The St. Louis Blues snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday but the team suffered a significant loss during the game.
When pinching to make a play in the offensive zone, St. Louis defenceman Philip Broberg was hit along the boards by Toronto forward Mitch Marner. As Broberg was brought to the ice, Marner fell on top of his right leg, resulting in his knee bending awkwardly as he landed.
Broberg was helped off the ice, limped to the dressing room, and didn’t return for the rest of the game. On Monday, head coach Drew Bannister announced that Broberg would miss four to six weeks with what the Blues are calling a lower-body injury.
“I’m happy that he’s going to be back. It could have been worse, but it isn’t,” Bannister said Monday. “He was playing really good hockey, and now it’s just ‘let’s get him back on the ice and back to game speed.’ That’s going to take a little bit of time, but the player himself is really happy (with the prognosis). We’re disappointed it’s four to six weeks, but it could have been a lot worse.”
The Blues inked Broberg to a two-year, $9.16 million offer sheet this summer as a restricted free agent following an excellent showing during the Western Conference Final and Stanley Cup Final with the Oilers. Edmonton opted not to match the contract and the first-round pick from the 2019 draft has been a strong addition for St. Louis. Through 12 games with his new club, the young Swede has racked up nine points while logging just under 20 minutes per night on average.
Broberg’s teammates in St. Louis have only been playing with him for a month but they’ve been impressed with what they’ve seen thus far and are hoping that he’s able to make a quick return.
“He’s a huge part of our D corps and our team,” defenceman Colton Parayko told The Athletic. “He plays a lot of minutes. He plays against a lot of the top lines. Skates really well, takes advantage of his opportunities, finds the right time to jump in. It’s fun to watch and learn from him, too.”
“He’s been unbelievable for us this year,” forward Jordan Kyrou added. “It sucks to see a guy go down like that, especially with all the injuries that we have right now. Guys just got to step up and we’ve got to battle through it.”
“He’s a warrior,” goaltender Jordan Binnington said. “I know he’ll be back as best he can, when he can. He’s a key part of this, and hopefully he’s all right.”
This is the second injury to the Blues’ top-four on the blueline, as Nick Leddy was placed on the Injured Reserve with a lower-body injury a couple of weeks ago. Ryan Suter is up in Leddy’s spot on the top pairing with Parayko and Pierre-Olivier Joseph has been moved up into Broberg’s spot on the second pairing with Justin Faulk.
The Blues have a 6-6-0 record on the season, good for fifth in the highly competitive Central Division. Broberg will likely be on the Injured Reserve when the Blues play in Edmonton on December 7 so the first game against his former club will likely come on February 4 when the Oilers are in St. Louis.

Quick notes from around the NHL…

  • The Colorado Avalanche are going to get a couple of reinforcements in the next few weeks. The team announced that Artturi Lehkonen is going to return to the lineup on Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken and that Valeri Nichushkin will return on November 15 against the Washington Capitals. Both Lehkonen and Nichushkin have been out for the entirety of the 2024-25 season thus far, Lehkonen because of a shoulder injury and Nichushkin because of a suspension.
  • The Boston Bruins dipped into the free-agent market to add some veteran forward depth to their roster on Monday. According to Frank Seravalli, the Bruins and Tyler Johnson agreed to a one-year contract worth the league minimum of $775k. The native of Spokane, Washington spent the 2023-24 season with the Chicago Blackhawks and scored 17 goals and 31 points over 67 games but didn’t find an NHL gig in the off-season. Johnson brings championship pedigree from multiple levels to the Bruins, as he won two Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning, a Calder Trophy with their AHL affiliate, and a WHL Championship with the Spokane Chiefs.