VANCOUVER — The St. Louis Blues have assigned Troy Brouwer to the American Hockey League’s San Antonio Rampage after the veteran forward cleared waivers.
Brouwer has one goal in 10 games with the Blues this season, his 12th in the NHL. He joined the Blues for a second stint after signing a one-year, two-way contract for the remainder of the season on Nov. 2 following a professional tryout.
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said the Blues made the move to make room for players returning to injury. Defenceman Colton Parayko was expected to make his return for the Blues’ game Monday night in Vancouver after missing seven games with what the Blues called an upper-body injury. Forward Sammy Blais is also nearing a return from a wrist injury.
“I told (Brouwer) that I would give him this week to consider his options and when he and I got back into town, we would have a conversation but he’s officially assigned to the American Hockey League as of today,” Armstrong said before Monday’s game.
“I didn’t feel it was fair to bring Troy out here and then do this on the road knowing that we had extra players now,” he added.
Brouwer, a Vancouver native, was selected by Chicago in the seventh round of the 2004 NHL draft.
He had 22 goals and 40 points in 2009-10, his second full season with the team, and added six points in the Stanley Cup final as Chicago defeated Philadelphia in six games.
Brouwer had a career-high 25 goals and 43 points with Washington in 2013-14, and reached 43 points again the next season.
His production has declined over the past few seasons, and he had 12 goals and nine assists over 75 games with Florida in 2018-19.
Brouwer has 182 goals and 181 assists over 848 career NHL games with Chicago, Washington, St. Louis, Calgary and Florida.
“It’s tough. You feel for him. A great veteran guy,” Blues coach Craig Berube said.
“We really enjoyed him. We’ll see what happens. He was a great presence in the locker room. He still knows how to play the game and play. He helped us out.”
— With files from Jim Morris.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2020.
The Canadian Press