The Blues need to turn things around quickly or changes could be coming
Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: (chat) The St. Louis Blues don’t need to blow it up and they can’t make a trade for the sake of making a trade.
If they are going to move someone, they need to net a good return. With many players struggling, the Blues wouldn’t be dealing from a position of strength.
They should be looking for players that would help them now and not prospects.
Trading players for futures and then flipping those futures for established players could be a complicated process.
Pending UFA defenseman Jay Bouwmeester may not bring much of return at the trade deadline.
If they don’t turn things around quickly, can see them moving some ‘core’ players out. Moving Brayden Schenn would be a mistake. Tyler Bozak’s $5 million for two more years wouldn’t be easy to move.
Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong is willing to listen to interested teams, with many looking at defensemen Colton Parayko and Alex Pietrangelo and forward Vladimir Tarasenko.
A long-term rebuild plan of adding draft picks and prospects doesn’t make sense for the Blues. They need talent in, talent out.
The 25-year old Parayko is a huge asset as a right-handed defenseman who can handle big minutes and is a $5.5 million cap hit through 2022.
There was one suggestion of Edmonton Oilers Jesse Puljujarvi and a 1st round pick, but that is not even close to Parayko’s value.
The 28-year old Pietrangelo has a year left on his deal at $6.5 million. He plays in all situations and is one of the best defensemen in the league.
One ‘Insider’ suggested Toronto Maple Leafs forward Andreas Johnsson as a starting point of a deal that would also include Nikita Zaitsev’s contract. No thanks.
Tarasenko should bring in decent offers. He has four years left at $7.5 million.
The Carolina Hurricanes are believed to be one team that might be interested. They aren’t likely to want to move Sebastian Aho or Andrei Svechnikov. Martin Necas, Teuvo Teravainen, and Micheal Ferland have value, but not Tarasenko value.