Brayden Schenn

St. Louis Blues Extend Brayden Schenn

October 4, 2019 at 8:32 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 8 Comments

The St. Louis Blues have locked up a part of their core, signing Brayden Schenn to an eight-year extension. The deal will carry an average annual value of $6.5MM and keep Schenn in St. Louis through the 2027-28 season. CapFriendly gives us the full breakdown:

2020-21: $8.0MM
2021-22: $8.0MM
2022-23: $5.2MM
2023-24: $8.0MM
2024-25: $8.0MM
2025-26: $6.5MM
2026-27: $4.3MM
2027-28: $4.0MM

Schenn, 28, was one of two big names the Blues had scheduled for unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2020, alongside captain Alex Pietrangelo. After locking up their second-line center to a long-term deal, they’ll now be able to put their full focus on the defenseman to try and keep him around. Pietrangelo’s future was put into the spotlight after the team recently acquired and extended Justin Faulk from the Carolina Hurricanes, but there is obviously still plenty of time to get a deal worked out if the team can find the cap space.

That may be an issue after this new extension for Schenn, as the Blues now have close to $74MM in salary commitments for the 2020-21 season. A $6.5MM cap hit matches Faulk’s new deal and puts Schenn ahead of everyone else not named Vladimir Tarasenko or Ryan O’Reilly, who are both signed through 2022-23 with $7.5MM average annual salaries.

Not only does this contract put the squeeze on the Blues front office in terms of cap dollars, it also brings with it a fair amount of risk given the age of Schenn when it will kick in. He’ll turn 29 before ever playing a game on the new extension, meaning the deal will take him into his mid-thirties when most players enter a rapid decline phase. The trade for that was keeping the cap hit relatively low, especially after seeing other free agent centers like Kevin Hayes receive more than $7MM this summer. Schenn compares favorably to Hayes in terms of offensive production, especially if he can get back to the level he showed in 2017-18.

One of the biggest questions about the deal however will be whether Schenn stays at center throughout the length of the contract. The 2009 fifth-overall pick has rarely been a full-time pivot and moving to the wing does take away some of his value to the team. If his offensive totals don’t rebound from the 17-goal disappointment last season and he is moved out of the center position, the $6.5MM could seem like an expensive price tag in a few years.

Still, the Blues just won the Stanley Cup on the backs of physical forwards like Schenn and they’re banking on him being an impact player for a while longer. On their playoff run last season he scored 12 points and registered 83 hits in 26 games, buying in completely with head coach Craig Berube’s system.

Snapshots: Schenn, Pysyk, Palmu

October 2, 2019 at 3:58 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

While fans continue to show their consternation over the looming free agency of Alex Pietrangelo in light of the St. Louis Blues’ recent acquisition and extension of Justin Faulk, there is another important roster player scheduled to hit the market in the summer of 2020. Brayden Schenn is on the last season of the four-year, $20.5MM deal signed with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2016, and is in line for a substantial raise if he can rebound from a disappointing 54-point season.

The Blues aren’t waiting around to find out if he can according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, who writes in his latest 31 Thoughts column that the team is “taking a big run” at a Schenn extension. Before his 17-goal 2018-19 campaign Schenn had recorded three straight years of at least 25 goals, even reaching a career-high in points with 70 in his first season with St. Louis. Add in the fact that he was a key part of the team’s Stanley Cup run and is a versatile piece that can play center or wing and you can understand why GM Doug Armstrong wants to lock him up. Schenn only turned 28 last month.

