Red Wings Acquire Justin Faulk From Blues
According to TSN’s Bruce Garrioch, the Detroit Red Wings are considered the frontrunners for defenseman Justin Faulk if the Blues end up moving him before the deadline. According to Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic, there is confidence that the two teams were able to place a trade call before the deadline.
TSN’s Darren Dreger shares that a first- and third-round pick are headed to St. Louis. Additionally, Dreger added that Justin Holl is also going to the Blues. Both teams have confirmed the trade, with the Red Wings announcing that prospect Dmitri Buchelnikov is also included in the trade. The first-round pick will be Detroit’s first this season and carries no protection per Max Bultman of The Athletic, whereas the third-round selection will be the one they acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier today for Elmer Söderblom.
Detroit was known to be looking for a right-handed top-four defenseman, and there were few options better than Faulk available. Despite being a competitive team this season, the Red Wings had little else on the blue line behind Simon Edvinsson and Moritz Seider.
Not only will Faulk help stabilize Detroit’s defensive corps this season, but he’ll be around next year, too. Thanks to his seven-year, $45.5MM contract extension with the Blues, Faulk is signed through next season at a relatively affordable $6.5MM cap hit. Additionally, he’ll only be owed $4.5MM in actual salary. He does have a 15-team no-trade clause in his contract, but there’s no word if he had to waive it to move to HockeyTown.
At this stage of his career, Faulk has become a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. He topped out with a 50-point performance with the Blues in the 2022-23 season, but hasn’t gotten close to those totals since.
Still, he has remained a complete player. Over the last three years, Faulk has averaged six goals and 31 points in 66 games, with over 22 minutes of ice time per game. Furthermore, he consistently blocks over 100 shots a season, which will benefit the trio of Edvinsson, Seider, and Ben Chiarot, each of whom has blocked over 100 shots this season.
Unfortunately, although he can offer help on the Red Wings’ power play and penalty kill, Faulk won’t do much to diminish Detroit’s goal-scoring woes at even strength. Of his 94 points throughout the last three seasons, 28 of those have come with a man advantage.
Meanwhile, the Blues will come out of today’s deadline with a pair of first-round picks in exchange for a few aging veterans. They were already known to be one of the few sellers entering deadline season, and have set themselves up nicely for Alexander Steen to take over as the next General Manager.
Holl will only serve as a warm body for the rest of the regular season. He will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season after watching his three-year, $10.2MM ($3.4MM AAV) contract expire.
It was a foregone conclusion that Holl wouldn’t be a part of the Red Wings’ plans this season, but there was little hope the team would be able to clear his salary off the books. After clearing waivers earlier this year, Holl, 34, has spent the entire season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, scoring two goals and 14 points in 41 games with a +19 rating.
Additionally, the Blues have also acquired a very intriguing prospect in Buchelnikov. The 22-year-old was drafted in the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft by the Red Wings and has been in the KHL ever since.
He’s made waves in the KHL over the past three years. Playing on three different teams, Buchelnikov has scored 41 goals and 106 points in 159 games. There will be a notable jump once he transitions to professional life in North America, but that’s extremely productive for a younger player in the top professional league on the other hemisphere.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry-Imagn Images.
New York Islanders To Acquire Brayden Schenn
The New York Islanders are finalizing a trade to acquire veteran center Brayden Schenn from the St. Louis Blues, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
The Islanders have confirmed the deal. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun has reported its full terms: the Islanders are getting Schenn for a first-round pick, third-round pick, veteran forward Jonathan Drouin, and goalie prospect Marcus Gidlof. Per Andy Strickland of FanDuel Sports Network, the first-rounder going to St. Louis is Colorado’s 2026 first-round pick, the one New York acquired in the Brock Nelson trade from last season.
Per Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News, the Islanders were on Schenn’s 16-team no-trade list, but Schenn has decided to allow the trade to go ahead. 
Schenn, the Blues captain, has been at the center of significant trade rumors over the last few months. His inclusion in a trade today, assuming it is completed and confirmed, is part of a wider effort by the Blues to re-organize their competitive efforts in a more future-oriented direction.
