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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Blues’ playoff push was dealt a major blow on Thursday afternoon when the club announced it would be without defenseman Colton Parayko as he undergoes a scope on his left knee.

The club said it would reevaluate Parayko in six weeks.

Parayko was enjoying the best offensive season of his career, with a career-high 15 goals in 62 games. He also tied his career high with 35 points and averaged a team-high 23:51 of ice time.

During Wednesday night’s 3-2 shootout win over the Kings, Parayko logged 23:13 of ice time across 28 shifts, and he had an assist. He was injured on last shift at the end of overtime, when he fell awkwardly at the blue line with his left leg folded underneath his body.

Six weeks from Thursday’s announcement would put Parayko’s potential return at April 17, two days after the Blues’ regular-season finale at home vs. Utah.

Parayko’s injury comes at a time when the Blues are making a playoff push in the Western Conference. They are 5-1-1 since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off break, and Wednesday’s win drew them within one point of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Blues (66 points in 63 games) are chasing the Flames and Canucks (both 67 points in 61 games), but Calgary owns the tiebreaker with more regulation wins. Both teams have played two fewer games than the Blues.

Blues coach Jim Montgomery said after winning in Los Angeles — giving up a lead, coming back, scoring on the power play, hanging on in overtime — adds to the feeling in the room that lessens the worry about losing Parayko.

“All those things, they’re just continuing to build the trust, respect, care and love that is building within our group," Montgomery said. "You would have asked me this a month ago, I’d say, ‘I don’t know how we can recover.’ But we’re going to push through.

"It’s going to be the next-man-up mentality that you have to have. We have a lot of confidence in our D corps about how much more each individual on that D corps can handle, to eat up and share the minutes that Parayko gave us.�

Before Parayko was injured, Montgomery called a timeout in order to put Robert Thomas on the ice for the faceoff in the offensive zone. Thomas won the draw back to Parayko, but Parayko's fall allowed Trevor Moore to speed in on a breakaway in the final seconds. Jordan Binnington made the save to send the game to a shootout.

Montgomery called it the "worst timeout of my career."

“I looked down at the bench, I saw him wincing, I saw Ray (Barile) talking to him," Montgomery said. "I did not think it was going to need to be scoped was my initial feeling on the bench. That just shows you how tough of a physical specimen Colton Parayko is.�

The news could impact the Blues’ decisions at Friday’s trade deadline, which is at 2 p.m. central time.

Without Parayko, the Blues will have to find a new defenseman to play on the top pair with Cam Fowler, to play big penalty-kill minutes and contribute offensively at even strength. Parayko entered Thursday with 12 goals at five on five, tied for the most in the league among defensemen.

During practice on Thursday in El Segundo, Fowler was paired with Nick Leddy. Philip Broberg and Justin Faulk remained a pair, while Ryan Suter and Tyler Tucker formed the third pair. Tucker was a healthy scratch the past six games.

“They’re basically two high-end skaters, both can play the off-side," Montgomery said of Fowler and Leddy. "They don’t need to worry about getting back on their sides, that’s the benefit of their skill level being able to move the puck and defend, especially, on their off-side I think is going to make them a really good pairing for us.�

Suter’s fate will be determined in the next day. A pending unrestricted free agent with a $775,000 cap hit and a $500,000 bonus due (for making the playoffs), Suter is a cheap veteran option for teams looking to add defensive depth before the postseason. But do the Blues view him as someone with more importance now that he’s one of six healthy defensemen currently with the team?

Parayko’s injury undoubtedly puts a dent in the Blues’ surging playoff hopes, but is that enough to convince general manager Doug Armstrong to sell assets before the deadline?

Armstrong has previously sold with his team on the playoff bubble — in 2018, trading Paul Stastny to Winnipeg, and in 2023, trading Ryan O’Reilly to Toronto — but none of those situations included a streaking team that put themselves on the verge of a playoff spot.

In 2018, the Blues lost six in a row before the Stastny trade. In 2023, the Blues won three in a row but were still eight points out when O’Reilly was traded.

Does the Parayko injury force the Blues to chase a defenseman on the trade market to help fill the void and push St. Louis back into the playoffs for the first time since 2022?

The Blues set their sights on the playoffs before the season, and playing NHL playoff games would benefit the team’s young core that includes Jake Neighbours and Zack Bolduc. Of course, it would also help financially and would avoid the team’s first three-year postseason drought since 2005-08. The Blues have never gone four seasons without qualifying for the postseason.

St. Louis could also opt to put Parayko on long-term injured reserve, which could free up $6.5 million on the salary cap if the Blues chose to chase another defenseman.

Until a path is revealed on Friday, the Blues could only skate on Thursday.

“The attitude of our team going out there for practice, I know we’re out there long, but everything we do has a purpose," Montgomery said. "There was purpose, energy, guys are excited to be at the rink. We can’t wait for tomorrow night’s game. I talked to the team about it, just reinforcing how good they’ve been. I didn’t even really need to address that portion of it because they’ve addressed it mentally by themselves.�

Extending Ellis

The Blues agreed to terms with goaltender Colten Ellis to a two-year two-way contract extension on Thursday morning. Ellis was set to be a restricted free agent this summer.

Ellis will earn $775,000 in the NHL and $175,000 in the AHL next season. In 2026-27, he will be paid $775,000 in the NHL and $225,000 in the AHL.

Ellis has taken over the top spot with AHL affiliate Springfield (Massachusetts) and owns a .926 save percentage and 2.41 goals against average in 31 games. Ellis, 24, was originally a third-round pick in 2019.

Updated at 4:45 p.m. Thursday with more information on Parayko's injury.