Blues and Hoffman still talking
Andy Strickland: Wouldn’t rule out Mike Hoffman re-signing with the St. Louis Blues as talks continue. It would probably take a three or four-year deal at $5 to $5.5 million per season range.
Blues interested in Buchnevich
Andy Strickland: Though it could be a costly acquisition, the St. Louis Blues are among the teams interested in New York Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich.
Cap space key to Tarasenko trade, internal options to replace Dunn and two forward UFA targets
Tom Timmerman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: (mailbag) Don’t think that not being selected in the expansion draft changes the trade value of Vladimir Tarasenko. The best return for the Blues would be to shed as much salary are they can. A couple of picks and maybe a prospect would be nice.
Even if the Blues lose Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz, they should still be a playoff team but not a Cup contender.
Niko Mikkola, Jake Walman or Scott Perunovich could be internal options to replace Vince Dunn. They could take a look at the free agent and trade market. They are thin on internal options at forward.
Top free agent targets for the Blues would be Colorado Avalanche winger Gabriel Landeskog and Toronto Maple Leafs wingers Zach Hyman.
Expansion fallout for the Blues
Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic: So the St. Louis Blues lost defenseman Vince Dunn in the expansion draft. It had been up and down between the Blues and Dunn for a couple of seasons. They didn’t find the right trade for him before the expansion draft – nothing more than a third-round pick according to sources.
Sources say the Seattle Kraken explored the idea of selecting Vladimir Tarasenko and then trading, but three shoulder surgeries and the no-trade clause made it complicated.
Tarasenko just has to sit there and wait now. Moving him before free agency opens would obviously really help the Blues.
The Blues have $17.4 million in cap space with 17 players under contract. Pending UFAs include Jaden Schwartz, Mike Hoffman and Tyler Bozak. Pending RFAs include Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Ivan Barbashev and Zach Sanford.