While the 34-year-old is under contract for an additional two seasons at a $6.5MM cap hit, the Blues may not believe they are in a position to legitimately compete for a Stanley Cup within that time frame. As a result, they appear to have given Schenn the chance to chase the second Stanley Cup championship of his career on Long Island.
The Islanders sit third place in the Metropolitan Division and have one of the game’s most promising young players leading their resurgence: 2025 No. 1 pick Matthew Schaefer. Today’s move confirms the Islanders’ seriousness about competing for a Stanley Cup in the immediate term, even while the future face of their franchise is still just 18 years old.
The addition of Schenn provides a jolt to New York’s depth at the all-too-important center position. The club has most recently been utilizing 21-year-old Cal Ritchie as its second-line center. While the 2023 first-rounder is a promising young player, he’s not an ideal fit for that role on a team that is looking to make a deep playoff run.
Schenn, on the other hand, is an almost perfect fit for that role. While his numbers are down somewhat this year (28 points in 61 games as the Blues have struggled overall) he did manage 50 points last season and has been a steady top-six forward for much of his career. With Schenn likely to be plugged in directly to the Islanders’ second line, the team instantly becomes one of the league’s deepest teams down the middle.
With Bo Horvat manning the first line, Schenn on the second, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Casey Cizikas in the bottom-six, the Islanders not only have a strong group of four centers, they also have the flexibility to keep Mathew Barzal on the wing, where he has excelled.
While the Islanders are without question strengthened by this trade, the deal is not without some risk. Schenn turns 35 in August, and has two more years remaining on his deal. He hasn’t quite played up to the standard of a top-six center in St. Louis this season, but it’s still to be determined whether that says more about where Schenn’s game is at, or about the state of the Blues as a whole. In any case, if Schenn experiences age-related decline that impacts his playing abilities, the Islanders will have paid a hefty price for a player who isn’t what he once was.
With that said, there is also the possibility that the trade rejuvenates Schenn, and the chance to play for a playoff contender gives him something of a second wind. We’ve seen numerous veterans remain capable contributors as they progress deeper into their thirties, capably adjusting how they play to fit how they age. It’s also entirely possible Schenn goes down that path, making it so the Islanders have added a second-line center with more than two years of team control. Putting it that way, a first-rounder, third-rounder, and a prospect is hardly an unfair price to pay.
From the Blues’ perspective, the move falls in line with what has become their hockey operations department’s modus operandi: preparing for the future. With Alexander Steen set to assume lead decision-making authority, today’s trade adds at least one premium future asset to an already growing stockpile.
While they’ll surely miss Schenn both on and off the ice, the move clears the way for 2023 No. 10 pick Dalibor Dvorsky to receive even greater on-ice opportunity. If this trade can spark additional growth from Dvorsky, while also adding key draft picks and prospects to the Blues’ system, they’re likely to count it as a win.
The addition of Drouin may have been made to help balance the money being taken on by the Islanders, but there is some rationale behind his addition from the Blues’ side. Set to turn 31 this month, the odds are against him playing a role on the next contending Blues team. But with St. Louis likely to strip away further veteran talents this summer, there is the chance Drouin receives an opportunity to play regularly in the top-six in Missouri. He’s a player who never quite fit on Long Island, but excelled playing alongside Nathan MacKinnon as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. Perhaps he finds similar chemistry with Blues star Robert Thomas down the stretch.
With another year left on his deal at a $4MM cap hit, it’s not totally out of the question that Drouin seizes the opportunity ahead of him with the Blues, and becomes a trade chip for next year’s trade season, which would mean Schenn’s trade could deliver further future value to St. Louis.
Also included in this deal is Gidlof, a big goalie prospect who was a 2024 fifth-round pick. He’s been a tandem goalie in the SHL over the last two years, playing in a total of 41 games for Leksands IF. This season, he has gone 9-15-0 with an .896 save percentage. A little over a year ago, Gidlof was considered one of New York’s better prospects. The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler ranked him the No. 3 prospect in the team’s system, writing that he “has legitimate NHL upside.”
