Trade Deadline Primer: St. Louis Blues
With the All-Star break now behind us, the trade deadline looms large and is less than a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the St. Louis Blues.
This wasn’t the plan for St. Louis. After making it to the second round last season, investing heavily in their young core, and bringing back veterans like Nick Leddy, the focus was on the playoffs and the Stanley Cup. Now, more than halfway through the season, they are approaching the deadline as a seller with some of the biggest chips available.
Injuries – or their recovery – will seriously impact the Blues deadline strategy. But general manager Doug Armstrong has never been one to hold onto expiring veterans when he doesn’t believe the team has a chance at a championship. It will be an interesting few weeks for St. Louis.
Record
23-25-3, 6th in the Central
Deadline Status
Seller
Deadline Cap Space
$1.186MM in LTIR relief, 0/3 retention slots used, 48/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2023: STL 1st, STL 3rd, STL 4th, STL 5th, STL 6th, STL 7th
2024: STL 1st, STL 2nd, STL 3rd, STL 4th, STL 5th, STL 6th, STL 7th
Trade Chips
There are eight roster players scheduled to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season for St. Louis, and any one of them could be moved in the coming weeks.
Things start with Vladimir Tarasenko, who has been limited by injury but still has 10 goals and 29 points in 38 games. After multiple shoulder surgeries, the veteran winger proved he could still be an impact player by putting up arguably the best season of his career in 2021-22, scoring 34 goals and 82 points in 75 games. Adding that Tarasenko has to be attractive to contenders who want a bit more punch in their top six, especially because his goal scoring has largely been at even strength over the years.
This is a proven Stanley Cup winner with 41 goals in 90 career playoff games, and even though his $7.5MM contract is substantial, it’s not impossible to fit in with a bit of salary retention. The talk of proven champions doesn’t end there, though. Captain Ryan O’Reilly was the Conn Smythe winner in 2019 when he led the playoffs with 23 points in 26 games, and he took home the Selke at the end of that season as the league’s best defensive forward.
While this year has been something of a nightmare, and he is still on injured reserve, there is some optimism that he’ll be ready before the deadline even comes. O’Reilly has resumed skating, according to Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic, and is the kind of player that coaching staffs dream of adding to the third line of a contender.
Interestingly enough, though, there is a third forward who very well could have a wider market before the deadline. Ivan Barbashev has been told he isn’t getting re-signed, according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, making him a lock for a trade over the next few weeks. While Tarasenko and O’Reilly have huge cap hits that will have to be creatively dealt with, Barbashev comes at just $2.25MM and could fit in almost anywhere. Like most players in St. Louis, Barbashev is in the midst of a down year, with just nine goals and 24 points after scoring 26 and 60 last year. But his physicality, speed, and versatility will make him a wanted man.
All three of those forwards could bring back substantial returns for the Blues, giving them some ammunition to add more talent back to the roster in the offseason.
Other potential trade chips: D Niko Mikkola, F Noel Acciari, G Thomas Greiss
Team Needs
1) Young centers: Could O’Reilly be traded for another young center yet to make his mark? The Buffalo Sabres are certainly happy they included Tage Thompson in the 2018 deal that sent him to St. Louis, and J.T. Compher is still playing a big role for the Colorado Avalanche eight years after he was included in the original O’Reilly deal.
If the Blues decide to move on from O’Reilly, instead of re-signing him, they’ll be left pretty thin down the middle of the ice. Targeting a young NHL-ready center in one of their deadline moves might be the way to go, giving them someone who can grow into a role behind Robert Thomas in the years ahead.
2) Draft picks: This isn’t about podium visits in the summer – the Blues already have some good prospects and aren’t going to be interested in a true rebuild. But picks you get now can be moved later to add players to the fold. They’ve done this before. In 2017, St. Louis was headed for the playoffs but had a decision to make with Kevin Shattenkirk. He was expiring, not expected to re-sign, but a huge part of their attack.
They flipped him to the Washington Capitals at the deadline for a haul, including a first-round pick. A few months later, that pick was sent to the Philadelphia Flyers as part of the package to acquire Schenn. It’s hard for contenders to part with NHL talent at the deadline, but they throw around picks like candy. Adding assets now doesn’t necessarily mean waiting around for them to mature – you just have more ammunition later on.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Pittsburgh Penguins Make Three Roster Moves
Official now, Kasperi Kapanen and Josh Archibald have been activated from injured reserve. To make room on the roster, Tristan Jarry has been moved to IR – though that doesn’t necessarily mean his status has changed. Jarry was on the ice this morning, and his placement was retroactive to January 22, so he will be eligible to return as soon as he is healthy.
It’s been a forgettable season for Kapanen, with just six goals through 35 appearances. He’s been scratched, demoted, and overlooked for much of the year, thanks to an inconsistent game that just won’t go away.
