St. Louis Blues: Jordan Kyrou Demotion About Expendability, Not Talent

The St. Louis Blues had some decisions to make when they reached full health with their roster. While the demotion of Jordan Kyrou may not be popular, it has to do with his expendability more than any talent issues.

For those of you that missed the news, the St. Louis Blues recalled Robby Fabbri, Carl Gunnarsson, Nikita Soshnikov and Ville Husso from the AHL. That meant they had to make a tough choice regarding who would be left off the roster going forward.

Husso’s promotion has the most impact on the team. Not because he will get to play, but because this signifies the Blues believe Jake Allen will miss at least a week. There is no reason to promote a goaltender for practice duties, so you can assume Allen will not be ready by the time the Blues play Vegas.

That said, the focus of fans will be on the demotion of Jordan Kyrou rather than the promotions of most of these players. Clearly, all fans want to see Fabbri return to his potential, but coming at the cost of Kyrou still stings a little bit.

However, despite the sure social media storm that will follow, this move has nothing to do with a lack of talent or the coaching staff being down on Kyrou. It has to do with production and the status of Kyrou’s contract.

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From a production standpoint, Kyrou gave the team no reason to keep him. In nine games he had one assist, two penalty minutes and was a minus-3.

Before you strike the arm of your chair in anger and wail about how other players are doing just as little, remember this has to do with him being more expendable. The production is merely one reason that goes into it. Had Kyrou scored four goals and picked up a handful of assists too, we would not be having this conversation.

Again, supporters can argue about his place in the lineup never being consistent, but this is the reality. We are not dealing in what if’s right now.

The reality is that Kyrou’s deal allows the Blues to send him to the AHL almost at will. Kyrou is waivers exempt, meaning they could demote him today, bring him up for Thursday’s game and demote him again and suffer no consequences. That will not happen, but that is an example of the freedom they have with him.

Regardless of what we think of players like Oskar Sundqvist or Soshnikov, the Blues do not have that freedom there. Both would have to clear waivers to be sent down to San Antonio full time. You can argue whether having them claimed is a bad thing, but the Blues cannot continue losing players for nothing as has happened in the past.

The only other forward the Blues have waiver exemption on is Zach Sanford. You are not going to demote him right now because he has been an integral part of the team’s hottest line the last few games. He’s got three goals and six points in his first five games. Perhaps a time will come this year when Sanford does become expendable, but it is not right now.

Would I rather continue to see Kyrou than Sundqvist? You’re damn right. But, regardless of our own opinions on various players, the Blues had no alternative than to send Kyrou to the minors in the reality of the contracts. The fact they dominated Chicago with him out of the lineup made it an easier decision for the coaches as well.

However, do not get down on Kyrou. I continually compare him to a player such as Alex DeBrincat and DeBrincat only had four points in his first nine games. Chicago was simply in a different situation in 2017-18 that allowed them to keep him in the lineup longer.

Kyrou will get his shot. Out of anyone, playing in the AHL on a top line will probably benefit him the most. Then, we can have this discussion again later in the year.