With starter Jordan Binnington‘s time in St. Louis potentially set to come to an end at some point over the summer, the inclusion of Gidlof in this deal represents further investment by the team in the future of the goalie position, a position in which the Blues have a somewhat uncertain future.
Photos courtesy of Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Colton Parayko Won’t Waive Trade Protection Before The Deadline
After he nixed a trade that would have sent him to Buffalo, there was still some speculation that Blues defenseman Colton Parayko would approve a trade to a team that he’d be more interested in going to. However, that won’t be the case. On today’s TradeCentre broadcast on TSN (video link), Pierre LeBrun reported that the blueliner will not be waiving his no-trade protection before today’s trade deadline.
The 32-year-old has been a fixture on the back end in St. Louis for more than a decade now while making multiple international appearances as well, including in last month’s Olympics. That track record was enough to elicit what would have been a strong return from the Sabres, one that was believed to have included a top prospect in Radim Mrtka and a first-round pick, even though Parayko is in the middle of a down season offensively.
After putting up career highs in goals (16) and points (36) last season, he has just one tally along with 13 assists in 58 games this season and is now currently sidelined with back spasms. However, Parayko is still logging over 22 minutes of playing time per night with tough defensive matchups.
Parayko has four years left on his contract after this one with a $6.5MM price tag so it’s reasonable to think that his market would still be strong should teams decide to make a pitch for his services in the offseason. At that time, he might be more open to move depending on what the landscape is at the time while not having to immediately uproot his family.
In the meantime, it wouldn’t be surprising to see this result in an uptick in interest in another St. Louis right-shot defender, Justin Faulk. Signed through next season at a $6.5MM price tag, the 33-year-old has been speculated to be in play in recent days and doesn’t have full trade protection like Parayko, just a 15-team no-trade list. With the Blues unable to get anything for Parayko right now, GM Doug Armstrong redoubling his efforts to ensure he gets a strong return for Faulk and cash in on the demand for impact defenders would make a lot of sense.
Red Wings Pursuing Robert Thomas, Vincent Trocheck
Insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet published this evening’s Trade Deadline Thoughts, where he noted that the Detroit Red Wings are in the mix on the market’s top two centers: Robert Thomas of St. Louis and the Rangers’ Vincent Trocheck.
Thomas, 26, is the bigger fish and likely the #1 overall player available before tomorrow’s 3 p.m. ET deadline. If GM Steve Yzerman would be able to pull it off, the 26-year-old could be the final piece to the puzzle up front after years of building. The center, an 80+ point getter over the last two seasons, is locked up through 2030-31 at a $8.125MM cap hit, reasonable considering that it will take him through the prime of his career.
Detroit has missed the playoffs for nine straight years, and patience was wearing thin. Making it 10 was simply not an option, and sure enough, the team is well on their way to end the drought. Even just making it is half the battle, but if the Wings could win more than one round, it would be the first time since 2009, when they came just short of back-to-back Stanley Cups.
A center such as Thomas or Trocheck could make Detroit a real dark horse contender. Current 2C Andrew Copp has played well this season, already reaching his second best point total as a Red Wing in 62 games, but he’d be better off as a third line middleman. Cheaper options exist, such as Nashville’s Erik Haula, but looking at their lineup it’s really all or nothing in terms of what could actually push the Wings over the top.
Suffice to say, there’s a reason for Yzerman to be aggressive. Years of patience have assembled a nucleus of young talent which few teams can rival in trade offers. For Thomas, it has been reported that the Blues are seeking multiple first-round picks or equivalent pieces, as Buffalo and Utah have made a push. As for Detroit, it’s not clear who may be in discussion, but St. Louis would have a variety of assets to choose from.
Standout NCAA goaltending prospect Trey Augustine could especially appeal to the Blues as they could move on from Jordan Binnington. Also, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Carter Bear are both wingers selected in the first round over the last two years. They’d allow Yzerman to march on without touching his current group.
