Blues activate Bortuzzo from IR, assign Soshnikov to Rampage

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ST. LOUIS – Forward Nikita Soshnikov, a healthy scratch much of the season when he's been healthy, is headed to the minors and defenseman Robert Bortuzzo is back with the Blues.



The Blues activated Bortuzzo from injured reserve Friday. He takes the roster spot vacated by Soshnikov, who was assigned to the club's AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage.

Bortuzzo has missed the Blues' last 16 games with a lower-body injury. The 6-foot-4, 216-pounder had played in five games, scoring one goal, before his injury. During his absence, the Blues' defense has been stretched thin.

Bortuzzo is slated to play Friday night in Colorado. He and Jay Bouwmeester form the third defensive pairing.

Soshnikov, 25, has no points in five games with the Blues this season and one goal in five games with the Rampage.

Soshnikov, whom the Blues acquired from Toronto for a 2019 fourth-round draft pick in February, missed training camp, preseason and the first few weeks of the regular season after sustaining a concussion in the offseason.