Another interesting nugget from Friedman’s piece is regarding the New Jersey Devils, and how they have shown interest in Florida Panthers defenseman Mark Pysyk. The Panthers have multi-year commitments to Aaron Ekblad (six years), Keith Yandle (four), Anton Stralman (three) and Mike Matheson (seven), making it perhaps a little difficult to retain Pysyk in the future. The 27-year old is in the final year of his current deal and will become an unrestricted free agent next summer, but is still a valuable piece on the back end that many teams could use.
The Vancouver Canucks signed Finnish prospect Petrus Palmu to a three-year entry-level contract in 2018, but ended up loaning him back to TPS in Liiga for a good chunk of last season. That appears to be a possibility again, as Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet reports that Palmu is close to signing in Finland once again. It has been evident for some time that the young forward wouldn’t be playing for the Utica Comets this season, but it was not clear where he’d end up. Palmu had 18 points in 29 games for TPS last season and has proven to be a capable player at that level, but standing just 5’6″ he’ll have a tough time contributing in the NHL.

Central Notes: Schenn, Burakovsky, Poolman

August 25, 2019 at 12:30 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

The St. Louis Blues expect to have almost everyone back in their lineup from last season with a few exceptions. However, what about the season after that? General manager Doug Armstrong will have to make some tough decisions with players like Alex Pietrangelo, Joel Edmundson and Brayden Schenn all hitting unrestricted free agency. While it’s likely that all three would like to return on long-term deals, that isn’t likely due to the team’s salary cap situation, growing list of developing prospects as well as the approaching expansion draft.

With that in mind, St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeff Gordon writes that the team’s top priority will be to sign Pietrangelo and that could cause problems for the others, especially Schenn. After an impressive 2017-18 season, Schenn’s numbers dropped as going from 70 points to just 54 last season. However, if Schenn returns to his old numbers, which is very possible as the Blues struggled on the power play last year, he could easily price his way out of St. Louis.

On top of that, with the way players have been paid this offseason on the free-agent market, Schenn could easily command $7MM per year, he’d be an expensive player, especially with ever improving play of Robert Thomas and the Jordan Kyrou. With those two top talents, the Blues’ need for Schenn shouldn’t be as necessary for the 2020-21 season. The team might also not want to bring Schenn back because any deal would likely force them to add a no-movement clause, something the team might be reluctant to do with the expansion draft quickly approaching.

The Athletic’s Ryan S. Clark (subscription required) writes that Colorado Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic is banking that Andre Burakovsky’s biggest problem in previous seasons with the Washington Capitals was his lack of playing time. The GM believes that if the Avalanche increase his ice time, Burakovksy should be able to take that next step into becoming a solid top-six player. The 24-year-old did score 17 goals and 38 points back in the 2015-16 season, but hasn’t been able to take the next step. He averaged just 11:08 last season and put up just 12 goals and 25 points. With that in mind, Burakovsky is expected to play on the second line for the Avalanche this season and the hope is that new center Nazem Kadri will give him the guidance he needs to develop into a solid scoring winger. The team has struggled with finding a solid No. 2 center, but the GM believes that the team’s second-line woes are about to be over.
The Winnipeg Free Press’ Jason Bell writes that with two gaping holes in the Winnipeg Jets defense this year after the team lost Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot in free agency this summer, Tucker Poolman remains a top candidate to claim one of those two spots. The 26-year-old blueliner has dealt with injury problems in the past, but believes himself to healthy and at 6-foot-4, 215-pounds could be a valuable asset and a cheap one (two years at $775K). The fact that Poolman is right-handed is another advantage as the team only has two veteran right-handed blueliners in Dustin Byfuglien and Neal Pionk. After seeing 24 games with the Jets in 2017-18, he didn’t make an appearance with the Jets last season, but an ankle injury derailed half his season as he only managed to appear in 43 games for the Manitoba Moose of the AHL.

Central Notes: Strome, Fabbro, Fiala, Schenn, Pietrangelo

July 20, 2019 at 8:57 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 4 Comments

It might be tough for Dylan Strome to duplicate his performance with the Chicago Blackhawks this season. The under-performing center found his game once he was traded to Chicago and posted 51 points in 58 games. However, Strome could be in line for another breakout season as the Blackhawks have concentrated their focus of Strome’s offseason workouts on strengthening his lower-body, which the team feels is his biggest weakness, according to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Because the 6-foot-3 Strome uses a short stick which forces him to play leaning slightly forward. The down side to him doing that is that his vision is limited as his head is leaning downwards towards the ice. The team’s plan is to develop his lower-body and core, so he can play more upright and increase his vision.