On the other hand, Nate Danielson and Marco Kasper would be assets appealing to St. Louis, or maybe even New York as they could jump right into the lineup. Both top 10 selections, their NHL production has hit a bit of a snag, possibly enough that Yzerman could move on.
If St. Louis was to add defense to their Thomas trade wish list, youngsters Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Albert Johansson emerge, although both are current contributors to the Wings lineup, which is already thin in depth. Especially if Yzerman were to part with the uber-talented Sandin-Pellikka, it may require a bigger deal where someone like Justin Faulk also came along.
Detroit stands out as a suitor as even after all seven of those players listed, there are still several other noteworthy candidates, not to mention their draft capital. Yzerman holds all of the team’s selections besides one second rounder in 2027.
The Red Wings have all the pieces to put together a blockbuster, and it may simply come down to the Aurora, Ontario native’s preferences, as he holds a no trade clause.
Even if Thomas is not meant to be, Trocheck would still be a tremendous fit in Detroit. The 32-year-old already had ties to the area, playing in the Little Caesars program as a youth, and his OHL Hockey in Saginaw. He has already been linked to Detroit for such reasons. Older, and signed through 2028-29 at a reasonable $5.625MM, he would naturally bring less in return than Thomas. However, there’s still plenty to offer that would have the Rangers salivating as they move forward on their youth movement.
New York fans can likely forget about the Wings’ absolute top assets, but a first rounder in either of the next two seasons along with some serious second tier options would be adequate. Rangers GM Chris Drury is not forced to move Trocheck now, as he could hold off until the summer, but the Blueshirts completing their lost season with all three 32-year-old centers still in the fold doesn’t seem favorable.
Whether it could be Thomas in a blockbuster, or Trocheck in what would still be one of the bigger deals of the deadline, time will tell. Yzerman will remain disciplined against high demands. Yet there’s enough reason from Detroit to swing a trade for Thomas or Trocheck, and pushing for more than simply returning to the playoffs this spring.
Image Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images (Thomas)
Image Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images (Trocheck)
Blues, Mathieu Joseph To Terminate Contract
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the St. Louis Blues are placing forward Mathieu Joseph on waivers to terminate his contract. As Friedman noted, if Joseph clears, he will have to sign by 3:00 p.m. EST tomorrow to be eligible for the postseason.
It’s the second time in as many weeks that the Blues have placed Joseph on waivers. Last week, St. Louis placed him on waivers and eventually reassigned him to the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds. Things can change quickly this time of year, but Joseph is unlikely to be claimed off of release waivers.
Still, a team may be interested in taking a shot on Joseph at a league minimum salary. He could benefit the bottom six of a playoff-bound team, or serve as a placeholder for a club that sells a few forwards before tomorrow’s deadline.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many teams that have much interest in him, and his nearly $3MM salary. The only saving grace for his cap hit, whether a team claims him or not, is that Joseph will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year and be entirely off the books.
Regardless, it’s safe to say that Joseph’s tenure in St. Louis has gone poorly. After scoring 11 goals and 35 points in 72 games for the Ottawa Senators during the 2023-24 campaign, Joseph has yet to reach those totals despite playing in more games with the Blues. Throughout his last two years with the club, he has registered only six goals and 25 points in 99 games, averaging 12:13 of ice time.
Still, what Joseph lacks in scoring output, he makes up for in physicality. Dating back to his time in Ottawa, he has tallied 311 hits, which could benefit a playoff-bound team if they’re looking to get nastier to play against. Although the question remains unanswered, Joseph is anticipated to find a new club within the next 24 hours.
Sabres’ Colton Parayko Trade Falls Through
3/5/26: Parayko has declined to waive his no-trade clause to join the Sabres, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. As a result, as The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun noted, the reported trade will not happen.
On Frankly Hockey, Frank Seravalli indicated that Parayko is open to a trade from St. Louis, but will not accept a move to Buffalo, specifically. As frustrating as it may be for both clubs, it is Parayko’s right to dictate where he goes, given the no-trade protection in his contract.