A brilliant skater with the size, strength, and puck skills to be an effective top-six winger in the NHL, Kapanen has never been able to match the 20-goal, 44-point campaign he had in 2018-19 with the Toronto Maple Leafs. His production has gone up and down like a see-saw, along with his minutes and opportunity.
Many were surprised when the Penguins decided to sign him to a two-year contract last summer that carries a $3.2MM cap hit, knowing how unreliable he had been to this point. Well, now that he’s healthy, Kapanen will have another chance to prove he’s not just a guy but can be an impact player on a playoff roster.
Archibald, meanwhile, has never had the same kind of expectations. The sixth-round pick scored 12 goals in back-to-back seasons a few years ago but is not considered an offensive threat and is only relied on for energy and penalty killing. He hasn’t been able to provide either since going out of the lineup in December, meaning the Penguins will get a little jolt to the bottom six when he suits up.
With Jarry still not ready to return, Casey DeSmith is expected to start tonight.
Dennis Gilbert Returned To AHL
The Calgary Flames have reassigned Dennis Gilbert to the AHL now that Chris Tanev is healthy and activated from injured reserve.
This has been Gilbert’s fate for most of the season, bouncing up and down between leagues whenever required. He has played in nine games with the Flames and 26 more with the Calgary Wranglers, scoring six points in total between the two levels. Perhaps more notable are the 61 penalty minutes he has, which include six fighting majors.
That total likely would have gone up had he been dressed yesterday, given the three fighting majors the team received after huge hits from the New York Rangers. When the Flames need a little bit more bite, or suffer another defensive injury, you will likely see Gilbert back up in the NHL.
Whenever his next appearance does happen with the Flames, Gilbert would then need to clear waivers again before being assigned to the minor leagues. Sending him down now will keep him available for those injury call-ups and maintain the organizational depth he represents.
Buffalo Sabres Extend Dylan Cozens
The Buffalo Sabres have locked up another key piece of their future, signing Dylan Cozens to a seven-year extension. The $49.7MM deal keeps him from reaching restricted free agency and will keep him under contract through the 2029-30 season. He will carry a $7.1MM cap hit, and PuckPedia reports that the deal also includes a five-team no-trade clause in the last three seasons.
Cozens, 21, joins Tage Thompson and Mattias Samuelsson with recent seven-year extensions as the Sabres try to ensure that this core sticks around and grows into a contender together.
The seventh-overall pick from 2019 has already become a star if sometimes an overlooked one. Cozens has 17 goals and 43 points in 49 games this season, tying him with players like Anze Kopitar, Trevor Zegras, Dylan Larkin, Tomas Hertl, and Evgeny Kuznetsov. His performance has flown a little under the radar because of the attention that Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin receive in Buffalo, but make no mistake – Cozens will be a critical part of their future success.
While this extension certainly isn’t cheap, it also is pretty reasonable for a player who has shown such strides in the early part of his career. If the salary cap does increase like it is expected to over the next few years, the league may look back at this deal as a relative bargin, as it has with some other young players who were locked up early.
The fact that he plays center is a huge factor here. The Sabres now have their top two pivots locked up, meaning they can build around them with whatever complementary talents they can find. Any line led by Thompson and Cozens should be rather successful, especially with defense pairings anchored by Dahlin, Samuelsson, and Owen Power.
It’s quite a group they are building in Buffalo, with plenty of financial flexibility to keep adding. While they will need to keep some room open for Dahlin’s impending mega-deal (he is signed through next season), there is plenty of room to add some more talent in free agency or through trade, with Kyle Okposo‘s $6MM hit coming off the books at the end of this season.
A move like this will also affect other RFA negotiations around the league. Zegras, for instance, was picked just two spots after Cozens in 2019 and will finish his entry-level deal this summer. His 117 points in 150 games do trump the Sabres’ center, but that has also been on an Anaheim Ducks team with virtually no competition for powerplay touches and offensive deployment.
There is also Cole Caufield, who is also from the 2019 draft and is in a negotiation with the Montreal Canadiens. His goal total is much higher than Cozens, but he has played fewer games and scored fewer points at a less demanding position. In both cases, this contract will be held up as a comparable.
It will be quite a happy birthday for Cozens on Thursday, when he turns 22. With nothing to focus on except hockey, the Sabres will hope he can reach new heights down the stretch and help them push for a playoff berth.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Jonathan Lekkerimaki Expected To Miss Two Months With Foot Injury
It has already been a rather disappointing post-draft season for Vancouver Canucks prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki, the 15th overall pick from 2022. Now, after suffering a foot injury at practice, he is expected to miss the next eight weeks.
