prefer these remaining two defense spots to go to younger players – and as Brendan Bell is currently out of the picture, I’d have to go with Alex Pietrangelo and Tyson Strachan. Pietrangelo is going to learn nothing by being sent back to Juniors. We need to keep him with the Blues – obviously he wouldn’t dress for every game but he’d learn more being with the Blues than being with his Junior team.

Source: Jeremy Rutherford