While defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk is the first player many think of when it comes to St. Louis and the upcoming trade deadline, Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggests in a reader chat that center Patrik Berglund may be the one to really keep an eye on.
Berglund is having one of his better seasons in recent years and has already passed the double digit goal mark for the ninth straight time. However, like Shattenkirk, he’s poised to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and if GM Doug Armstrong is looking to avoid a repeat of last year where his top UFA (David Backes) left for nothing, Berglund could potentially be on the move between now and March 1st. He’d slot in nicely in a middle six role for several contending teams and carries a $3.7MM cap hit.
More from the Central:
- Still with the Blues, center Paul Stastny will not play tonight against Montreal, reports Chris Pinkert on their team site. He suffered a lower body injury on Thursday against the Maple Leafs. Fortunately for St. Louis, the injury isn’t believed to be serious, Rutherford adds in a separate column. Stastny sits fourth in scoring for the Blues this season with 15 goals and 20 assists. In his absence, Alexander Steen will slide over to the middle on the top line.
- The Wild are hopeful that defenseman Jonas Brodin will only miss another seven-to-ten days as a result of his fractured finger, reports Kent Youngblood of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He has been out of the lineup since January 17th and was expected to miss at least four weeks at the time so his recovery appears to be right on schedule. Brodin has 16 points (3-13-16) in 43 games this season and sits fourth on Minnesota in ice time per game at 19:47 per night.
- Count Blackhawks blueliner Niklas Hjalmarsson among the many players who are publicly advocating for the NHL to go to the 2018 Olympics, notes Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune. Hjalmarsson had the chance to play in the 2014 tournament, earning a silver medal with Team Sweden. While there remains no firm deadline for a decision by the NHL, the expectation is that it will have to come at some time in March.