Through 29 games with Djurgardens IF this season, Lekkerimaki has scored just three goals and nine points. That’s despite the club being relegated and playing in the Swedish second tier this year, after being in the SHL during 2021-22. The young forward was also part of the World Junior team that lost to Czechia in the semi finals and then fell 8-7 to the United States in the bronze medal match.
While there have been very few players from the 2022 draft to suit up in the NHL to this point, many of those selected below Lekkerimaki have had more encouraging seasons. An absence of eight weeks won’t help his case, even though there is a long time before any expectations should be placed on the 18-year-old.
As a late-July birthday, Lekkerimaki was one of the younger players in his draft class and still has exceptional upside as an offensive winger. Perhaps some time off to recover will grant him a reset and allow him to return with some extra confidence.
Interestingly, he is only signed to his club through the end of this season, meaning an entry-level deal could be on the horizon. Next month, teams can start signing ELCs that begin in 2023-24 – Lekkerimaki is a good candidate, though he isn’t expected to push for an NHL job anytime soon.
Morning Notes: Walsh, Penguins, Pegula
According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the NHLPA is expected to name Marty Walsh as its next executive director. The sitting U.S. Secretary of Labor will be installed after Tuesday’s presidential address, though a formal executive board vote is still required. Seravalli reports it is expected to be a unanimous approval for Walsh, a former Boston mayor who was only included in the search a few weeks ago.
Here are some more notes from around the league:
- The Pittsburgh Penguins will have Kasperi Kapanen and Josh Archibald available this evening, but Tristan Jarry isn’t quite ready to return. Casey DeSmith will get the start, his 23rd appearance of the season. The 31-year-old netminder has a .901 save percentage on the year and is 7-10-4, proving exactly why the Penguins need Jarry back as soon as possible (and why goaltending is an area of concern as they head toward the trade deadline). Getting Kapanen, who hasn’t played since January 18, back to playing at a high level would also be huge for Pittsburgh; the 26-year-old has just six goals and 17 points through 35 games this season.
- Regardless of what you think of the Buffalo Sabres ownership, it is hard to read professional tennis player Jessica Pegula’s heartfelt piece in the Players’ Tribune this morning, which revealed that her mother has been battling serious health issues since last summer. Kim Pegula, president and co-owner of the Sabres (and Jessica’s mother), suffered cardiac arrest in June 2022, leading to a long stay in the hospital. She is now on the road to recovery.
Joel Lundqvist Announces Retirement
Henrik Lundqvist wasn’t the only hockey player in the family. While the netminder was making saves in New York, his twin brother Joel Lundqvist became a legend in Sweden. Already the greatest player in Frolunda history, the 40-year-old forward has decided to hang up his skates for good, announcing his retirement. He’ll finish out this season as captain of the famous club, and then ride off into the Swedish sunset.
Lundqvist was a third-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 2000, and did try his hand in North America for a short time. Between 2006-2009 he played in 159 NHL games (including playoffs) and scored 35 points. It was his footspeed that held him back in the North American circuit, but Lundqvist’s skill and hockey IQ would make him a star back home. With four SHL titles, four Champions League titles, three World Championship gold medals, and over a decade as captain of Frolunda, he retires as one of the most decorated players in Swedish history.
Even now, at his age, he is still finding success. Lundqvist has 23 points in 41 games to lead the club and has another seven in 11 Champions League games. All-time, he leads Frolunda in games, points, goals, assists – and penalty minutes.
While he’s not a household name in North America, there’s no doubt that Lundqvist inspired countless Swedish hockey players over his two decades at the highest level.
Minor Transactions: 02/06/23
NHL teams return to the ice tonight after the conclusion of the All-Star break. Twelve teams are set to do battle, and the slate of contests is highlighted by newly-minted $68MM man Bo Horvat‘s debut with the New York Islanders and Anthony Beauvillier‘s debut for the Vancouver Canucks. As fans enjoy tonight’s games, teams in minor and foreign leagues are making tweaks to their rosters. We’ll keep track of those moves here.
- 2002 34th overall pick Tobias Stephan will hang up his skates. Swiss club HC Lausanne has announced that Stephan will retire at the end of this season. While the 39-year-old goalie never quite stuck in North America and was limited to just 11 career NHL games, he is an extremely accomplished veteran of the Swiss league. He won NLA Goalie of the Year in 2009-10 and has won a Spengler Cup and Swiss Cup over the course of a 20-year career at the top of his country’s professional hockey ladder.
