Brouwer expected to make 2019 Blues debut tonight; Allen in net; Kostin sent down
Jake Allen will be in net and veteran Troy Brouwer, now with an approved work visa, is expected to make his 2019-20 season NHL debut when the St. Louis Blues visit the Predators in Nashville on Monday night.
According to a projected lineup released by the Blues on Monday afternoon, either Brouwer or Nathan Walker had been expected to start at right wing on Jacob de la Rose's fourth line opposite Mackenzie MacEachern on left wing. Walker was called up from AHL affiliate San Antonio on Sunday but now figures to be a healthy scratch after Brouwer was restored to the active roster Monday.
Brouwer, 34, was signed to a one-year, two-way deal last week following a professional tryout. He played for the Blues in 2015-16 and has tallied 362 points (181 goals, 181 assists) in 838 regular-season NHL games in his career.
In another move Monday, the Blues assigned forward Klim Kostin to the Rampage. Kostin, who played four games with the Blues following his first NHL call-up, scored his first goal against Nashville on Saturday. The 2017 first-round pick scored eight points (three goals, five assists) in 14 games with the Rampage before being recalled.
Allen will make his sixth start of the season and his first since the Blues suffered a 3-2 overtime loss to Columbus on Nov. 15.
Carl Gunnarsson returns to the lineup following the four-game suspension of defenseman Robert Bortuzzo for a cross-check on Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson in the Blues’ 4-2 loss Saturday.
The projected lineup for Monday night's second half of a home-and-home set with the Predators:
Forwards
Jaden Schwartz - Brayden Schenn - Tyler Bozak
Ivan Barbashev - Ryan O'Reilly - David Perron
Zach Sanford - Robert Thomas - Oskar Sundqvist
Mackenzie MacEachern - Jacob de la Rose - Troy Brouwer
Defensemen
Carl Gunnarsson - Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester - Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn - Justin Faulk
Goalie
Jake Allen