Following Seravalli’s report, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes indicated that Parayko would prefer to stay in the Western Conference. Weekes specifically mentioned the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings, though neither club has any known interest in adding another defenseman.
It’s unknown at this time if Mrtka and a first-round pick were the only pieces that would have headed to the Blues in the deal. If that’s the case, Buffalo had the opportunity to amass arguably the best defensive corps in the league.
Missing out on a player of Parayko’s stature will sting, but there are a few remaining options for the Sabres. Justin Faulk, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Logan Stanley, among others, are all options currently on the market that Buffalo could target. Depending on how long Buffalo negotiated with the Blues, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them turn around and acquire Faulk.
Unfortunately, it does paint a negative picture for Buffalo. Despite the team being on fire this year and heading toward the postseason for the first time in a decade, they are still having trouble encouraging outside talent to join the team. Factoring in Seravalli’s report, it’s clear that Parayko simply didn’t want to head to New York.
Meanwhile, it’s not the best situation for St. Louis either. There’s no reporting on how many teams are interested in Parayko. If they’re unable to move him before the deadline tomorrow, it’ll become awkward at the very least. While it remains a business decision, Parayko’s connection to the community may lead to feelings of animosity regarding the situation, particularly since the trade was leaked before he had a chance to approve it.
Things can and will change fast this time of year. Over the last few days, Parayko and Tyler Myers have each had their names leaked in trade conversations, only to veto the trade. Still, given that he’s willing to consider different clubs, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Parayko approve a trade somewhere else.
3/4/26: According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Buffalo Sabres are moving toward acquiring defenseman Colton Parayko from the St. Louis Blues. Dreger noted that the trade is still being finalized and that both teams are waiting to see if Parayko will waive his no-trade clause to join the Sabres. Dreger later added that defensive prospect Radim Mrtka and a first-round pick will be a part of the deal. Insider Frank Seravalli reported that the framework of the trade is complete, but Parayko has not yet signed off on it.
It would obviously be a seismic trade for the Sabres, especially if nothing is coming off the NHL roster. Buffalo already has Bowen Byram, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, and Mattias Samuelsson in the top four of their defensive corps. Parayko has been on the top pairing in St. Louis for nearly a decade, and is signed through the 2029-30 season at an affordable $6.5MM salary.
Robert Thomas Price Reportedly Too High For Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are highly unlikely to be the landing spot for St. Louis Blues star center Robert Thomas if he is traded before the deadline, The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reported today. A Flyers team source told Kurz that the team considers a trade for Thomas “completely unreasonable,” and with that feeling likely a result of the high price the Blues have set for teams interested in Thomas. According to Kurz, the Flyers “would probably have to be willing to part with” one of their two young wingers with star potential (Matvei Michkov, Porter Martone) as well as a first-round pick and another young roster player. Despite a pressing organizational need for a top-line center, the Flyers, per this report, believe the Blues’ asking price to simply be too steep for them to get involved in trade talks for Thomas.
Of course, value is in the eye of the beholder. From the Blues’ perspective, they’re likely to believe their high asking price for Thomas to be entirely fair. To an extent, it’s easy to see why. Thomas is an established No. 1 center who scored 81 points in 70 games last season, a 95-point 82-game scoring pace. While his production is down this year, the Blues’ struggles as a team this season make it difficult to pin Thomas’ decline entirely on some lasting decrease in his talent level. Thomas is 26 years old and has five additional seasons on a $8.125MM AAV contract. His below-market cap hit presents a serious opportunity for a team to get surplus value from him, especially as the upper limit rises.
There’s an argument to be made that, combining his talent and contract status, Thomas is one of the more valuable players to have been shopped on the in-season trade market in some time, so it’s understandable that the Blues would want to fetch a high price for the player. Value is all about leverage, after all, and the fact that the Blues can simply retain Thomas for the next half-decade gives them considerable leverage in comparison to a team shopping a rental player. But in any case, the Flyers have to move forward with the path they feel is best for them – and if they deem the Blues’ asking price too high, that is their right. Their search for a first-line center may yet continue in the 2026 draft, or perhaps within the continued development of recent first-rounders Jett Luchanko and Jack Nesbitt.