“He has all the potential to be able to do exactly what he wants to do,” said Paul Goodman, the Hawks’ strength and conditioning coach. “But physically, [he’s] just going through a maturation process and understanding how his body can actually be pushed further and also be able to translate into better speed, better power, better change of direction, better vision.”

Of course it’s still quite early to decide who any team might be losing to Seattle in the upcoming expansion draft in 2021, The Athletic’s Adam Vingan (subscription required) writes that quite a bit has already changed for the Nashville Predators as the team now must protect defenseman Dante Fabbro, which complicates matters for the team. Nashville was hoping to only have to protect Roman Josi (with the assumption that he re-signs with Nashville), Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm. That would have allowed the team to protect seven forwards. Instead, the team will be forced to protect Fabbro and will only be able to protect four forwards instead, thereby exposing an extra three forwards to Seattle.
The Athletic’s Michael Russo (subscription required) writes that with the recent signing of Ryan Donato to a two-year deal at $1.9MM, the Minnesota Wild’s top priority is to ink restricted free agent Kevin Fiala now. While Donato opted to sign a two-year bridge deal to prove his value to the franchise, Russo believes that with general manager Paul Fenton’s familiarity with Fiala, the GM might consider trying to lock up Fiala to a much longer deal and hope to get a bargain out of him down the road. Evolving Hockey’s contract projections suggest that it would cost Minnesota about $4.97 AAV to lock him up for five years, but is the team willing to gamble on him is the real question.
The St. Louis Blues have had a relatively quiet offseason this summer, but that could change next season as the team has two key players who will be unrestricted free agents next season, including center Brayden Schenn and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. Both are critical to the team, but St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Tom Timmermann writes that keeping both will be challenging as they are both still quite young and should garner quite a bit of attention on the open market next summer unless general manager Doug Armstrong can find a way to lock them up early.

Atlantic Notes: Sabres 2020 Offseason, Heinen, Chiarot

July 6, 2019 at 4:31 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 3 Comments

While the Florida Panthers received all the attention before free agency opened on July 1 due to their excessive amount of cap space and they fact that they were attracting several of the top free agents on the market, next year’s offseason will look quite a bit different. In fact, it could be the Buffalo Sabres that could be poised to take a similar role next year before free agency opens and could find themselves the team that could lock up some of the top free agents for the 2020-21 season.

The Athletic’s John Vogl (subscription required) writes that while a lot can change in a year, Buffalo has only nine key players under contract for the 2020-21 season along with six restricted free agents. The team is expected to be free of a number of contracts, including Zach Bogosian ($5.14MM), Marco Scandella ($4MM), Vladimir Sobotka ($3.5MM), Conor Sheary ($3MM), Jimmy Vesey ($2.28MM), Matt Hunwick ($2.25MM), Scott Wilson ($1.05MM) and Casey Nelson ($812K). Assuming the salary cap rises by approximately $2MM, the Sabres should have about $29.5MM of projected salary cap, and assuming general manager Jason Botterill can properly persuade them, could add a couple of top free agents.

Who could be available, assuming that some of them don’t re-sign with their teams in the next season? Taylor Hall, Nicklas Backstrom, Brayden Schenn, Chris Kreider, Mike Hoffman, Alex Galchenyuk, Torey Krug, Jake Muzzin, Tyson Barrie, Roman Josi, and Braden Holtby.

