For the second straight season, Blues captain Brayden Schenn finds himself in the rumor mill. This time, the discussion is being drummed up earlier on as St. Louis faltered out of the gate to a 5-8-2 start.
His name is just one that could be on the move as the Blues’ poor start has general manager Doug Armstrong shifting into retool mode. He has been traveling lately due to his duties with the Canadian national team for the upcoming Winter Olympics. While doing so, he’s been letting other front offices know he’s “open for business,” Frank Seravalli said on Amazon Prime Canada’s Coast to Coast.
That’s in conjunction with a report yesterday from David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, which stated that Schenn is beginning to generate interest from hopeful contenders. It’s been a deceptively tough start for the 34-year-old, who’s now in his ninth season as a Blue. He’s off to a slow start offensively with two goals and six points in 15 games, but he’s been making headlines for his league-worst -13 rating. Combine that with his 16:49 average ice time, checking in as his lowest in a decade, and it seems as though his value won’t be as compelling to contenders as it was last year, when a reportedly sky-high asking price contributed to Schenn sticking around in St. Louis.
The boxcar stats don’t tell the whole story, though. The lack of point production is a legitimate concern, but aside from that, he’s played the reliable two-way physical game that he’s delivered for years. He’s winning 52.2% of his draws, and his poor even-strength results are far more attributable to the Blues’ poor goaltending than defensive regression on Schenn’s part. The Blues are still controlling a reasonable 48.2% of shot attempts with Schenn on the ice at 5-on-5, and his line with Dylan Holloway and Jordan Kyrou has controlled 58.7% of expected goals.
Those promising underlying numbers, plus Schenn’s long track record as a top-six fixture, likely mean his value hasn’t dipped too much, especially with another year burned off his contract. Any team picking him up without retention would only have to contend with his $6.5MM cap hit for two full seasons after this one, instead of three. It’s also much easier for the Blues to facilitate a trade now than it was at last year’s deadline – he had a full no-trade clause last season that downgraded to a 15-team no-trade list on July 1.
The Maple Leafs and Devils were the two clubs most closely linked to him last season. Pagnotta expects both of them to be in the mix this time around if Armstrong continues down a retooling path. It’s his final season as general manager before transitioning to a president of hockey operations role for the 2026-27 season, overseeing incoming rookie GM Alexander Steen.
Whats going on with Montgomery’s teams? Dominant first year followed by a steep decline even though the rosters are practically the same
Blues were hovering around .500 up until mid March last year. That’s not very dominant….
There was a time when Blues were last in the league and then went on to win the cup… The same season
I think this is fake news. Armstrong is obviously looking at a trade but he’s not “open for business” and they aren’t “looking to retool”. The Blues played great the last game and they like the roster they have just not how they are playing. I don’t listen too much to Frank Severalli because I don’t trust him but I would agree that the Blues are looking for an outside addition to help them find a groove and put them over the edge come playoff time. The bottom-6 is contributing a lot and once the top-6 finds a groove and the goaltending stabilizes (Hofer is there now I think), the Blues will be back but they do this all the time: slow start then playoff push.
How can it be fake news? Just because you might disagree with wording of open for business implying ready to trade everyone, it is evident he is making Schenn and some other older players available for right price. You are clearly a Blues fan wearing blinders. The team stinks, Binnington is awful, and they are going nowhere other than the bottom this season. Already out of playoff race.
Would seem like a hasty decision to retool after adding veteran talent last season and this off-season and bringing in Montgomery.
Schenn plays a reliable two way game ? Need to me
There’s nothing wrong with the Blues apart from their goaltending. Their expected goal difference is positive but their actual goal difference is a massive 15 goals below the expected, mostly due to the goaltending. That’s a goal per game.
Apart from calling up a goalie or two to play a few games, they don’t need to do anything. The SV% can’t stay that low even for a half season, let alone an entire season.
They can well make the playoffs this year.
Agreed. Too much talent to not turn it around at some point. Could see them being in one of the two wild card spots.
I wonder if this just means that they really like what they have seen of Dvorsky and they are in enough of a “retooling” mode that they are willing to have him center the second line even if means dealing with his growing pains, so they are looking to make space for him.
I would imagine Flyers would be interested.
Seems like a guy who can fill that long vacant Canes 2C slot.