ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Blues are giving Milan Lucic ample opportunities to earn an NHL contract.
They took that next step on Tuesday by assigning the veteran forward to Springfield of the American Hockey League on a professional tryout.
The 37-year-old joined the Blues on a PTO, but not long into training camp, he suffered a groin strain and kept him out a week before resuming skating and playing in the final three preseason games; he had a goal and an assist.
The Blues were on the verge of making a decision to sign him to a contract or not but decided to keep him around to condition and get healthy from the injury and have taken the next step here to see if there’s a path to consummate a contract or not.
The 6-foot-3, 240-pound veteran will report to Springfield immediately.
If the Blues do in fact sign Lucic, there will have to be a roster decision made, with the likeliest path being a forward getting put on waivers. It’s unlikely that Dalibor Dvorsky, a first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, gets sent back to the Thunderbirds considering he’s played really well since his recall from Springfield last week. Dvorsky scored his first NHL goal on Monday in a 3-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers and it was a beauty.
The Blues still have Jake Neighbours (right leg) on injured reserve but he is not expected back before the end of November.
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