EDMONTON, Alberta _ Blues center Jori Lehtera, who has missed one game with an upper-body injury, has been placed on injured reserve.
The team made the announcement Wednesday just before taking the ice for practice Wednesday in Edmonton.
Lehtera, who left in the second period of Saturday's 3-2 win over the New York Rangers, did not travel with the Blues for the start of their three-game trip in Vancouver on Tuesday. The club said that he may join them in Edmonton or Calgary, but now that he's been placed on seven-day IR, he'll miss the remainder of the trip.
The earliest Lehtera would be eligible to return would be Oct. 25 against Calgary at Scottrade Center.
In Wednesday's practice, the Blues stuck with the lines they used starting in the second period of Tuesday's 2-1 loss to Vancouver, keeping Nail Yakupov on line with Paul Stastny and Robby Fabbri.
Yakupov will likely remain there for his first game against his former team when the Blues face Edmonton on Thursday.
"He's been getting better and better every game," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Yesterday was his best game for us. We moved him up (the lineup) based on his play. He's got an element that we need. He's got some speed, he's got some ability to make plays off the rush, which is helpful for us."
Jaden Schwartz is expected to make his return from an elbow injury against the Oilers. He was on a line Wednesday with Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko.
"He's in the practice as a full-time employee, so we'll see from there," Hitchcock said. "If he's a full-time employee today and he does OK, then he'll be a full-time employee tomorrow."
The spot in the lineup Schwartz played Wednesday had been David Perron's early in the season. With Schwartz working his way back in, Perron was bumped to the third line, alongside Patrik Berglund and Dmitrij Jaskin.
Another injured Blue could be back Thursday.
Kyle Brodziak, who also suffered an upper-body injury Saturday against New York and missed Tuesday's game in Vancouver, was on the ice. He returned to his usual post on the fourth line, centering Scottie Upshall and Ryan Reaves.
The extra forwards were Ty Rattie and Magnus Paajarvi. Rattie started on the top line Tuesday before being supplanted by Yakupov in the second period. Rattie finished with 8:02 of ice time. There were five minor penalties in the opening period that created lots of special-teams play.
"Better as the game went on," Hitchcock said of Rattie. "Struggled early, better as the game went on. We moved him down a notch. He played better."
Wrapping up the injury report, defenseman Carl Gunnarsson, who also suffered an upper-body injury against New York and sat out Tuesday, skated in Wednesday's practice. Both the status of Brodziak and Gunnarsson will be updated when Hitchcock addressed the media.
