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.
Wild Claim Robby Fabbri, Place Tyler Pitlick On Waivers
March 3: Pitlick passed through waivers unclaimed, per Friedman.
March 2: The Minnesota Wild have found a depth forward upgrade on the waiver wire. Minnesota has claimed St. Louis Blues winger Robby Fabbri off of waivers and, in a corresponding move, placed Tyler Pitlick on waivers to clear roster space, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Fabbri will join former Blues teammate Vladimir Tarasenko in his move to the Wild.
Fabbri signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Blues in December after beginning the year with three games and two points, with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. He slotted into a fourth-line role – but routinely stepped up in the lineup – in his return to St. Louis, where he spent the first four years of his career. Fabbri racked up four points, 12 penalty minutes, and a minus-three in 15 games with the Blues before landing on waivers. His waiver designation came in conjunction with Robert Thomas‘ return from a month-long absence due to injury and personal leave.
Fabbri was a first-round pick for the Blues in 2014. He made his NHL debut two seasons later and posted what’s become a career-year right out of the gates – marked by a career-high 18 goals and 37 points in 72 games. Fabbri’s career was quickly derailed by multiple knee injuries, holding him out of over 100 games between 2016 and 2020. Despite that, Fabbri stuck in the lineup long enough to seal a Stanley Cup victory with the Blues in 2019, netting a combined seven points in 42 games between the 2018-19 regular season and playoffs.
Fabbri will rival fourth-line minutes in Minnesota. Pitlick recorded only two goals, along with 24 penalty minutes and a minus-four, in 32 games with Minnesota this season. He has also scored 11 points in 12 AHL games this season. Pitlick spent the entire 2024-25 season with the AHL’s Providence Bruins. He finished the year ranked third on the team in scoring, with 46 points in 59 games. Pitlick rotated through NHL extra forward roles between 2013 and 2024 – making appearances with seven different clubs, including the Blues and Edmonton Oilers. In total, Pitlick has scored 58 goals and 111 points in 452 NHL games. He will return to a productive role in the minor leagues, if no team finds a need for his depth services in the NHL.
Panthers’ Luke Kunin Clears Waivers
3/2: St. Louis has lost Fabbri to a waiver claim from the Minnesota Wild, while Kunin has cleared waivers per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Kunin has now been assigned to the AHL.
3/1: Today has become a busy day on the wire, as the St. Louis Blues have waived forward Robby Fabbri, and the Florida Panthers placed Luke Kunin on waivers. Both were reported by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Fabbri and Kunin are both former first round picks with at least 450 games of NHL experience, although they’ve become journeymen at this stage in their careers.
For Fabbri, the news is not much of a surprise, as Robert Thomas was activated from injured reserve earlier today. A top prospect of the Blues a decade ago, Fabbri found himself back where he started, signing a one year deal worth $775k back in December. The agreement came after the 30-year-old’s unsuccessful PTO bid with the Pittsburgh Penguins, along with a brief tryout agreement with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Since then, Fabbri appeared in 15 games with St. Louis, finding the back of the net once to go with three assists.
The Ontario native netted 18 goals in 68 games just two years ago as a Red Wing, but his 18.6% shooting percentage was never thought to be sustainable. Fabbri continues to have lackluster possession metrics at even strength, currently at the 45.5% mark.
With such a low cap hit, it’s not out of the realm of possibility, but a claim seems unlikely. If that’s the case, Fabbri will head to AHL Springfield, a league which impressively, the veteran has played just nine games in his career, otherwise in the NHL. He still offers organizational depth, but the 31st ranked Blues are in a position where playing younger players is in their best interest. If this is the beginning of the end for Fabbri in the NHL, he’s had an impressive 457 game career with 220 points, and his name on the Stanley Cup.
Meanwhile, Kunin also brings a very reasonable $775k cap hit which expires this summer. Once a first rounder of the Minnesota Wild with top six upside, the Missouri native has become a fourth liner with gritty attributes, as he has just four points in 44 games. He caught on with the reigning champions last August to provide depth, which has been needed, considering the team’s glut of injuries this year.
After some solid play with Nashville from 2020-22, Kunin was sent to San Jose. Over the next three seasons wearing teal, Kunin got to enjoy a larger role and help lead on a rebuilding Sharks squad. However, he never recorded more than 18 points, and fully embraced a more physical brand of hockey.
Between Fabbri and Kunin, the latter seems to be more likely of a claim. Players in Kunin’s mold are often targeted by buyers at this time of year. At last year’s trade deadline, Kunin was dealt to Columbus for a fourth round pick. His stock hasn’t improved after unremarkable play as a Panther this year, but teams will have the chance to bring in the 28-year-old with a minimal cap hit for nothing in return, and he could benefit from a fresh start.
Image Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Blues Activate Robert Thomas, Expected To Waive Robby Fabbri
3/1: As expected, Thomas has been activated from injured reserve ahead of Saturday’s game against New Jersey. He had been on injured reserve with an injury sustained in January and took a personal leave of absence following the Olympic break.
In a corresponding move, St. Louis has designated Robby Fabbri to the non-roster list, implying that he will likely be placed on waivers before Saturday’s game per AP News’ Stephen Whyno. Fabbri signed an in-season contract with St. Louis after beginning the year with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. He has four points, 12 penalty minutes, and a minus-three in 15 games with the Blues.
2/25: The St. Louis Blues will be without their leading scorer and top center as they return from the Olympic break. The team announced that Robert Thomas will be taking a personal leave of absence until Friday of this week. He will miss Thursday’s game against the Seattle Kraken but should be back with the team beforf Saturday’s game against the New Jersey Devils.
