Blues activate Soshnikov from injured reserve amid five roster moves

Published

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues activated new forward Nikita Soshnikov from injured reserve Saturday, one of a handful of roster moves on the heels of the team's fifth straight loss.

The Blues, who were blanked 4-0 at home by Winnipeg on Friday, also recalled defenseman Jordan Schmaltz and forward Tage Thompson from the San Antonio Rampage and assigned forward Sammy Blais and defenseman Chris Butler to the American Hockey League club.

The Blues acquired Soshnikov, 24, from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 2019 fourth-round draft pick Feb. 15. He was not able to join the Blues until he obtained a U.S. visa.

Soshnikov has been on injured reserve with a lower-body injury suffered in November. He played in only three games with the Maple Leafs this season while dressing for 19 with the AHL's Toronto Marlies, for whom he posted 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists). The 5-foot-11, 185-pounder has 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) and 22 penalty minutes in 70 career NHL regular-season games.



Schmaltz, 24, has spent most of this season with San Antonio, dressing in 31 games and collecting 23 points (five goals, 18 assists) and 20 penalty minutes. He also played four games with the Blues, accumulating four penalty minutes.

Thompson, 20, has split this season between San Antonio (eight goals, 10 assists in 30 games) and the Blues (three goals, three assists in 24 games).

Blais, 21, also has spent time in both St. Louis and San Antonio this season. He has played 30 games for the Rampage (28 points on 11 goals and 17 assists) and 11 games with the Blues (one goal, two assists).

Butler, 31, made his St. Louis season debut Tuesday in a loss to the Sharks and also played Friday in the loss to the Jets. The St. Louis native, who has played 390 NHL games with the Sabres, Flames and Blues since 2008-09, has 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) and 16 penalty minutes in 47 Rampage games this season.