2024-2025 Blues Trade Proposals Thread.

[TheOrganist]

I think the "plan" is for Dvorsky to stay under 10 NHL games this year so his ELC slides. However, there is a certain level of "readiness" where I'm 100% confident that Army would burn the year if it appears that Dvorsky is capable of both contributing in the NHL and not harming/risking his development.

In my perfect world, the current Blues roster plays well enough to be sitting in (or just out of) playoff position at the 4 Nations break without bringing in a 3C. The Blues resume play from that tournament on 2/22 and Springfield has 17 games between now and then. I'm really, really rooting for this Blues team to gain some ground in the playoff hunt in the next month. If they can do that, it buys us time to wait on a potential 3C acquisition and give Dvorsky a real shot at earning a promotion this year.

I'm not convinced that Dvorsky can/will earn that promotion, but I want to see him get that chance.


I don't disagree, but I also think that Army wants Snuggy in the top 9 at the end of the season. I don't know whether that is because he believes he will be an immediate upgrade or because he believes that he needs to give Snuggy that opportunity to make sure he signs here. Army's public comments about Snuggy packing enough stuff to stay in St. Louis after the Frozen 4 could just be a full court press to get him to sign a contract before things get really uncomfortable. But he is making it crystal clear that Snuggy has a spot on this team in April if he signs and I think Army very much would like to point at a winger in our top 9 and tell Snuggy "this is your spot in the lineup in our next game if you sign today."

Trading Saad opens up a spot. You slide Bolduc to LW then Snuggy has a spot on the 3rd line. Without trading Saad, Snuggy has to force one of Saad, Bolduc, or Neighbours to the 4th line.

I do see a scenario where we are a contender come the trade deadline, but still trade Saad with the hope that we can still make the playoffs without him and then add Snuggy to the mix the instant his college season is over.

There is a plausible future where this team plays itself into playoff position approaching the deadline, trades Faksa and Saad for futures, calls up Dvorsky to fill the 3C hole, treads water with Texier/Joseph plugging the hole created by Saad's trade, adds Snuggy to the top 9 when his college season ends, and makes the playoffs with a super young top 9 forward group that previews the future:

Bolduc-Thomas-Buch
Holloway-Schenn-Kyrou
Neighbours-Dvorsky-Snuggy

I absolutely don't think that is the most likely scenario or even a very likely scenario. But I don't think it is outside the realm of possibility.

I guess it depends on Armstrong's mindset in balancing the present & the future. You make a point about Snuggerud and that has some logic from Snuggy's perspective but it's just hard for me to picture Armstrong dealing a capable veteran (who continues to be productive w/ Thomas/Buch pre-deadline in our hypothetical) and replacing him with a college hockey player who has never played an NHL game in the middle of a playoff race.

But there's also no reason to get carried away at the trade deadline and give up more futures for a team that may or may not squeak into the 2nd wild card. There is also no real incentive to bring up Dvorsky and throw him into an NHL playoff race when by all accounts he's not ready. I think that lineup you posted has a major likelihood of being the opening top 9 for 2025-26. I just don't think we should put the cart before the horse this year with all these kids. I think many fans agreed before the year that we had one more year before the real fun starts when it comes to all these prospects bearing fruit. Broberg/Holloway/Monty has jump started the contending timeline but I think we still have one more half-season where we should just let things play out without doing anything major to effect the present & future.

 

[joe galiba]

I think the "plan" is for Dvorsky to stay under 10 NHL games this year so his ELC slides. However, there is a certain level of "readiness" where I'm 100% confident that Army would burn the year if it appears that Dvorsky is capable of both contributing in the NHL and not harming/risking his development.

In my perfect world, the current Blues roster plays well enough to be sitting in (or just out of) playoff position at the 4 Nations break without bringing in a 3C. The Blues resume play from that tournament on 2/22 and Springfield has 17 games between now and then. I'm really, really rooting for this Blues team to gain some ground in the playoff hunt in the next month. If they can do that, it buys us time to wait on a potential 3C acquisition and give Dvorsky a real shot at earning a promotion this year.

I'm not convinced that Dvorsky can/will earn that promotion, but I want to see him get that chance.


