The St. Louis Blues have invited Martin Havlat and Dainius Zubrus to a professional tryout. The move comes as the Blues try to find answers while several players on the roster deal with varying injuries. Both players skated with the New Jersey Devils last season, but were unable to find work for 2015-16.
Both forwards spent last season in New Jersey. Havlat, 34, had 14 points in 40 gms with the Devils. Zubrus, 37, had 10 points in 74 gms.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) October 27, 2015
The injuries to Jaden Schwartz, Paul Stastny and Patrik Berglund may be taking their toll. The Blues appeared to have solid depth in Scott Gomez and Scottie Upshall as well as the return of Robby Fabbri, but it’s unclear what the team would do should another player get banged up or be forced to miss time.
Ty Rattie was called on from the AHL to help out and so far he hasn’t been bad. That’s not to say he’s been great or even good, but it’s possible the Blues want a more experienced skater to come in and help out given the amount of youngsters already on the roster.
It remains to be seen what Havlat and Zubrus have to offer. The Florida Panthers tried Havlat out, but he didn’t make the team. As the league continues its push to younger skaters, both players were left on the outside looking in. The Blues need depth thanks to some rotten injury luck and it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that the Blues signed one of these current free agents.
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