Blues place Alexander Steen on the injured reserve

It’s starting to look like new arrival Jacob de la Rose will be slotted into the lineup sooner rather than later. Blues forward Alexander Steen suffered a high ankle sprain last night during the team’s 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers, and didn’t return. Today, the team announced that he has been placed onto the injured reserve with a high ankle sprain.

Per the press-release, Steen will be evaluated in four weeks.

That’s a month without one of the team’s key workhorse forwards. Doug Armstrong hasn’t had to call up a forward from the San Antonio Rampage yet, but it’s nearly unavoidable now. The question becomes which forward? Calling up one of the Rampage’s best forwards, like, say, Nathan Walker, would more than likely mean that de la Rose’s debut is a bit further off than it would normally be.

Steen has fit in nearly everywhere, on every line, but has yet to score a goal this season. This isn’t the kind of loss that the Blues can’t handle - it’s better than, say, an injury to Steen three or four years ago - but with the team riding a six game win streak it’s not something that you’d like to see happen.