While it’s been assumed for some time that Marcus Johansson would not return to Boston, (he signed with Buffalo earlier today), The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa (subscription required) looked at who might replace the veteran forward this season as the third-line left wing. The problem for Boston is that the team is loaded with a number of right-shot options in Zachary Senyshyn, Karson Kuhlman or Brett Ritchie. However, general manager Don Sweeney suggested it might be best to take the third-line right wing, Danton Heinen, and move him to the left side as he possesses more versatility than the others, which could allow one of the others to move in on the right side. “I think Heinen, depending on what side you play him on,” said Sweeney when asked who could replace Johansson. “Whether it’s Karson or Senyshyn or Brett Ritchie, guys that are right shots, we could play lefty-righty and move Danton over. I think he fits into the same mold of player creative-wise.”
The Athletic’s Marc Dumont (subscription required) analyzes the video of the Montreal Canadiens newly signed blueliner Ben Chiarot and looks at where he might fit in their lineup. Chiarot, who told reporters that he has discussed with the coaching staff about playing on the second pairing alongside Jeff Petry. However, Dumont suggests that would be a mistake as Chiarot struggles with retrieving pucks in a timely manner, which would not work well with Petry and suggests that Brett Kulak should continue in that role like he did last season. It might be best to play him on the Canadiens’ third pairing, but that seems a waste considering his $3.5MM price tag.

West Notes: Pavelski, Canucks, Blues

June 6, 2019 at 7:49 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

Following their elimination at the hands of St. Louis last round, Sharks center Joe Pavelski indicated that there hadn’t been a lot of discussion regarding a new contract. That has changed over the last couple of weeks. He told Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News that there has been “a little bit of talks” and he remains optimistic that he’ll work out a deal to stay in San Jose. The 34-year-old had a big year offensively with 38 goals, tied for the second most in his career. That will certainly generate a lot of interest on the open market if he can’t come to terms to remain with the only NHL team he has ever known. Pavelski made $6MM this past season and should be able to garner more than that on his next deal.

Snapshots: Expansion, Ingram, Schenn

March 6, 2019 at 4:40 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

The Vegas Golden Knights will not be taking part in the upcoming Seattle expansion payout that the other 30 teams will receive, and because of this will not be required to give up a player in the expansion draft. That has raised plenty of questions over whether the Golden Knights will be involved in other ways, perhaps even as some sort of extra protection list for teams to use just through the draft process by trading players there, only to get them back later. That kind of circumvention isn’t going to happen under the watchful eye of Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, as he told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) that you won’t be able to “park” a player on Vegas during the process.

LeBrun pressed on just how the league might avoid such scenarios without clearly laying out rules, but Daly channeled his inner Justice Stewart by telling the insider “I’ll know it when I see it.”

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltending prospect Connor Ingram has been demoted to the ECHL despite apparently being healthy enough to continue playing. Ingram hasn’t suited up for the Syracuse Crunch since February 26th, but still leads the entire AHL in save percentage and shutouts, while carrying the second best goals against average in the league. Joe Smith of The Athletic tweets a response from Lightning GM Julian BriseBois who called it an “internal matter,” while Mark Divver of the Providence Journal notes that he had heard Ingram was available at the deadline for a draft pick. The 21-year old goaltender was selected 88th overall in 2016.
Brayden Schenn has been activated from injured reserve by the St. Louis Blues, giving the team another weapon for their game tonight with the Anaheim Ducks. The Blues are currently in third place in the Central Division but with several teams hot on their heels they can’t afford to drop many more games down the stretch. Schenn has 39 points in 55 games this season but is in danger of failing to reach the 20-goal mark for the first time since 2014-15.

Central Notes: Byfuglien, Smith, Perron, Read

March 3, 2019 at 2:17 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

The Winipeg Jets got some good news about a pair of their defensemen as head coach Paul Maurice said today that the team expects defensive star Dustin Byfuglien begin skating again later this week, according to Winnipeg Sun’s Ken Wiebe. The 33-year-old has struggled all season with multiple injuries and hasn’t played since Feb. 14 after injuring his ankle. Byfuglien has appeared in just 37 games, but has shown his value in those games as he has four goals and 30 points in that span.

