Steve Ott might be the most polarizing skater on the St. Louis Blues. Some fans love him while others … not so much. Ott has been sidelined since December 5th after doing the splits into the boards which later required surgeries on both hamstrings. Ott’s initial timeline was three months, but the Blues appear to be targeting early April as a return date.
The Blues are hoping to have Ott in the mix for the playoffs. Ken Hitchcock believes Ott is the type of player the Blues need for the playoffs, despite the fact the forward had zero points in six playoff games last season. He did have 26 penalty minutes, so there is that.
The handling of the Ott situation carries plenty of risk. Should he not be able to play, the Blues could have used his $2.6 million in cap space to make a move at the trade deadline.
Jeremy Rutherford discussed such a scenario:
The Blues needed to know at the trade deadline whether he intended to be back. If not, they could have used his $2.6 million cap hit to add other player(s). But Armstrong and Ott had a chat and they decided that he would rejoin the team when he was healthy. When will that be? Hitch mentioned early April as a target date.
In other words, if Ott isn’t able to return as expected in April, the Blues missed a chance to add a piece at the deadline. It wouldn’t have been a significant piece, but it could have been a pickup for a player who can contribute a bit more offensively. Some fans would probably prefer if Ott missed the playoffs, but should that happen, it’ll be seen as a big blunder by the Blues to add another option at forward.
Armstrong and Hitchcock have made plenty of questionable decisions over the years, but this risky handling of Ott could be one of the final nails in the coffin should the Blues bomb out early in the playoffs.
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