With Buchnevich and Saad out, reinforcements were right there.
With Pavel Buchnevich injured and on his way to the injured reserve, and Brandon Saad benched with an injury as well, the Blues are running a bit thin at forward. The two missing players are key offensive guys who wouldn’t be replaced with an AHL phone call.
What to do?
How about sign the guy who travelled with your team despite not having a contract?
The Blues signed Tyler Pitlick to a one year, $750,000 contract today. He was on a professional tryout with the Blues during the preseason and was making a good impression on the coaching staff. However, as is wont to happen with the Blues (see: reason they signed Pitlick), Pitlick was injured and released from his PTO. He was told to rest up however, and by accompanying the team on their quick roadtrip it sent a message that a signing could happen depending on what Buchnevich’s status was.
Well, clearly Buchnevich isn’t going to be in the cards any time soon, and Saad’s injury added some insult to Buchnevich being out. Pitlick’s signing was a necessity; with the players staffing the LTIR right now, the Blues had the luxury of a bit of free cap space with which to sign him.
Will see Pitlick see action tomorrow night against the Edmonton Oilers? Judging on the Blues’ performance in Winnipeg, the odds are in his favor.