Kessel assigned to Springfield with Faulk activated off LTIR

My thoughts on Blues assigning Matthew Kessel to Springfield (2-26-24) (4:29)

But when Faulk was activated off long-term injured reserve on Monday expecting to make his return after missing the past 12 games with a lower-body injury, the easiest course of action in order to create a roster spot was assigning Kessel to Springfield.

Kessel is waivers-exempt, and other candidates [Tyler Tucker, Nikita Alexandrov, Scott Perunovich] all need to clear waivers in order to get re-assigned, and with Kessel's play flatlining here recently, something not unexpected considering it's the defensive position and a young player learning on the go, the Blues made their choice.

At least for the time being. But that doesn't say Kessel, who had two assists in 22 games this season, won't be back. As a matter of fact, he will.

"We've asked a lot from him," Bannister said of Kessel. "He's been playing top four minutes. We've thrown him into the fire here and he's played exceptionally well, but you do see it. His game's kind of started to draw back a little bit, his patience with the puck. You like his physicality, but now, plays have to happen quicker off his stick.

"For him, it's an eye-opening situation where now we're in the midst of some really important hockey games and it's a battle every night, every shift, every game is important. They're tough minutes that he's played and you can kind of see him in his development. He's learning to be a pro, he's learning what it takes to become a pro and how hard it is to become a good pro. But when you look at the body of work that he did, we weren't putting him in as a five or six defenseman. He came in and had to play tough minutes against real good players, and I thought nights, he excelled for that. As a young player, I think the drop-off is a little bit expected, but you'd like to see a bounce back a little bit quicker with 'Kess.' I think moving forward here, just his play, sometimes it's good to just get a reset and watch and take a deep breath and get yourself back where he needs to be."

Kessel played 15 or more minutes in 20 of 22 games this season, mostly on a pairing with Torey Krug and was a minus-4, including a minus-3 in Saturday's loss.

"I don't think they're bad habits. I think it's just his decision making's got to be quicker," Bannister said. "I thought when he first came up, he played within himself, he kept things simple, he got pucks up to our forwards, he was hard to defend. Now, instead of making that first play that was available, I think he's looking to upgrade at times and seeing if there's the next play. That's when you get yourself in trouble because the game happens so quick. And when you turn the puck over, it's coming the other way, then you're forcing yourself to defend, you're playing in zone and you're getting worn down. I felt like over the last couple weeks, that was kind of creeping into his game more often than not."