I don't disagree, but I also think that Army wants Snuggy in the top 9 at the end of the season. I don't know whether that is because he believes he will be an immediate upgrade or because he believes that we need to give Snuggy that opportunity to make sure he signs here. Army's public comments about Snuggy packing enough stuff to stay in St. Louis after the Frozen 4 could just be a full court press to get him to sign a contract before things get really uncomfortable. But he is making it crystal clear that Snuggy has a spot on this team in April if he signs and I think Army very much would like to point at a winger in our top 9 and tell Snuggy "this is your spot in the lineup in our next game if you sign today."

Trading Saad opens up a spot. You slide Bolduc to LW then Snuggy has a spot on the 3rd line. Without trading Saad, Snuggy has to force one of Saad, Bolduc, or Neighbours to the 4th line.

I do see a scenario where we are a contender come the trade deadline, but still trade Saad with the hope that we can still make the playoffs without him and then add Snuggy to the mix the instant his college season is over.

There is a plausible future where this team plays itself into playoff position approaching the deadline, trades Faksa and Saad for futures, calls up Dvorsky to fill the 3C hole, treads water with Texier/Joseph plugging the hole created by Saad's trade, adds Snuggy to the top 9 when his college season ends, and makes the playoffs with a super young top 9 forward group that previews the future:

Bolduc-Thomas-Buch
Holloway-Schenn-Kyrou
Neighbours-Dvorsky-Snuggy

I absolutely don't think that is the most likely scenario or even a very likely scenario. But I don't think it is outside the realm of possibility.

what happens when Stenberg forces his way on the team?

 

[Linkens Mastery]

what happens when Stenberg forces his way on the team?

Someone will get moved for defensive help

 

[Brian39]

I guess it depends on Armstrong's mindset in balancing the present & the future. You make a point about Snuggerud and that has some logic from Snuggy's perspective but it's just hard for me to picture Armstrong dealing a capable veteran (who continues to be productive w/ Thomas/Buch pre-deadline in our hypothetical) and replacing him with a college hockey player who has never played an NHL game in the middle of a playoff race.

Like your last post, I don't disagree. It certainly wouldn't be the 'safe' move and Army generally defers to vets and creates a culture where young guys have to steal a spot.

But I also don't recall Army every being so public about getting a young player into the NHL. It was pretty well reported that we gave Snuggy a chance to play NHL games last season and very much wanted him to turn pro then. Army, Steen, and Montgomery took Snuggy out to dinner a couple days ago and Army is talking to reporters about wanting him to stay in St. Louis to play NHL games the instant his NCAA season ends. None of that sounds like the plan is for him to play 9 minutes a night on the 4th line or to sit in the press box if we are in the playoff race in the final week of the season. It very much sounds like we fully intend to make a spot for him. The head coach isn't joining the GM and GM in waiting for a dinner with the kid unless your selling him about his role that season.

There is also no real incentive to bring up Dvorsky and throw him into an NHL playoff race when by all accounts he's not ready.

I don't think it is fair to say that by all accounts he's not ready. I think that was a fair statement in training camp. But he has looked really good in the AHL and I thought he was clearly the most NHL-ready player in the WJC last week (which wasn't surprising and doesn't mean he is NHL ready).

By all accounts, he looks closer to NHL ready today than he did in October and he's played 27 AHL games. Whose to say he won't continue growing over the next 23 AHL games on the schedule between now and the NHL trade deadline?

I'm not saying that he is a lock to be here or that he should be called up just because we want to trade Faksa. But I do think that there is a realistic chance that he plays well enough in the next 2 months to earn a shot as our 3C in March of this season even if we are in the think of a playoff push. I think there is a realistic chance that by March of this year he will be capable of being a better 3C than Sunny is.

I think that lineup you posted has a major likelihood of being the opening top 9 for 2025-26. I just don't think we should put the cart before the horse this year with all these kids. I think many fans agreed before the year that we had one more year before the real fun starts when it comes to all these prospects bearing fruit. Broberg/Holloway/Monty has jump started the contending timeline but I think we still have one more half-season where we should just let things play out without doing anything major to effect the present & future.

I know I'm sounding like a broken record, but I don't disagree. I think philosophically, we are very much on the same page. I don't want to put either of them in the lineup just for the sake of putting them in the lineup. I'm content to let this season play out without them if they aren't ready to truly contribute. No matter what, I am extremely excited about training camp for next season.

