The Blues have placed Jori Lehtera on the IR following an upper-body injury the forward suffered in a game against the New York Rangers. The extent of Lehtera’s injury hasn’t been specifically outlined, but this marks the first real test of the team’s depth in the young season.
Depth has been a question surrounding the Blues ever since several forwards departed over the summer through free agency. The Blues improved their depth through the Nail Yakupov trade, but there’s still some questions over whether Ty Rattie, Magnus Paajarvi or Dmitrij Jaskin will be enough should a key player go down with an injury.
Lehtera has been a bit of an enigma in his career with the Blues. He has shown real glimpses of incredible skill, but he has also gone long stretches in which he’s almost forgettable out on the ice. He’s a different type of player than Patrik Berglund, but the fact he always seems to be on the cusp of breaking through without actually breaking through draws some parallels. Through three games in 2016-17 (one of which was shortened due to the injury), he has zero points and five shots. Lehtera isn’t known as a shooter, but he also hasn’t shown any of the play-making ability which was made him such an intriguing player when he arrived in St. Louis.
Back to the issue at hand – depth. Lehtera’s absence may not be too noticeable as his recent play on the ice when he was healthy wasn’t very noticeable either. It’s harsh, but unfortunately true. The depth skaters who will now slide in on his line, whether it’s Rattie, Jaskin or Paajarvi or some combination of the three, have a big opportunity to succeed and make some noise as the skater they’re replacing hasn’t been making much noise in the first place. With Jaden Schwartz nearing a return, the Blues may be lucky that Lehtera may be the only regular name missing at this stage of the season.
However, at some point, the Blues will be further tested by the injury bug. One has to wonder how long a Rattie, a Jaskin or a Paajarvi can make regular appearances before the team’s overall quality suffers.
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