Blues keeping eye toward future ahead of encounter vs. Rangers

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During the ongoing retooling of his team, St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong wants to see his club stay in the playoff chase.

That's why he acquired veteran defenseman Cam Fowler from the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. Fowler will make his home-ice debut for the Blues on Sunday when they host the New York Rangers.

"I understand where we are in the standings, I understand where we are in our growth pattern," Armstrong said. "But every big game that we play, every big game that we're in, it benefits (Philip) Broberg, it benefits (Dylan) Holloway, it benefits (Jake) Neighbours, it benefits (Joel) Hofer, it benefits (Zack) Bolduc.

"You learn how to win, and you also learn how to lose. What we're trying to do is to stay competitive, give these guys the environment where they can grow, and not rush our younger players that we're building around."

With that in mind, Armstrong replaced head coach Drew Bannister with Jim Montgomery shortly after the Boston Bruins fired their bench boss last month. The Blues have posted a 5-2-2 record under Montgomery.

The Blues have been depleted on the blue line with veterans Torey Krug (ankle surgery) and Nick Leddy (lower body) on the shelf. Armstrong sent a second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft and defensive prospect Jeremie Biakabutuka to Anaheim for the 33-year-old Fowler, who slots into a Top 4 role in St. Louis.

Fowler paired with Justin Faulk on Saturday and played 17:57 during the Blues' 2-1 overtime loss to the host Dallas Stars.

"You can never have enough good defensemen," Montgomery said, "and it's just good with the way we've been using our top four with the minutes, to have someone else come in who's going to be able to eat a lot of those minutes as well."

The Ducks traded Fowler after acquiring fellow defenseman Jacob Trouba from the slumping Rangers, who have lost nine of their past 12 games.

"There's a lot of things you can say; at the end of the day, you need to perform on the ice and you need to make sure you show up and give it your all every shift," New York center Vincent Trocheck said. "Right now, I feel like we're not doing that."

New York's downturn included a 5-2 loss to the Blues at home on Nov. 25, when Bolduc scored two goals and Hofer made 27 saves for St. Louis. Hofer should start against the Rangers again on Sunday, one day after Jordan Binnington manned the net in Dallas.

The Rangers are coming off a lackluster 5-1 loss at home to the Los Angeles Kings Saturday.

"We have to understand that it's going to take a lot more than what we did (on Saturday) to get out of this," Rangers center Mika Zibanejad said. "It's unacceptable."

Igor Shesterkin started in goal Saturday and allowed five goals on 21 shots before being relieved by Jonathan Quick. Previously, Quick drew the start in the second of back-to-back games -- so he may get the nod against the Blues.

After K'Andre Miller went on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, fellow defenseman Connor Mackey made his season debut for the Rangers Saturday and played 15:58.

Winger Brandon Saad was a healthy scratch for the Blues on Saturday and Radek Faksa was sidelined by injury. Both could return against the Rangers.

--Field Level Media