Blues add defenseman Steve Santini to taxi squad

The St. Louis Blues are adding some extra depth on the blueline after Carl Gunnarsson suffered a season-ending injury on Monday night.

The club announced Wednesday afternoon that it has recalled defenseman Steve Santini from the Utica Comets of the AHL. Santini, 25, signed a two-way deal with the Blues over the offseason after spending parts of the last five seasons in the NHL. Santini, who played his first four seasons with the Devils before joining the Predators as part of the June 2019 trade that sent P.K. Subban to New Jersey, has five goals and 16 assists with a minus-9 rating over 116 NHL games.

In five games for Utica this season, Santini has a goal and an assist with a plus-2 rating.

Santini is the third player to be recalled from Utica to the Blues’ taxi squad in the last week, joining forwards Dakota Joshua and Nathan Walker. He’ll have to quarantine before he can begin practicing and traveling with the team.