By my own admission, Nikita Alexandrov's NHL career was hanging in the balance.
But through a process of perseverance after signing a one-year contract for the league minimum of $775,000 on Sept. 30, 2024, the 24-year-old wants another chance.
And his output with the Springfield Thunderbirds may give him the opportunity.
Since returning from a lower-body injury that forced him to miss 20 games from Nov. 23-Jan. 24, Alexandrov has been scorching -- and scoring, with 16 points (nine goals, seven assists) in 12 games.
He's now over a point-per-game player with 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) in 27 games after another week of making an impact. He didn't produce on Sunday in a 3-2 shootout win at Bridgeport that snapped an eight-game point streak (eight goals, six assists) but he did put up two goals and two assists in a 5-3 win against Hartford on Wednesday:
He would score an empty-netter on Saturday in a 5-3 win against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
What Alexandrov, a second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, has been doing for the red-hot Thunderbirds (26-10-2-3) is definitely worthy of a call-up by the St. Louis Blues. Will it happen? Well, general manager Doug Armstrong was hesitant recently of messing with the chemistry of Springfield and wanted to continue to see the Thunderbirds playing well.
But if the Blues should fall out of the playoff race, it may suit them well to give him another shot down the stretch here, as he will be a restricted free agent on July 1.
* Juraj Pekarcik -- The third-round pick in 2023 extended his point streak to four games (one goal, eight assists) after putting up a goal and seven assists this past week for Moncton of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.
On Friday in a 6-0 win against Cape Breton, Pekarcik had a goal and two assists, including his 20th goal of the season:
Pekarcik followed it up with a season-high four points (all assists) on Sunday in a 10-1 thrashing of Victoriaville.
On the season, Pekarcik has 55 points (20 goals, 35 assists) in 45 games for the Wildcats.
* Adam Jecho -- What a week for the 2024 third-round pick.
Jecho scored in all three games, extending his goal streak to four games and had seven points (four goals, three assists) in three games for Edmonton of the Western Hockey League.
He started it off with a goal and two assists for the Oil Kings in a 5-2 win against Red Deer last Monday, then had a goal and an assist Friday in a 5-4 win against Medicine Hat that ultimately wound up being the game-winner:
Jecho, who has 45 points (21 goals, 23 assists) in 44 games this season, scored twice on Sunday in the return matchup against the Tigers, but the Oil Kings fell 5-3:
* Otto Stenberg -- The 2023 first-round pick (No. 25 overall), put together a three-game point streak (two goals, two assists) this past week for Springfield.
He had an assist Wednesday against Hartford, which was a pretty play that set up Aleksanteri Kaskimaki (third round, 2022):
Then had a high-slot goal and an assist against the Penguins on Saturday:
Stenberg would score in back-to-back games for the first time in Sunday in a win at Bridgeport:
Stenberg is now up to 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 16 games since coming over from Sweden.
* Matvei Korotky -- The point streak for the seventh-round pick in 2024 is four games (four goals, two assists) for SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL.
After finally scoring his first two goals on Feb. 15, Korotky added a goal and an assist in a 5-3 win against Severstal Cherepovets on Feb. 17 with a high-slot wrister:
He would also score Saturday in a 6-4 loss against Kunlun Red Star, giving the 19-year-old four goals his past three games.
* Tomas Mrsic -- It started off as a slow week for the 2024 fourth-round pick with zero points on Feb. 17-18, but the forward ended the week with a bang.
Mrsic would get two assists Friday for Prince Albert of the WHL in a 4-1 win against Moose Jaw, then collect a goal and an assist in a 3-0 win at Regina to end a four-game goalless drought:
Mrsic now has 80 points (32 goals, 48 assists) in just 53 games for the Raiders.