The St. Louis Blues recalled Jordan Kyrou from the San Antonio Rampage for the game against Buffalo. It wasn’t his first time playing for the NHL team and he appears determined to stick.
Unlike the last season when he was on the club, Jordan Kyrou is being given a shot to make the most of this recent call-up. He was slotted on the right-wing alongside Brayden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz.
He was inserted onto the left-wing of the second powerplay unit, a unit I think the Blues should deploy a little more frequently than they currently do, but he was there nonetheless.
Kyrou has a high speed and skill element to his game and has had no trouble scoring in the AHL. Converting that scoring and skill to the NHL hasn’t panned out just yet, but I believe if the Blues continue to deploy him in the manner they did against Buffalo and stay patient he will find that touch here.
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The St. Louis Blues need scoring. Kyrou is the only real legitimate goal-scoring threat the Blues have left in the AHL.
The Blues are being squeezed by the injury bug with their top goal-scorer Vladimir Tarasenko out, Sammy Blais who looked like he may hit the 20 goal mark this season for a few more weeks and depth forwards Alex Steen and Oskar Sundqvist still healing, the Blues need scoring.
Kyrou could be that scoring touch the Blues need. It’s unlikely and frankly unfair to expect him to rattle off 20 or more goals in the NHL this season, but given the time to get into sync with his linemates Schenn and Schwartz, Kyrou could bring some much-needed offense to this Blues club.
He played 15:13 in the game which is a good chunk of ice time for a forward. He notched 2 shots-on-goal and 2 hits. He nearly had an assist if it wasn’t for a good save by Linus Ullmark on David Perron in the 3rd period.
He doesn’t have a lot of size to him listed at just 6′ and 174lbs at age 21 so durability coming off of off-season patella surgery is why it took the Blues so long to call him up.
Adversity has arrived for the St. Louis Blues as we all knew it would eventually. Injuries are a part of the game. They happen. Sadly for the Blues, they have seemed to happen all at once. Where there is adversity to some there is opportunity for others.
Kyrou has a real opportunity to convert his offense to the NHL and perhaps stick with the big club this season. Kyrou has proven he can dominate in the lower leagues and as long as the coaches give him the time and leash to play in the NHL I believe it’s a matter of time before he starts to display that same knack for scoring in the NHL.
Goal-scoring won’t solve all the Blues woes currently. The team known for stout defense has been leaky and blowing coverages for a while now. The solution to that and what is driving the defensive lapses could be many. Kyrou won’t solve that, but if he gets going offensively it could help to mask that for the time being until the Blues figure it out.
Kyrou has the skill and the resume to score some goals in the NHL. In order for him to be successful, the Blues coaches must continue to feed him the ice time and the linemates to demonstrate that skill and goal-scoring ability. He’s going to make mistakes, but I believe this go around Kyrou wants to show the staff and team he is ready to be an NHL’er and that they need him on this team.
Drop the puck!