Wiebe also added that defenseman Joseph Morrow skated for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury. He has missed six straight games and is expected to be out Sunday, but could be back later this week. Morrow has six points in 39 games this season.

The Nashville Predators may be getting back one of their top forwards for today’s matchup against Minnesota as The Athletic’s Adam Vingan reports that Craig Smith has been activated off of injured reserve and is expected to join Kyle Turris and Mikael Granlund on the Predators’ second line. Smith has been out with a lower-body injury since Feb. 16 and has 16 goals this season in 61 games. The team might need him as the Wild have won five in a row.
After scoring no more than two goals per game over their last six, the St. Louis Blues are in desperate need for offense and the team, which has gone 2-3-1 after winning 11 straight. The team truly seems to miss injured forwards Brayden Schenn and David Perron, the latter of which could be ready to return to the lineup soon, according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Tom Timmermann. With the team not playing again for three days, that could be the time they need, especially with Perron, who has looked good in practice lately. More information will come Monday after the team’s practice.
The Minnesota Wild got an impressive performance from emergency callup Matt Read, who scored a goal and played an all-around great game Saturday night in Minnesota’s win over the Calgary Flames, according to The Athletic’s Mike Russo (subscription required). Unfortunately, with veteran Zach Parise expected to play Sunday, that could spell the end for Read unless they use one of their official recalls on him.

Western Notes: Canucks Defense, Fabbri, Benn, Parise

March 2, 2019 at 5:59 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 1 Comment

With the playoffs being a longshot for the Vancouver Canucks, the team needs to start focusing on next year, especially with their defense. General manager Jim Benning recently said that the blueline needs work and the team could find themselves being active participants in free agency this summer.

“We’re going to look this summer to try and change things up in the back end. There’s work to be done on defence,” he told reporters.

The Vancouver Sun’s Patrick Johnston writes that the team will likely make a play for San Jose’s Erik Karlsson, Toronto’s Jake Gardiner and Winnipeg’s Tyler Myers or even try and deal for Jacob Trouba. All are possibilities, although many of them are likely to be longshots. In fact, there may not be many big-name defensive free agents that Vancouver can add.

However, while the team feels good about bringing Quinn Hughes on board later this year, possibly in the next few weeks, and have him take over a spot on the team’s top-four immediately, the Canucks have quite a few decisions of their own roster to make, including the status of defenseman Alexander Edler, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, but has indicated a willingness to return to the team even though a they haven’t managed to work out an extension yet. The team will also have to give a significant pay raise to defenseman Ben Hutton who has had a solid season in Vancouver this year.

The Canucks are expected to give a long look to blueliner Ashton Sautner, and still have high expectations for Olli Juolevi, who is out for the season with a knee injury. Regardless, the team will need to do something to improve the teams defense next season.

It hasn’t exactly been the year that St. Louis Blues forward Robby Fabbri would have hoped for, but the oft-injured winger feels that his play is starting to turn the corner for the Blues, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Fabbri has appeared in just 29 games this season with just five points, but with injuries to Brayden Schenn and David Perron, Fabbri has been receiving those extra minutes as well as some time on the power play, showing some signs that interim head coach Craig Berube is starting to show some confidence in the 23-year-old forward, who has lost almost two seasons to serious knee injuries. “I’ve been feeling good, and I’ve been feeling good for a while,” Fabbri said. “But there’s nothing like playing games. There’s a lot of things during the game that you can only practice in-game. It’s nice that I’m getting that opportunity right now.” Coincidentally, Fabbri has been made a healthy scratch for Saturday’s game, replaced by Sammy Blais, according to NHL.com’s Lou Korac.
The Dallas Stars get a big boost on their offensive end as veteran forward Jamie Benn is expected back to their lineup Saturday against St. Louis, according to NHL.com’s Mark Stepneski. Benn was forced to leave their Feb. 24th game against the Chicago Blackhawks after suffering an upper-body injury early in the game and subsequently missed the next two games. “I’m good. Ready to go,” Benn said. “100 percent.” The team could use an offensive boost even though Benn hasn’t had his usual type of season with just 21 goals and just 20 assists in 61 games this season.
The Minnesota Wild will be without veteran forward Zach Parise, who will miss Saturday’s game in Calgary and is questionable for Sunday’s game against Nashville with a foot injury, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo. The 34-year-old Parise is having a impressive season with 24 goals and 54 points and has been hot lately with a goal and four assists in his last five games.

