The St. Louis Blues travel to take on the Boston Bruins on Thursday, and they'll be welcoming back Pius Suter, while also providing Aleksanteri Kaskimaki the opportunity to make his NHL debut.
Kaskimaki's debut was supposed to be on Monday against the Anaheim Ducks. Unfortunately, due to weather delays, his plan did not land in St. Louis on time, and he was unable to play. Tyler Tucker skated in his place, but the defenseman skating as a forward logged just 3:22 of ice time.
Kaskimaki is now expected to play on Thursday and skated on a line with Dalibor Dvorsky and Pavel Buchnevich in practice today.
"I played with Dali in Springy, and we had some good plays, good games," said the 21-year-old Kaskimaki. "Also, Buchnevich, he's a top player, so I'm excited to play with those guys."
Suter is confirmed to be good to go by coach Jim Montgomery. The 29-year-old has missed the previous two games with a lower-body injury, but is now healthy and appears to be good to go.
In his first season with the Blues, Suter has scored six goals and 12 points in 25 games, serving as a trustworthy two-way center.
"Yeah, Suter looks really good. He'll be a player for us tomorrow," said Montgomery.
Suter skated alongside linemates he's developed some chemistry with in Jordan Kyrou and Dylan Holloway. Robert Thomas did not skate today, but he was replaced by placeholder Matthew Kessel, which likely indicates that it was a maintenance day for Thomas and he'll be in the lineup against the Bruins.
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