On the St. Louis Blues …
Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic: (mailbag) Jake Allen has had a couple rough stretches the past two seasons. GM Doug Armstrong may want to upgrade in net, but he may not be able to do so. Allen has three years left on his deal at a $3.5 million cap hit. Carter Hutton is a free agent and believes there is a good chance that he comes back.
Believe the Blues would include Robby Fabbri in a trade if it made sense for them. Ie. acquiring Mike Hoffman from the Senators and using Fabbri instead of one of their top four prospects – Tage Thompson, Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas and Klim Kostin.
The Blues might not be able to afford to sign UFA winger James van Riemsdyk. Heard a couple years ago that the Maple Leafs offered JvR and Roman Polak for Robby Fabbri and Petteri Lindbohm.
Don’t see 34-year old defenseman Jay Bouwmeester going anywhere as they can’t buy him out (injured – hip surgery) and has a $5.4 million salary.
On the New York Islanders …
Arthur Staple of The Athletic: The 22-year old Josh Ho Sang is in his second pro season and is one of the Islanders top prospects, but he’s not happy that he’s still in the minors.
“I love those guys, I want to make that clear,” Ho-Sang said of his former Islanders teammates. “I know they’re working hard. But I got sent down for defense and what are they in goals against in the NHL? I only played (22) games up there this year. I don’t think it’s my fault. They really painted it like it was my fault at the beginning of the year and I didn’t like that.
“I do have things I need to work on down here, my game is far from perfect. It can constantly improve. But I do think a lot of the stuff was unwarranted, especially in terms of the rope that other people were given. I understand I have a history and that might be a factor. I don’t know. But it’s frustrating to me.”
Ho Sang added that he hasn’t asked for a trade.
Laura Albanese: Coach Doug Weight said yesterday that he was disappointed how Josh Ho Sang complained about being sent down the AHL. Weight added that he won’t hold it against him, but wants to talk to him in person. They had been communicating regularly.