Deadline Primer: St. Louis Blues

January 28, 2019 at 8:16 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 4 Comments

With the trade deadline fast approaching, we will be taking a closer look at the situation for each team over the coming weeks. Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs? As we continue with the Central Division, here is a look at the St. Louis Blues.

Alex Pietrangelo? Vladimir Tarasenko? Colton Parayko? Sorry, but they aren’t going anywhere. The St. Louis Blues have quietly climbed within three points of a playoff spot and the early-season panic is over. Granted, the team is still in the middle of a cluster of teams fighting for just a few postseason berths, but the Blues have games in hand on the whole bunch and have been playing some of their best hockey lately. St. Louis is now a legitimate threat to slip into the playoffs and, once there, could do some damage. In fact, the potential on paper of this team is yet another reason why a fire sale is unlikely. There is no excuse for their first half failures, but many, including their own GM Doug Armstrong, have expressed optimism about what this core can do next season. They may have considered tearing it all down at one point, but that’s no longer a realistic possibility.

With that said, the Blues have fallen short of expectations all year long and no one would be surprised if they do in fact miss the playoffs this year. As such, they need to hedge their bets and continue to take offers as a seller. The team has a handful of impending unrestricted free agents they can trade, as well as others that they may entertain moving. The bulk of the St. Louis lineup isn’t going anywhere and will continue their playoff push, but Armstrong and company are likely to move out some extraneous pieces and play both sides of the market as the trade deadline approaches.

Record

22-22-5, sixth in the Central Division

Deadline Status

Moderate Seller

Deadline Cap Space

$7.2MM of full-season cap hit, 0/3 used salary cap retention slots, 46/50 contracts per CapFriendly

Upcoming Draft Picks

2019: STL 2nd, STL 3rd, STL 5th, STL 6th, STL 7th
2020: STL 1st*, STL 2nd, STL 3rd, STL 4th, STL 5th, STL 7th
* – Blues owe their 2019 first-round pick to the Buffalo Sabres as part of the Ryan O’Reilly trade, but have option to keep that pick if it is top-ten and send 2020 first-round pick instead

Trade Chips

Brayden Schenn is a name that just won’t go away. Even as the Blues’ play has improved of late, Schenn’s name continues to bounce around the rumor mill. The 27-year-old center broke out for 70 points last season, but is back to his regular 50-point pace, if that, this year and has been an underwhelming presence this season for an underachieving team. Logic would dictate that if the Blues want to keep their core intact for another try next season, they’ll refrain from moving Schenn. However, if the market interest forces his hand, Armstrong will move the talented forward, who has one year remaining on his contract, for the right price.

The same goes for winger Jaden Schwartz. Once the epitome of consistency and clutch in the Blues’ lineup, Schwartz, 27, has been streaky and largely ineffective on offense this season. His 21 points thus far is one of the biggest disappointments of St. Louis’ season. Schwartz has quietly continued to be a solid two-way force for the Blues though, even if it doesn’t show up on the score sheet. Schwartz has shown immense talent previously and his trade value is at an all-time low. Maybe he does just need a change of scenery, but Armstrong is unlikely to sell low on the two-way forward this season.

