The Blues announced Thursday that they’ve activated center Oskar Sundqvist from injured reserve. As previously reported, St. Louis assigned wingers Matt Luff and Hugh McGing to AHL Springfield in the corresponding moves after recalling them under emergency conditions just this morning, leaving them with an open roster spot.
Whether or not Sundqvist enters the lineup tonight against the Panthers remains to be seen. He was labeled as a game-time decision this morning by head coach Jim Montgomery alongside top-six wingers Jordan Kyrou and Jake Neighbours (via NHL.com’s Lou Korac). Returning Luff and McGing to Springfield indicates the Blues have certainty that at least two of those names will be available. Considering Sundqvist has been a healthy scratch on a few occasions this season, though, he may still be outside of the lineup if all three are healthy.
The 31-year-old’s stay on IR was brief. He landed there last Friday and ended up missing four games with an ankle laceration that he sustained on Jan. 18 against the Oilers. With that, the healthy scratches and a lower-body injury that kept him on the shelf for the first couple of weeks of the season, Sundqvist has been limited to 39 out of 53 possible contests in 2025-26.
Now in his 11th NHL season and second stint with the Blues, Sundqvist remains an all-situations pivot who’s anchored the fourth line between Alexey Toropchenko and Nathan Walker for a decent portion of the campaign. He’s flexed into both the Blues’ second penalty-killing and power-play units when needed and is averaging 13:20 of ice time per game, right in line with his career average.
While he hasn’t been in the Blues’ lineup every night, he’s still been reasonably productive in his depth role for a St. Louis squad that struggles to score. He’s managed three goals and 10 assists for 13 points in 39 games, a pace of 0.33 per game that outmatches what he’s done in either of his last two seasons in Missouri. That’s despite him shooting at 9.4%, more than a full point below his career average.
Sundqvist’s -13 rating is uninspiring but not unexplainable. He starts 71.5% of his shifts at 5-on-5 in the defensive zone, one of the highest rates in the league among forwards.