This afternoon, the St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced that the St. Louis Blues have acquired forward Adam Cracknell from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for future considerations.
Cracknell will report to the Chicago Wolves, the Blues AHL affiliate.
If you feel like you’ve heard the name Adam Cracknell before, you probably have as Adam Cracknell used to play for the Blues, and the Blues chose not to resign him during free agency.
While Cracknell was a Blue, he dressed in 65 regular season games from 2010-2014. During those 65 games, Cracknell had 6 goals and registered 11 assists. He also scored a goal in last year’s postseason game against the Chicago Blackhawks. During this season, Cracknell has only dressed in 17 regular games and registered only one assist.
I like this move by Doug Armstrong because Cracknell, who comes in at 6-2 foot and 210 pounds, gives the Blues a big option that likes to go to the front of the net and the dirty parts of the ice to score cleanup goals and possibly deflect the puck into the net. See his playoff goal here: Cracknell’s Playoff Goal
This can also help the re-emergence of the famous “CPR” line that some Blues fans are familiar with. This line consisted of forwards Adam Cracknell, Chris Porter, and Ryan Reeves. This was the Blues fourth line that injected both energy and life into the game. Something the Blues have lacked in recent games.
While many speculated whether the Blues were going to be involved in the trade deadline, others still wait to see if the Blues will make a splash and possibly pick up another experienced, veteran defender to soften the blow of the loss of defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. This move shows that Doug Armstrong is willing to make moves as Blues fans wait to see if any other moves will be completed before Monday’s trade deadline.
