Blues waive Calle Rosen after being eliminated.

The St. Louis Blues made something of a curious move on Saturday, one that has led to some interesting conspiracy theories on the part of what I believe are some overly imaginative fans.

First, the move itself. The Blues announced today that they would be placing 28 year old defenseman Calle Rosen on waivers in spite of the fact that their season has come to an end. Since this is clearly not a cap move, the salary cap doesn't count at this stage of the season and Rosen is set to be an unrestricted free agent on July 13th anyways, many fans were quick to speculate that Rosen was being punished for being involved in the incident that would knock St. Louis Blues starting goaltender Jordan Binnington out of the series.

As some have pointed out since the collision that left Binnington injured, Rosen played a significant part in the Blues goalie getting injured. This was of course a complete accident and it would be ridiculous on the part of the Blues to punish Rosen in such a manner. Not only would it paint the Blues in an unfavorable light, especially since Rosen is a relatively minor figure on their roster, but it would likely also get them in hot water with the National Hockey League Players' Association.

The truth is probably much more boring and I believe that this was simply a move designed to send Rosen down to the American Hockey League where he will rejoin the Springfield Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds are currently in the middle of the Calder Cup playoffs and Rosen played a significant amount of time with that team this season, a team that he is now likely to rejoin.

Nothing has been officially confirmed by the Blues of course, but Rosen appeared in 40 games for the Thunderbirds this season and was an important player for them with 4 goals and 24 assists for a total of 28 points over that stretch of play and that seems much more likely than the Blues waiving him in some kind of vindictive measure.