Keith Aucoin, one of the signings the Blues made over the summer, was placed on waivers earlier this week. On Friday morning he cleared waivers, giving the Blues the ability to move him down to the AHL if they so desire. Due to the structure of his one-way, $625,000 contract, the Blues had to send him through waivers before they could assign him to their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.
It's worth noting that the battle for the team's fourth line might be getting smaller. Aucoin could remain with the Blues, but the fact the team placed him on waivers says they're prepared to move on without him at the NHL level.
The fourth line now appears to be a fight between Ryan Reaves, Adam Cracknell, Chris Porter and Maxim Lapierre. Each combination has its advantages. As we all saw last year, the CPR line could wear down an opponent and create plenty of offensive chances. However, the CLR line (Cracknell, Lapierre and Reaves) sounds like it's causing big problems for opponents during the preseason. Oh, and the CLR line allows for plenty of cleaning jokes and who doesn't want that?
It was clear the Aucoin signing was a move to improve the club's depth, but the decision to run him through waivers should confirm the notion that Aucoin won't be starting the year with the Blues.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
