David Backes suffered a concussion on Tuesday, he started skating on Friday, and now it looks like he’ll return tonight. He wasn’t ready to say anything definitively, but Blues coach Ken Hitchcock is confident that the team captain is set to end his brief stint on the sidelines.
“Backes will play. Don’t go to the bank on the rest of the lineup,” Hitchcock said, per NHL.com. “That’s about all I can tell you. But Backes will play and the rest we’ll take through the rest of the day and make sure we’ve got 20, whether we go back to 11 [forwards] and seven [defensemen].”
The 30-year-old forward is projected to play on the top line with Jaden Schwartz and Magnus Paajarvi.
The Blues will play against the Colorado Avalanche at 8:00 p.m. ET. St. Louis is going for its fourth straight win while Colorado is trying to build off of its 5-0 victory over the New York Islanders.