Jay Bouwmeester may have a future with the Blues

On February 12th of this year, which seems like a decade ago, The game between the Blues and Anaheim Ducks was forced to be postponed due to Jay Bouwmeester collapsing on the ice. Bouwmeester had a cardiac episode that necessitated a defib implant in his chest to regulate heartbeat; unfortunately, while successful, the ICD doesn’t exactly take well to contact sports. Bouwmeester has been out since that night in Anaheim.

His contract is on LTIR, obviously, while he ponders his next move. It appears highly unlikely that he will be returning to on-ice action, but Blues GM Doug Armstrong still has plans for Bouwmeester in the organization.

Appearing on the Cam and Strick podcast, Amstrong suggested that there could be a home for Bouwmeester on the team’s scouting staff:

“I would love to get [Bouwmeester] into some scouting for us in the future.

“He’s one of those guys. He’s got a great hockey mind, and also retirement’s great until you’re home all the time. Now I’m not saying that he’s going to want to travel like a pro scout and do four games in five nights in five cities, but he can go into Calgary, go up to Edmonton, go to Vancouver, he can come in when we’re there. These are the type of character people I have the most respect for.”

Bouwmeester’s experience would be a key advantage in hiring him on the scouting staff. Drafted in 2002 by the Florida Panthers, the Stanley Cup Champion played 17 years in the league, finally winning the Stanley Cup in 2019. His absence was sorely felt as the Blues resumed play in the bubble and stumbled without their top pairing of Bouwmeester and Alex Pietrangelo.