Sabres, Blues Shifting Trade Talks To Justin Faulk, Colton Parayko
The Sabres made a big push yesterday to put themselves at the forefront to land top center Robert Thomas from the Blues. It appears whatever they put forth was a best-and-final offer and may not be enough to pry him away. Darren Dreger of TSN followed up this morning on yesterday’s report, saying that talks between Buffalo and St. Louis on Thomas “went the distance” but that it “sounds like the Sabres aren’t willing to part with the necessary pieces.”
That doesn’t mean talks between the two parties have ceased, though. Instead, they’ve transitioned to helping Buffalo address its paucity of right-shot defenders, with the team now expressing interest in Justin Faulk or Colton Parayko.
Faulk is viewed as the likelier of the two to move, presumably because of a slightly lower price tag. He’s been especially hot as of late, with five assists in his last five games, and is one of four Blues skaters to appear in all 60 games so far this season.
Alongside that durability, the soon-to-be 34-year-old has had an impressive year on both sides of the puck. Easily the brightest spot on their blue line, his 11-21–32 scoring line leads St. Louis D-men and is fourth on the team overall. He’s doing that while ranking second on the Blues in blocked shots with 101 behind Parayko’s 148. While his 47.5% Corsi For share at 5-on-5 isn’t all too impressive, the Blues have an even goal differential with him on the ice at 5-on-5. For how much he plays, averaging 22:30 per game in all situations, his -3 rating becomes a strong one on a team with a -52 goal differential.
Buffalo’s entire top four of Rasmus Dahlin, Bowen Byram, Owen Power, and Mattias Samuelsson are lefties. Dahlin and Samuelsson have simply played too well together this season to break up, but it’s clear general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen is eyeing a name to plug into the second pairing alongside Byram or Power while bumping the other down to a third-pairing spot at even strength, giving them left-side depth last rivaled by the Lightning’s three-headed monster of Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, and Mikhail Sergachev during their Stanley Cup runs at the beginning of the decade.
Faulk and Parayko carry the same cap impact at $6.5MM. The former is easier to acquire, though not just because his somewhat weaker defensive reputation contributes to a lower price tag, but also because of his contract. He’s only signed through next season and has a 15-team no-trade list. Parayko, one year younger, is under contract through the 2029-30 season and, like Thomas, has a full no-trade clause that gives the Blues less maneuverability. With so much time left on his contract, the Blues are also in less of a rush to move him and squeeze value out of his deal.
Parayko, long regarded as a top-five shutdown defender in the league, has sat out of the Blues’ last two games due to back spasms. He’s also having quite a difficult season, amid being a virtual non-factor for Team Canada at the Olympics. His 14 points in 58 games are on pace for the worst offensive output of his 11-year career. His 44.9% Corsi For share at 5-on-5 ranks last among Blues defenders, and they’re getting outscored 54-38 with him on the ice at even strength.
At age 32, there’s likely some trepidation about committing for the rest of the decade if this season is more than just a flash in the pan. Faulk, whose contractual situation lies more in line with other targets Buffalo has expressed interest in, like Rasmus Ristolainen, is the more plausible outcome if the Sabres and Blues to manage to connect on a deal before Friday afternoon.
Blues Leaning Toward Trading Jordan Binnington
This week is shaping up to be a transformative one for the Blues. Amid mounting interest for forward cornerstone Robert Thomas, they’ve also been fielding more sparse interest in starting goaltender Jordan Binnington over the last several months. That appears to be coming to a head now as NHL Network’s Brian Lawton reports they’re “ready to move on” from Binnington and that it “feels like a move is a forgone [sic] conclusion.”
That’s a sharp change in direction from the feeling surrounding Binnington as of late, which was that they were listening to offers but weren’t close to seriously considering a move. He’d been left off most trade boards or ranked rather low on them as a result. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta had him as a “bubble player” outside of his top-40 as of an update this morning. He was down at 24th on TSN’s most recent Trade Bait list and 43rd on Chris Johnston’s list for The Athletic yesterday.
