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Ott hurt, Havlat to make Blues debut Tuesday in New Jersey

Martin Havlat

Martin Havlat

AP

Martin Havlat’s first game with his new team... will be in the home of his old team.

On Tuesday, Havlat will make his St. Louis Blues debut in New Jersey, playing against the Devils team that employed him last season. His insertion into the lineup comes just days after he parlayed a professional tryout with the Blues into a one-year, two-way deal worth $600,000 at the NHL level.

At 34, Havlat will bring depth and experience to a team that’s light on both at the moment. St. Louis is without the services of forwards Patrik Berglund, Paul Stastny, Jaden Schwartz and now Steve Ott, who suffered an upper-body injury that’ll keep him out of the next two games.

Where Havlat fits among the forwards remains to be seen.

On Monday, he subbed in with Scottie Upshall on the David Backes-Robby Fabbri line, but Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock wouldn’t commit to playing Havlat there.

Wherever he plays, it’ll be as part of a forward group most Blues fans probably didn’t expect to see at the beginning of the year: