Blues make Sneaky Good Move... This has Major implications

The St. Louis Blues made a sneaky good move. As Alex Dean announced today, they have added a defenseman to an already crowded blue line, adding multiple questions to the organization with major implications. After a young blue liner sustained a injury, we're going to break down everything you need to know on this recent move, what it means for the future of this organization, plus multiple more updates surrounding this roster. But Darius, before we get into it, I want to give a huge shout out to absolutely everyone watching. If you haven't hit that free subscribe button, but you want to stay up to date with everything to do around the Blues, make sure to go down and hit it. We'll keep you up to date with everything from moves, trades, recaps, anything you can think of. And once again, a huge shout out to absolutely everyone watching, and let's just dive into this jam-packed episode of updates we have surrounding the team. But before we get into some moves, I do want to kind of look at a report that came out from Elliot Freeman that the Toronto Maple Leafs practiced today at Arizona State, where they went out to visit Matthew Mayek's family. They had hats and t-shirts. It's a little off-brand. We're not talking about the Blues, but Darius, I thought this was an awesome moment from a different organization. Seriously, hats off to the entire Leafs team that went out of their way to visit this family in a very tough time. But going into even more updates surrounding this team, I wanted to dive into this. And listen, we're going to get into the move because that is a major update coming around the team. But last night, we've seen Logan Mayhew will miss the rest of the game with an upper body injury after he went out and fought a player after hitting Phil Broberg. Darius, what is your thoughts on this injury? Because I think this coincides quite a bit with the move that they made today. It could actually be exactly why they made that waiver claim today, and we'll get into who they claimed off waivers. But obviously not a good sign when your top pairing defenseman now in Logan Mayhew gets hurt in a preseason game in a fight. So obviously you love to see that fighting spirit from the team and standing up for your teammates. But at the same time in a preseason game, putting you out for possibly the opening of the season is very tough. So hopefully he's okay. Hopefully this is just more precautionary. Maybe they just like the player that they claimed off waivers. That is possible. We'll get to that player in a second, but hopefully he's okay. We'll get an update on that in the next, I imagine, coming days, tomorrow, something like that in terms of his health and what that's looking like for the season opener. But I'm hoping that his recovery is okay. And speaking of recovery, do you notice that it takes you a little bit longer to recover now? 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But the Blues have claimed Justin Barron, a little bit of an older defenseman from Nashville on waivers today, a lot of teams are making their cuts and putting players on waivers and stuff like that. So the Blues claim Justin Barron and markets, it's an interesting claim that could lead to, again, maybe a depth pickup where another guy, not saying Justin Barron is going to be in the lineup, but he could fill a spot where somebody else like maybe Adam Juracek can make, you know, his name made and, you know, get a spot. Because, I mean, looking at this, of course, with Logan Mayhew going down, we're not going to get the update until tomorrow as there's no official practice for the Blues today. They're doing their final roster cuts. They're solidifying the roster. But they claimed Justin Barron off waivers, a right-handed shot defenseman, more than 200 games played in the NHL. This is a player that's very interesting. And genuinely, if it's one of the situations where it was just a claim, I think this is a perfect pickup. Of course, not the flashiest guy, a guy that's going to step in, didn't have the most points with the National Predators, 9 points in 52 games in a lower role. But there is someone that's been around the league for quite some time with the Montreal Canadiens, with the National Predators, putting up some decent numbers for a defenseman and someone that can step in and add that veteran leadership to a team where you're looking to add it, especially with Logan Mayhew out. Are you looking at Adam Juracek as someone that can fill in that top line immediately? Probably not. And can Justin Barron do that? Maybe not either. But at the end of the day, the 200 games and the fact that this guy has been around the NHL for quite some time, I do like it. Plus, right-handed shot defensemen are such a hot commodity around the NHL. A guy that genuinely can fill in those gaps. I think it's one of those sightings that we're going to look at and say, hey, he might not be an everyday NHL-er, but I think it just shows, again, the depth of this organization. You truly have four guys that can play at every single position and not even including the guys that are placed on waivers and current NHL players in the AHL. And guys that can play those positions with NHL experience. Like you said, it's not just depth or it's not just bodies. Adam Juracek, I think, could come into the NHL, for example, as a rookie and look good and probably do the job and there would be a learning curve. But they have guys that, like Justin Barron here, can come in with years of experience with different organizations, being a right-hand shot, like you said, which, again, leads me to believe that maybe it does have something to do with Logan Mayhew. Maybe it is a little bit more serious than we're thinking at this point. Hopefully not, because he's a huge part of this team, and him being out for any time at this point would be a huge blow for the team. But we get that update probably tomorrow when they hit the ice again. So it's going to be interesting to see where he factors in here, if he does, because then I just imagine Colton Draco probably moves up and Carlo moves up and then he would slot himself in there. Or maybe he would just be, you know, a healthy scratch just along with the team or practice, stuff like that. So that's interesting. We'll, you know, kind of figure out what that looks like when they hit the ice in terms of what they're thinking for pairings. But it could just be insurance, just in case. Maybe they don't have a definitive answer right now, but they were like, hey, this is a guy we like, we're going to pick him up, right? Like he has NHL experience, and we're just going to bring him in because if there are injuries down the road this season, we can use a guy like Justin Barron, right? So it's going to be interesting to see, you know, what that update looks like, but it all starts this week. You know, we're finally getting final cuts. The roster's coming together. We had some surprises that did make this roster and some guys also cleared waivers. We found out yesterday that, you know, there was no reason to worry, really. Oscar Sundquist, Jack Finley, and Nathan Walker have all cleared waivers, and they will start with the Springfield Thunderbirds. And hey, if there's injuries, I'll call them up. And that is just another thing to be said about the depth of this organization too, because if there are injuries at the NHL level, you're calling up guys that have tons of NHL experience, with not just in the league, with quite literally this team for the last couple of years. But fans, let us know your thoughts down below. First off, on these guys clearing waivers, because it's awesome to see three fan favorites clear and go down to the AHL. Otts is going to have so much fun with some of these big bodies and NHL experience. I mean, Darius, quickly looking at the depth in the AHL, it looks like a borderline B team for an NHL team. You have so many guys that were basically NHL players with Carbineau, you have Otto Stenberg, you have all these vets. That team is going to be a hell of a team. But let us know your thoughts down in the comments on everything. What are the lines look like now? With Logan Mayhew injured or should be back in the lineup for game one? Let us know your thoughts on Justin Barron, everything to do around the team. There's so much info, but that's been it for us today. I've been your host, Mark, with my co-host Darius, and take care, boys and girls.