Mayich Still Hospitalized. The Blues' Defense Depth Just Got Thinner.

Arizona State defenseman Matthew Mayich, a Blues draft pick, remains hospitalized after collapsing during an outdoor workout last Thursday with what paramedics described as a heat-related illness. No timeline has been given for his release or recovery.

The timing is lousy for St. Louis. The back end has been the organization's central concern all offseason — the Blues gave up goals at an alarming rate down the stretch last season, and the acquisition of Brandon Carlo was supposed to be the first step toward fixing that. Carlo still has no clear return date as training camp approaches, which I noted here two weeks ago. Now a prospect who was supposed to represent some longer-term depth at the position is sitting in a hospital bed.

Mayich is not a player who was going to walk into the NHL this fall. But the Blues' defensive pipeline is thin enough that losing any piece of it to uncertainty matters. This is a team that spent two third-round picks to add a veteran defender precisely because the internal options weren't sufficient. Adding a prospect injury to an already stressed position group is not a crisis on its own — it's just another thing that isn't going right on the blue line.

First priority is his health, full stop. The hockey questions can wait.