Aleksanteri Kaskimaki intended to make his NHL debut on Monday night against the Anaheim Ducks, but weather-related flight delays — and a long wait on the tarmac — prevented that from happening.
The 21-year-old rookie walked into the press box at Enterprise Center just as the national anthem was being performed in the arena on Monday night, effectively deflating what could have been an exciting night for the newest Blue.
“It was pretty hard,” Kaskimaki said. “I was getting ready to play, but as soon as I had to stay on the tarmac and the delays kept going, I knew it might not happen… You’re counting down the minutes when you get off the plane. It happens.”
Kaskimaki’s debut will instead happen on Thursday night in Boston (6 p.m. CT, FanDuel Sports Network, 101 ESPN), where the St. Louis Blues are set to begin a quick three-game road trip that also will take them to Ottawa and Montreal.
He won’t have any family there — it’s a long trip from his native Finland — but that doesn’t make it any less exciting for the Blues’ rookie.
“It’s a dream come true, so it was [good to get called up],” he said.
Blues Head Coach Jim Montgomery had Kaskimaki skating on a line with Dalibor Dvorsky and Pavel Buchnevich in practice, and so it’s likely to see that group together on the ice Thursday.
“Him and Dvorsky have played a lot together in the American League, so there’s familiarity there,” Montgomery said. “And Buchy is just a solid veteran that can help those guys offensively and defensively with his 200-foot game. (Aleksanteri’s) energy to be in the NHL is obvious. That’s a good jolt for our team right now.”
Kaskimaki was a third-round pick of the Blues pick in the 2022 NHL Draft (No. 73 overall) and is playing in his second season with the Springfield Thunderbirds in the AHL. Through 79 AHL games, he has posted 15 goals and 26 assists (41 points).
The Blues will also get Pius Suter back in the lineup after he missed two games with a muscle-related lower-body injury. He was back in practice Wednesday and has been declared good to go.
Jimmy Snuggerud, Alexey Toropchenko and Nathan Walker remain out.
PROJECTED LINEUP
Forward
Brayden Schenn - Robert Thomas - Jake Neighbours
Dylan Holloway - Pius Suter - Jordan Kyrou
Aleksanteri Kaskimaki - Dalibor Dvorsky - Pavel Buchnevich
Mathieu Joseph - Oskar Sundqvist - Nick Bjugstad
Defense
Philip Broberg - Colton Parayko
Tyler Tucker - Justin Faulk
Cam Fowler - Logan Mailloux
Goalie
Jordan Binnington