Not every trade decision will be as difficult as Schenn and Schwartz. For example, veteran forward Patrick Maroon has been an utter failure this year for St. Louis and is all but gone before the deadline. Earlier this month, it was rumored that Maroon was likely to be dealt when his full no-trade clause expired at the end of January. In the nine games since the report, Maroon has one lone goal. Hometown product or not, the Blues are likely to move Maroon – who has proven before to be a deadline commodity – for the best offer. Veteran grinders Jordan Nolan and, to a lesser extent, Chris Thorburn could also have value on the market and their absences would mean little to the Blues.

Defensemen Jay Bouwmeester and Carl Gunnarsson have not struggled like Maroon, but are also likely goners as impending UFA’s. Bouwmeester, 35, is a respected veteran around the league but has undoubtedly slowed down over the past couple of seasons. He’s currently fourth among St. Louis defenders in time on ice and has the worst plus/minus of the group. Bouwmeester isn’t going to be extended by the Blues, but he’s also still a serviceable and experienced blue liner who could help a true contender. He’s worth more elsewhere than he is for this fringe St. Louis team. The same goes for depth defender Gunnarsson, who has actually been a quite effective possession defenseman in limited opportunity this year, but has a higher value as an added option to a contender than to a team that may not make the playoffs. Jakub Jerabek and Chris Butler are also impending UFA defensemen who may have some slight value on the market. Don’t be surprised if 25-year-old Jordan Schmaltz has his name thrown around too; the Blues have made no effort to get him NHL minutes and he could use a new opportunity.

One of the major issues of this St. Louis team is underachieving forwards and it’s not just the veterans. Sure, the Blues might like to move Alex Steen or Tyler Bozak, but no-trade clauses alone will limit that possibility. The team would be far more likely to find takers for some of their disappointing young forwards, of which there are many. Robby Fabbri, Zach Sanford, Ivan Barbashev, Nikita Soshnikov, and Sammy Blais are all getting too old to be called prospects, but have yet to prove themselves as difference-makers in the NHL. Each one is an impending restricted free agent this summer and the Blues likely don’t plan to bring the whole group back. St. Louis could benefit from swapping out a young forward or two of their own for other teams’ disappointing forwards in hopes that a new system can turn their game around.

Five Players To Watch For: F Brayden Schenn, F Patrick Maroon, D Jay Bouwmeester, D Carl Gunnarsson, F Sammy Blais

Team Needs

1) Scoring Depth: Obviously, goaltending is the biggest long-term concern of the Blues, but that isn’t going to be addressed at the deadline this year. Next in line then is scoring. As previously mentioned multiple times, one of the fatal flaws of the Blues this season has been a lack of scoring and disappointing efforts from too many regular forwards. St. Louis is 22nd in goals for this season and, even if the veteran core returns to form this season, the fringe pieces lack some upside in the production department. As the team moves out forwards from the roster, old or young, the Blues could benefit from taking a waiver on other teams’ frustrated young forwards to test this season for whether there is a there is a fit moving forward. The Washington Capitals’ Andre Burakovsky, the Vancouver Canucks’ Nikolay Goldobin, or the Montreal Canadiens’ Charles Hudon could all be intriguing options. Finding another name to add to the blossoming next wave of Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Klim Kostin, and Dominik Bokk should be a priority.

2) Top Prospect Defenseman: In the course of making possible trades of Schenn or Bouwmeester or a young forward, Armstrong would be smart to target a top young defender in the return. The Blues have some nice 25-and-under pieces on the NHL blue line right now, but the AHL unit lacks much upside and the organization does not really have a blue chip defenseman in the pipeline other than collegiate rearguard Scott Perunovich, who will already be 21 next season when he begins his junior year at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. St. Louis has many exciting, talented forwards waiting to take over a role in the NHL; the team desperately needs to add a defenseman into that group. If they can’t find one via trade, they should focus on the draft and adding picks to make up for their first- and fourth-rounders this year.

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