Thomas’ role in the Blues lineup can’t be understated. He has been a pillar of the Blues offense, averaging the most ice time (19 minutes) and scoring the most points (33) among St. Louis forwards through 42 games this season. Thomas entered this season on the heels of two career-years, marked by 60 assists in both seasons, to go with 86 points and 81 points respectively. He has been St. Louis’ main playmaker since the departure of Ryan O’Reilly and leaves a major hole to be filled for next game.
Thomas sat out of four games in late October and missed an additional 11 games after sustaining a lower-body injury on January 10th. St. Louis leaned heavily on Pavel Buchnevich in response, placing the veteran Russian winger into Thomas’ role atop the powerplay and penalty-killing units. Buchnevich also moved into the team’s top-center role, though he has struggled on faceoffs, with a 39.8 faceoff percentage this season. The Blues could look to Slovakian Olympian Dalibor Dvorsky to take center duties off of Buchnevich’s hands in the short-term, or could task Brayden Schenn and Jimmy Snuggerud with platooning in the role form their spots on the second-line. No approach will be perfect as St. Louis looks to replace their star in an important, Western Conference matchup.
Mammoth Have Shown Interest In Robert Thomas
The Mammoth are among the teams that have shown interest in Robert Thomas, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on the network’s “Saturday Headlines” segment. No matter what they put forth, they’d remain one of the longer shots to land the two-time 80-point scorer if he’s moved at all. Intra-division trades involving players of his caliber are exceedingly rare.
Utah is looking into long-term moves, not the rental market, in order to help secure the franchise’s first trip to the postseason since being born from the ashes of the Coyotes, general manager Bill Armstrong told NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger this week. Thomas would be among the most impactful moves they can make. They’ve already been linked to puck-moving rearguard Dougie Hamilton in their pursuit of added offense, but adding a player of Thomas’ age and cost control is a much higher-caliber addition.
Thomas has 11 goals and 33 points in 42 games this season for St. Louis. The 26-year-old’s underlying offensive numbers have tanked, averaging 1.43 shots on goal and 2.88 shot attempts per game compared to 2.07 and 4.40 last season, respectively. That should be easily attributable to Thomas fighting through a number of injuries this season while being symptomatic of a larger offensive regression in St. Louis, where the Blues are near the bottom of the league in virtually every category.
The fact stands that over the past five years, Thomas has established himself as one of the league’s top playmaking centers. He’s averaged 60 assists and 83 points per 82 games over that span, with his 1.01 points per game ranking 23rd in the league since 2021-22 (min. 300 games played). Among players on the Mammoth’s roster, only Clayton Keller stands above him, and only narrowly.
Thomas also has five years left on his contract at a stomachable $8.125MM cap hit. He has a full no-trade clause and controls his destiny. The Blues have made it clear they’re not overly willing to dump him as part of their retooling, but will listen to offers. They’re reportedly looking for a template similar to what the Canucks acquired for franchise defender Quinn Hughes earlier this season – a package roughly equivalent to four first-round picks.
While the Blues surely won’t be excited about the prospect of moving Thomas in the division, few teams are as well-equipped to put forth a compelling offer as the Mammoth. They still have all of their firsts in the next few drafts and have a rich staple of first-round drafted prospects over the past few years to part with. 2023 selections Danil But and Dmitriy Simashev have made their debuts this season, while they’d have to consider making 2024 #6 pick Tij Iginla and 2025 #4 pick Caleb Desnoyers available as well.
Parayko Out With Back Spasms
- Blues defenseman Colton Parayko will be scratched from today’s game against New Jersey due to back spasms, according to Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). Parayko was a regular for Canada at the Olympics and was a full participant on Thursday, logging over 21 minutes. Through 58 games this season, the 32-year-old has a goal and 13 assists along with 141 blocked shots.
Update On St. Louis Blues’ Justin Faulk
Leading up to the trade deadline, there don’t appear to be many untouchables on the St. Louis Blues’ roster, if there are any. One player that has generated interest is defenseman Justin Faulk, whose price has been set.
Speaking on NHL Tonight, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Blues are looking for a return similar to the one that the Calgary Flames received for defenseman Rasmus Andersson. In that deal, the Flames acquired Zach Whitecloud, a 2027 first-round pick, a conditional 2027 second-round pick, and college prospect Abram Wiebe from the Vegas Golden Knights.
It’s unquestionably a lofty price, but it’s important to remember that Faulk remains a capable top-four option and is signed through next season at an affordable $6.5MM. Furthermore, he has the capacity to quarterback a competitive team’s second power-play unit.
Even as he enters the latter stages of his career, Faulk has remained reliable. Over the last three years, he has scored 17 goals and 94 points in 196 games, averaging 22:18 of ice time. 28 of those points came with a man advantage. He’s never managed high possession metrics with St. Louis, but has averaged a respectable 90.9% on-ice SV% at even strength.
Several teams might be interested in Faulk, particularly to enhance their power play. Surprisingly, the Colorado Avalanche have the league’s worst power-play percentage, and recently traded puck-moving blue liner Samuel Girard to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Still, with four capable right-handed defenseman on the roster, it’s far likelier the Avalanche will seek a left-handed defenseman if anything.
Meanwhile, the Utah Mammoth are known to be looking for an offensive-minded right-handed defenseman. In fact, they were linked to Dougie Hamilton of the New Jersey Devils earlier today. If the Devils opt to hang on to Hamilton for their own playoff desires, the Mammoth could consider pivoting to Faulk.
Lastly, the New York Islanders could be a team to watch on the trade market. Led by the breakout of rookie phenom Matthew Schaefer, the Islanders are eying the postseason this year, and General Manager Mathieu Darche is looking to reward his group. Considering that Faulk isn’t necessarily a long-term commitment, he would provide an obvious upgrade over Tony DeAngelo in New York’s second-pairing.