In all likelihood, his and Thomas’ futures in St. Louis go hand in hand. It makes little sense for a team teetering between a moderate retool and an aggressive rebuild to move one player of either’s caliber and importance but not the other. As such, it’s natural that there would be an increased willingness to shop Binnington amid some intriguing offers for Thomas in the last few days from the Mammoth and Sabres, which has general manager Doug Armstrong seemingly leaning toward a move in that department as well.
Binnington’s trade value is hard to gauge. On one hand, he’s on a desirable contract for an established but inconsistent starter with a cap hit of $6MM that expires after next season. He’s also coming off exceptional performances as Team Canada’s starter on the international stage in back-to-back years. guiding Canada to a championship at last season’s 4 Nations Face-Off and putting up a .917 SV% in five games en route to a silver medal at last month’s Winter Olympics. He’s also a Cup champion and Calder Trophy finalist with a largely above-average track record in the playoffs.
That shouldn’t completely shroud the fact that Binnington has been the NHL’s worst starter this season, bar none. The Blues’ skater core has been below-average but not catastrophic defensively. Binnington’s .867 SV% and 8-18-6 record in 31 starts this year are more individually damning than representative of the team in front of him, especially when considering backup Joel Hofer‘s .899 SV% in a similar workload. The analytics back that up – Binnington’s -23.8 goals saved above expected are the worst in the league, per MoneyPuck.
The latter’s hot streak as of late and intriguing track record as a prospect only make moving on from Binnington a more natural position to take, especially if St. Louis has a chance to squeeze more return value out of him now with an acquiring team getting to take two swings at a playoff run with him before he reaches free agency. Hofer has another year left at $3.4MM before becoming an arbitration-eligible free agent. He’s now up to even in GSAx on the year after a rough start similar to Binnington’s and has a 14-11-3 record to show for it. That includes a .905 SV% in his last 15 outings, matching his career average to this point.
Sabres Making Aggressive Push For Robert Thomas
The Sabres are a late but aggressive entrant in talks to acquire center Robert Thomas from the Blues, reports Darren Dreger of TSN. Their offer contains multiple first-round picks or equivalent pieces, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic relays. However, talks haven’t progressed far enough yet for the Blues to ask Thomas to waive his no-trade clause, per Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic.
Thomas is the best player still available at the deadline, both in terms of short-term and long-term impact. It was viewed as pure speculation by many that he’d actually be made available amid St. Louis’ retool, but the Blues have evidently received multiple offers strong enough to their liking in recent days to seriously consider pulling the trigger on a move. The Mammoth is the other club that’s been consistently tied to Thomas over the past week.
Even amid something of a down season for Thomas, it’s hard to imagine his trade value has taken much of a hit. He’s still put up 12 goals and 35 points in 42 games. That’s similar on a per-game basis to what other top options Nazem Kadri and Vincent Trocheck have done this season, but Thomas is significantly younger and has consistently been one of the league’s assist leaders for several years now.
The 26-year-old is in year three of eight on his contract, which carries a fair-value cap hit at worst of $8.125MM. He had full trade protection kick in this season – the first year he was eligible to receive it – so all of this hinges on Thomas greenlighting a move to the Sabres, who currently have an 88.6% chance of ending their playoff drought at 14 seasons, per MoneyPuck.
Buffalo doesn’t have any additional first-rounders past their own, but they do have a plethora of recent first-round draft choices to leverage in trade talks. Among forwards alone who are still on entry-level deals, there’s Zach Benson, Jiri Kulich, Noah Ostlund, Isak Rosen, and Konsta Helenius. Helenius, the 14th overall pick in 2024, has shown enough at the AHL level already to paint himself as a potential long-term replacement for Thomas as St. Louis’ first-line center. Whether the Sabres would be willing to leverage either Bowen Byram or Owen Power from their long list of top-four-capable left-shot defenders remains to be seen, but that shouldn’t be ruled out either if they’re looking to keep cap space open for looming extensions for Benson and Alex Tuch.