Which St. Louis Blues Player Is Trending Towards A Return On Tuesday?

Alexandre Texier missed the past five games with an upper-body injury; Oskar Sundqvist is not far behind; Toropchenko remains day to day; Leddy to remain out

ST. LOUIS -- There's a good chance Alexandre Texier returns to the St. Louis Blues lineup on Tuesday when they close out a four-game homestand against the unbeaten Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.

The forward has missed the past five games with an upper-body injury, sustained in a season-opening 3-2 win against the Seattle Kraken.

"I think he's pretty close," Blues coach Drew Bannister said after practice Monday at Enterprise Center. "We'll see where he is tomorrow and make that decision, but he's been skating for a few days and he's been getting better each day and I thought today he looked better out there today, looked more comfortable. He had some contact, so that was a good thing."

Texier skated on a line with Radek Faksa and Kasperi Kapanen on Monday, bumping Nathan Walker down to the extra with injured Oskar Sundqvist (ACL) and Alexey Toropchenko (lower body).

"I think we're trying to get some cohesiveness with lines we've had over the first few games," Bannister said. "Him being out the length of time he has, we want to ease him in when he does come in. I don't see a jump to putting him in the top six. I think he's got to work himself into that position too again and making sure we don't rush him in. We want to kind of slowly get him in and see how he is and see who can, whether it's him or [Kasperi Kapanen] for that matter who played very well. [Zack] Bolduc's been doing a good job in that position. If guys play well and they deserve that opportunity, they'll get the opportunity. As far as 'Tex' goes, it's I think it's something where we want to ease him in and make him earn that spot too."

As for Sundqvist, who tore his right ACL March 25 against the Vegas Golden Knights, he's also knocking on the door of his season debut but won't happen on Tuesday.

The 30-year-old began taking contact last week and could be ready sometime on the next road trip that begins Thursday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"He's getting close," Blues coach Drew Bannister said. "I think he's similar with [Alexandre Texier], he's day to day. Him not being available for games in preseason, we're going to have to extend or be careful with 'Sunny' too making sure that he's in really good shape before we get him into a game. He's been full contact since we've been back (from a season-opening three-game road trip). So we're getting very close with 'Sunny too.'"

Bannister mentioned that a conditioning stint in Springfield of the AHL hasn't been considered, so once Sundqvist is ready, he will make his season debut with the Blues.

Toropchenko, who missed Saturday's 4-3 win against the Carolina Hurricanes, returned to the ice after not skating Friday or Saturday.

"He looked good today," Bannister said. "I haven't talked to [head athletic trainer] Ray [Barile] but I think he skated yesterday here by himself and then he was out today and I think he looked better. I think he's a day to day player also. We have a lot of those guys right now, which is a good sign for us because we've been kind of battling those day to day injuries right now. I think we have more guys coming back here soon."

As for Leddy, the defenseman has not been on the ice since a 4-1 loss against the Minnesota Wild last Tuesday with a lower-body injury and is looking more and more like the 33-year-old will miss a third straight game.

"With the injury that he has right now, I think when he's ready, he'll be ready quick," Bannister said of Leddy, "but it's going to take a little bit of time here before he gets himself back on the ice, but once he's on the ice, I think he'll be a game player very quickly here for us."

Prospect Simon Robertsson (third round, 2021) was loaned to Springfield on Monday. The forward has been on the Blues' non-roster injured list with an upper-body injury but is ready to begin his career in North America after a very strong prospect showcase and training camp.