St. Louis Blues Assign Theo Lindstein To The AHL After Four-Game Stint In The NHL

Theo Lindstein impressed during pre-season and earned a spot in the opening-night lineup, but after four games, he's back in the AHL.

Thursday night, the St. Louis Blues assigned the 21-year-old defenseman to the Springfield Thunderbirds. Lindstein played the first four games of the season, recording one assist while averaging 14:33 of ice time. 

After those four games, Lindstein was replaced in the lineup by Justin Barron, a pre-season waiver claim. Since then, Lindstein has been a healthy scratch in six straight games, and after Barron posted a goal and four points against the Vegas Golden Knights, Barron doesn't appear to be leaving the lineup anytime soon. 

The move to send Lindstein down to the AHL is wise. He is still very young, and playing in the AHL will do more for his development than sitting in the press box and skating as an extra at practice. Lindstein has shown more than enough to prove he will be an NHL-caliber defenseman for the Blues at some point.

As for the current makeup of the roster, Barron has excelled alongside Philip Broberg, Adam Jiricek has looked comfortable skating with Broberg or Colton Parayko and Cam Fowler and Brandon Carlo have been quite solid as the third pairing.

Additionally, Logan Mailloux and Tyler Tucker are working to recover from their injuries and return to play. They are both likely a few weeks out before they return. Up front, the Blues expect Alexey Toropchenko and Ross Johnston to return soon. 

With their returns imminent, it's understandable why the Blues waived Zach Dean and now assigned Lindstein to the AHL. 

The Thunderbirds play twice this week, both games on the road against the Charlotte Checkers. The Thunderbirds are currently 2-2-1 and sit in sixth place in the Atlantic Division. 

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