Rivermen get Grachev from Blues, lose Fairchild - Peoria Journal Star

PEORIA â€" The Peoria Rivermen made a swap, of sorts, with the parent club St. Louis Blues late Wednesday afternoon.

Rivermen rookie All-Star defenseman Cade Fairchild was called-up by St. Louis for the fourth time this season.

The Blues in turn sent big Russian right wing Evgeny Grachev down to the Rivermen.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Grachev â€" originally a third-round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft â€" is expected to arrive in Peoria in time to join the Rivermen for their game Thursday night against Lake Erie.

It will mark the first time this season that Rivermen fans will be able to see Grachev play in person. He had a brief stint with Peoria earlier, but the AHL team was on the road and Grachev was called back up to the Blues before the trip ended.

Grachev has played in 24 games with the Blues this season, and notched one goal plus three assists.

Fairchild, meanwhile, is heading up as roster insurance for veteran defenseman Barret Jackman, who turned up sore Wednesday after taking a hit in Tuesday night’s game.

BIG BRASS: Blues co-owner and CEO, and SCP Worldwide partner Mike McCarthy was in Peoria on Wednesday and met with the Peoria Rivermen business staff.

SCP is giving Rivermen chief operating officer Jason Penning more autonomy to run the AHL franchise in Peoria. That’s probably a good thing, with Blues execs in St. Louis focused on pursuing sale of the NHL franchise.

“We’re really impressed with Jason, his leadership, and the efforts of the Rivermen staff,” McCarthy said. “We’ve worked through some challenges and we’re pleased with the management team in Peoria.”

Penning, in his second season as Rivermen COO, will now report directly to Blues chief McCarthy, rather than to lower-level management stationed in St. Louis as he did in the past.

“I learned a lot from the guidance I got over these two years, and we’ve improved on our bottom line in Peoria, made positive strides,” Penning said. “I appreciate the confidence SCP Worldwide has in me.”

RIVER READINGS: The Rivermen will be without veteran winger Jonathan Cheechoo on Thursday, while he is on family leave to attend the funeral of his grandmother. He is expected to return in time to play Friday and Saturday when Peoria hosts Houston in a two-game set. ... Those games against the Aeros mark the first visit by Houston since it swept Peoria out of the playoffs last spring. ... Rivermen enforcer Anthony Peluso has been cleared to return from a concussion. ... Peoria winger Chase Polacek has been ruled out for the weekend with an upper body injury suffered in practice.

Dave Eminian can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Check out his sports blog, Cleve’s World, at pjstar.com and follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.