Bad news for one former St. Louis Blues forward, as it appears he reached the end of the road with the Vancouver Canucks. Earlier today, the Canucks cut Sammy Blais loose from his PTO, meaning he could be out of work this season at the NHL level, even if he’ll likely be organizational depth with Vancouver for their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks.
But is this the beginning of the end for Blais in the NHL just two seasons (not even, really) after he went on a rather stellar run with the Blues? If you remember, Blais ended up in Gateway City after he was part of a trade with the New York Rangers, which included veteran winger Vladimir Tarasenko.
Blais, who was making his return to the Lou following a season-and-a-half with the Rangers organization, played like he never left. Throughout the final 31 games of the season, Blais scored nine goals and recorded 11 assists, plus a remarkable 23.1 shooting percentage with middle six minutes. And yeah, it was okay then to believe Blais was going to deliver encouraging numbers the following season.
Samuel Blais once gave the St. Louis Blues some optimism
Then last season occurred, and Samuel Blais didn’t build on that momentum, finishing what was a 53-game season with one goal, seven points, and a shooting percentage of 3.0 with just 9:41 of average total ice time. As usual, Blais was a big hitter, landing 194 body checks, but he was little more than that.
Now that he’s likely done in Vancouver unless the injury bug infects the Canucks, Blais may need to wait a while before he gets another chance to show he belongs in the NHL. But entering his age-28 season, it’s fair to ask how many more chances Blais will get before he becomes nothing more than permanent organizational depth.
You look back on the end of that 2022-23 season, and you may ask yourself ‘what if?’ What if Blais managed to build on that successful 31-game stint? Would he still have a place in Gateway City, likely in lower line work?
It’s easy to argue he’d be an integral depth piece to this continually rebuilding St. Louis Blues team. We’ll see if Blais gets another shot elsewhere, but if nobody is willing to take a chance on him, expect Blais back in the Canucks system and provide a veteran presence in Abbotsford while he awaits another opportunity.