Defenseman was injured in practice on Sept. 20
ST. LOUIS -- Tyler Tucker will miss the foreseeable future for the St. Louis Blues after having a successful arthroscopic procedure performed on his right knee on Wednesday morning.
The defenseman is scheduled to be re-evaluated in six weeks.
Tucker, 26, was injured in practice on Sept. 20 and has not been on the ice since. Blues general manager Alexander Steen said on Monday that Tucker was in the process of having a second opinion, and it obviously led to this procedure that will keep him shelved until at least mid-November.
The Blues have had to make a series of moves on their blue line in light of recent injuries to Tucker and Logan Mailloux, who had surgery on his right hand Sunday that will keep him out at least eight weeks when he is scheduled to get re-evaluated.
The team recalled Adam Jiricek, a first-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, from Springfield of the American Hockey League and claimed Justin Barron off waivers from the Nashville Predators to help fill the void.
Jiricek could very well make his NHL debut when the Blues open the season Friday against the Dallas Stars.
"Yeah, we've discussed that, but at the end of the day this is going to be a coaching decision and then we'll continue to have conversations on a daily basis on where he's at," Steen said of Jiricek. "... "Just him playing his game. What we like about him is he's excited to play hockey. I love the fact that he brings the same excitement to both the offensive side and the play without the puck. He's very eager to learn. It seems like he picks things up quickly. From the start of rookie camp, where he was, every day it felt like he was growing. Not just getting more and more comfortable, but he was almost calming his play and bringing out his strengths consistently. I thought he had a tremendous camp, so we're excited to see what he can do."
Tucker played in 69 regular-season games last season and had 17 points (three goals, 14 assists); he's played in 159 regular-season games in his career and has 30 points (eight goals, 22 assists).
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