I've repeatedly talked about how time is one of the most valuable assets for an NHL front office. We don't have to make these decisions now and if the current roster can claw back into playoff position we won't have to make the first decision until the first week of March.

While I don't expect it, I do see a path where Dvorsky convinces our front office that he is ready for a call up this year and I think that the front office absolutely intends to get Snuggy in our lineup if he signs.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Someone will get moved for defensive help

Just to build off of this.

I think we end up moving Bolduc+Buchinger+another piece for major RHD help before the end of next season.

 

[Brian39]

what happens when Stenberg forces his way on the team?

Someone gets traded. Maybe 2 people.

Buch, Kyrou, Neighbours, and Holloway are unambiguously top 9 NHL forwards. Then you have Bolduc, Snuggy, Stenberg, and everyone else fighting for the final 2 spots in the top 9. That's 7 guys for 6 winger spots in the top 9. Assuming Snuggy signs instead of returning to the NCAA next year, all 7 guys are under team control for 3+ years after this one.

That's ignoring Saad (who will almost certainly be gone before Stenberg is NHL ready) and Schenn (who will be here, but maybe still at center and/or maybe sliding further and further down the lineup toward the 4th line like Steen did late in his career.

Even assuming Saad and Schenn aren't part of the equation in the top 9 wing group, you still need to make a move if all the highly regarded prospects hit. That's one reason Kyrou is involved in so many proposals. We have an abundance of young wing skill in the organization and his NTC kicks in 7/1/25. If he is the guy you'd want to trade in the medium-to-long term, his value will never be higher than it is before that NTC kicks in. If you don't move him before July 1st, then the guy who gets traded will be one of the youngsters that is currently in a state of potentiality.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Just to build off of this.

I think we end up moving Bolduc+Buchinger+another piece for major RHD help before the end of next season.

Rasmus Andersson is potentially available. I don't know how much he makes sense, younger would be more ideal, but maybe it's not such a crazy idea once you look at our forward core and how close some of our big prospects are.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Rasmus Andersson is potentially available. I don't know how much he makes sense, younger would be more ideal, but maybe it's not such a crazy idea once you look at our forward core and how close some of our big prospects are.

I don't think we want to trade a 1st for him when he is UFA at the end of next season. Tho. The contract AAV does work if we move out a small cap dump like Tex

 

[bleedblue1223]

I don't think we want to trade a 1st for him when he is UFA at the end of next season. Tho. The contract AAV does work if we move out a small cap dump like Tex

I just assume anyone we trade significant assets for, is someone we've vetted enough to sign here long-term.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I just assume anyone we trade significant assets for, is someone we've vetted enough to sign here long-term.

Agreed, I just think they will want someone signed long term or someone still on RFA

 

[PocketNines]

Ok but what are they doing with Faulk. Bottom pair?

(If it's for big RHD help and Parayko's still there they have to have a plan for Faulk. Force his minutes down so a trade becomes more attractive? Just asking the question because it's tied up in the RHD idea.)

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Ok but what are they doing with Faulk. Bottom pair?

(If it's for big RHD help and Parayko's still there they have to have a plan for Faulk. Force his minutes down so a trade becomes more attractive? Just asking the question because it's tied up in the RHD idea.)

I think they'll roll 3 RHD like they are rolling Fowler Broberg and Suter until they find a deal for Faulk

 

[bleedblue1223]

Ok but what are they doing with Faulk. Bottom pair?

(If it's for big RHD help and Parayko's still there they have to have a plan for Faulk. Force his minutes down so a trade becomes more attractive? Just asking the question because it's tied up in the RHD idea.)

I'm not sold that we are making a move just yet, unless a team like the Islanders decides to shop Dobson, then you put Faulk on the 3rd pair and just figure it out.

I agree with you though, Faulk's 2.5 remaining seasons does complicate things a bit.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

Friedman said that Thompson almost went to Colorado (around the 14:00 mark)

Makes me wonder if maybe we had a deal on the table for Matt Duchene

 

[bleedblue1223]

Friedman said that Thompson almost went to Colorado (around the 14:00 mark)

Makes me wonder if maybe we had a deal on the table for Matt Duchene

I believe it's referencing how he was almost traded out of Buffalo for like a 5th when he looked like a bust. Could you imagine Thompson on Colorado if they only gave up a meaningless draft pick?

 

[PocketNines]

So the next team that almost trades for him but doesn't is going to win the Cup that year