Lindgren, behind Jordan Binnington, Ville Husso and Joel Hofer on the depth chart, will start against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; BSMW, BSDET, ESPN+, NHL LIVE) and could play against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday and against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday with Binnington (NHL COVID-19 protocol) and Husso (lower body) sidelined.
Hofer, who is 1-1-0 with a 3.07 goals-against average and an .880 save percentage in two starts for the Blues this season, could not be called up from Springfield of the American Hockey League because of NHL salary cap compliance issues. Jon Gillies, who signed a one-year, two-way contract Wednesday, will back up Lindgren.
Gillies has not played in the NHL since the 2017-18 season, when he was 3-5-0 with a 2.88 GAA and an .896 save percentage in 11 games (nine starts) for the Calgary Flames. He was 3-1-0 with a 1.76 GAA and .939 save percentage in four AHL games this season for Providence (three) and Lehigh Valley (one), and has played with Maine of the ECHL this season.
"He'll be [in St. Louis] tonight and be ready to partner tomorrow with Lindgren," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said of Gillies on Wednesday, "and we'll just take it day by day from there to where Ville is and we're hoping to get Binnington back early to late next week."
Lindgren, who won in relief of Husso on Tuesday by making three saves and playing the final 6:25 of a 4-3 overtime victory against the Florida Panthers, would make his first NHL start since a 4-1 loss to the Panthers on March 7, 2020. He was 8-1-1 with a 2.16 GAA and .925 save percentage in 10 games for Springfield this season and is 11-12-2 with a 2.99 GAA and .907 save percentage in 25 NHL games (24 starts). His previous 24 games were with the Canadiens.
"Yeah, it's crazy," Lindgren said. "To be honest with you, I really have no idea what's going on with the cap and all that. I just hear what the guys are saying, but at the end of the day, I'm here, my job's to play as hard and as well as I can for the Blues, and that's all I can really focus on.
"I was definitely feeling really good [in Springfield]. We've got an excellent hockey team, great coaching staff, and bottom line, we're having a lot of fun playing with each other, and I got a few other Birds up here, and just a great group of guys. We're having a ton of fun, so I was feeling good personally and definitely want to carry that momentum up here."
St. Louis, which began the game against Florida one skater short due to cap constraints, will have to do it again Thursday even with the recall of forward Nathan Walker from Springfield on an emergency basis Wednesday. The Blues remain at 17 skaters.
Husso left in the third period, and defenseman Jake Walman sustained an upper-body injury in the same sequence. Each needs to go through tests, and Armstrong said the Blues would know more Friday.
The Blues hope to have a full roster Saturday with the potential return of forward Tyler Bozak, who is also in COVID-19 protocol, as is defenseman Justin Faulk.
Bozak is eligible to return Friday, and Binnington and Faulk can resume skating as early as Sunday.
Forwards David Perron (upper body), Robert Thomas (lower body), James Neal (upper body) and Klim Kostin (upper body) are out. Perron and Thomas are day to day but unavailable Thursday. Neal and Kostin are on long-term injured reserve.
