The St. Louis Blues are making another depth adjustment to their roster to help the short-term NHL depth while also protecting their long-term prospect development. The team has announced the recall of 21-year-old defenseman Quinton Burns from the Springfield Thunderbirds a day after reassigning prospect defenseman Theo Lindstein to the AHL.
Executive roster adjustment
General Manager Alex Steen's roster move likely isn't just a routine call-up, but one that can solve two problems at once. Burns gives the Blues a different element to their blue line, with Burns well-known as a physical defender, while Lindstein avoids sitting in the press box for too long and now gets time on the second pairing for Springfield.
Serving as an alternate captain for the Thunderbirds, Burns has played in seven games with the Thunderbirds so far this season, picking up one assist and 29 penalty minutes, and a career total 121 PIM in 38 regular season games.
In the meantime, Lindstein has been getting roughly 14 minutes of ice time in his four NHL games this season. He looked composed and like a player who can hold his own in the NHL on the second or third-pairing unit, but has also spent a lot of time as a healthy scratch. Sending him down lets him become a go-to player instead of a healthy-scratched player in the NHL.
Strategic development plan for the young defenders
The Blues have already set their three pairings with Broberg pairing with Barron, Jiricek with Parayko, and Fowler with Carlo. That doesn't mean Burns can't find his way into the lineup for his NHL debut, but it also doesn't guarantee him a spot either. In the meantime, he can just serve as a seventh defenseman who can bring a physical edge when the team needs it.
Choosing Burns over a more experienced option like Calle Rosen also gives the team a different option and player type they can insert into the lineup. The Blues know what they have in Rosen, and Burns is simply a player who brings a heavy, aggressive forecheck and physical play in his game that Rosen does not. Rosen has been a valuable top-pairing player for the Thunderbirds and can continue filling that role, while giving Burns the opportunity to experience some time with the NHL defenders, coaching staff, and training staff to help round out his overall game, and maybe even reduce a few penalty minutes as well.
Looking at the big picture
For the time being, Lindstein gets the all-situations ice time that he needs in Springfield so he can keep developing, while Burns gives the Blues a hard-nosed defender with strong leadership attributes that can be inserted into the lineup if needed. It keeps the top prospects from getting stale on the bench and still gives the Blues some physical insurance should they need to break glass in case of emergency.
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