- Former Vancouver Canuck Marc Michaelis has made the choice to switch clubs at the end of the season. Regning Swiss champions EV Zug have announced the signing of Michaelis to a contract to a two-year deal, set to begin next season. Michaelis was a coveted college free agent after scoring 162 points in his 142-game career for Minnesota State, and he got 15 games with the Canucks in 2020-21. He didn’t manage to get on the scoresheet, though, and signed with the Toronto Marlies. His AHL tenure in Toronto was shaky as well, leading to an exit back to Europe. Michaelis’ debut in the Swiss league has gone extremely well, and he has formed a deadly partnership with former top prospect Aleksi Saarela. With 15 goals and 39 points in 44 games, Michaelis will be headed elsewhere for next season.
- Liiga’s TPS Turku have signed veteran defenseman Taneli Ronkainen on loan from Oulun Karpat for the rest of the season. Ronkainen is an experienced blueliner in Finland’s top league, having won a championship in 2017-18. He has nearly 300 games of experience in Liiga, and will be able to reinforce a TPS Turku blueline that has been solid so far this year, ranking sixth in goals-against this season.
- Young Finnish winger Jere Henriksson has had his three-game loan to HPK Hameenlinna converted into a full loan, and has additionally signed an extension for next year as well. The 21-year-old already has over 120 games of Liiga experience to his name, and won the league title last season with Tappara Tampere.
- Veteran KHL forward Nikita Pivtsakin and his club, HC Sochi, have agreed to a mutual contract termination. The 31-year-old, who has over 500 games of KHL experience under his belt and won World Juniors gold for Russia in 2010-2011, will now look elsewhere to continue his career. Pivtsakin has scored six points in 50 games in the KHL this season, and perhaps this release is meant to give him a chance to return to the Finnish Liiga, where he was last season when he played 16 games for KalPa Kuopio.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Calgary Flames Activate Chris Tanev
The Calgary Flames have activated defenseman Chris Tanev, according to a team tweet. Tanev has been out with an injury since January 23rd, when he left early in a 4-3 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Flames now are left with eight defensemen on their active roster with this activation, thanks to the recent recall of Dennis Gilbert from the AHL. It’s possible Gilbert’s recall was made with the intention of him being a contingency plan in case Tanev wasn’t ready to go for tonight’s game against the New York Rangers, so he could be on the way back to the AHL should the team want to carry only seven defensemen and add another forward to the mix.
That being said, though, the Flames are on an East Coast road trip, meaning they also might prefer to keep Gilbert with the team for the rest of the trip rather than just send him home with zero games played. Worth noting is that the Flames do have veteran forward Kevin Rooney in the AHL, seemingly out of place there since the team so recently gave him a two-year, $1.3MM AAV guarantee.
The Flames get a major boost with Tanev’s return just as they enter a crucial stretch of their season. They’re looking to keep pace with other Western Conference contenders in the race for a playoff spot, and Tanev will undoubtedly help them in that pursuit. Long regarded as one of the league’s better stay-at-home defensemen, Tanev has been a crucially important defensive anchor for head coach Darryl Sutter.
Tanev is the centerpiece of the Flames’ penalty kill, skating nearly three minutes a night with the opponent on the man advantage. He’s blocked 85 shots this season as well, and beyond more traditional defensive counting stats, which have their limit in usefulness, public analytics models remain exceedingly high on Tanev’s work in the defensive zone.
While his return won’t solve the Flames’ lingering issues in net and with underperforming top forwards such as Jonathan Huberdeau, he will help the team close out games where they maintain a late lead.
For a club seeking to build momentum and return to the playoffs, getting a player like Tanev back to full health can mean the difference between picking up or leaving behind those few standings points that separate the playoff teams from the near-misses.
New York Islanders Activate Hudson Fasching
The New York Islanders have announced that forward Hudson Fasching has been activated off of the team’s injured reserve list in advance of tonight’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. The move leaves the team with a full 23-man roster.
Fasching has been out since a January 18th contest against the Boston Bruins due to a lower-body injury. He will in all likelihood resume his role on the Islanders’ fourth line, filling the role now-injured Cal Clutterbuck has long occupied next to Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin.
The 27-year-old has been a nice find for the Islanders this season and has set a new career-high in NHL games played with 19. While he hasn’t scored much (he has just three goals and five points) he’s provided head coach Lane Lambert with the kind of physicality and energy the organization has long valued in its bottom sixers.
Fasching arrived in the Islanders organization over the summer, signing a one-year, two-way contract. The prior season, Fasching had served as the captain of the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners for the Arizona Coyotes organization and scored 37 points in 51 AHL games.
Instead of serving as a leader and valuable power forward for the Islanders’ AHL affiliate, Fasching has firmly placed himself in the NHL mix as a depth forward and has likely earned himself another NHL deal in the process.
For players on the NHL-AHL bubble, life can sometimes lack stability as teams generally view these players as expendable. While Fasching’s play hasn’t changed that overall reality, it has so far changed his reality as he’s proved he could have more value to an NHL team than many might have believed a year ago.