2024-2025 Blues Trade Proposals Thread.

[ChicagoBlues]

Blasphemy

Yo Mama!

 

[Drubilly]

Yo Mama!

Blasphemingness

 

[BleedBlue14]

JR says in his latest that we could buy, sell, or stand pat, but none of them seem likely. He does think there is a good chance that we either do or don’t trade Schenn.

A+ Journalism. I'd imagine he's been working his tail off this week.

 

[Eldon Reid]

JR says in his latest that we could buy, sell, or stand pat, but none of them seem likely. He does think there is a good chance that we either do or don’t trade Schenn.

That's the greatest journalism I have ever seen!!! I think grade schooler may have done better than that.

 

[Majorityof1]

JR says in his latest that we could buy, sell, or stand pat, but none of them seem likely. He does think there is a good chance that we either do or don’t trade Schenn.

I'm no JR fan at all. To be fair, that's accurate. This is a deadline where anything is possible. Army has been vocally disappointed with the team and core this season, but we have been playing great since the 4N break. Is that enough to change his mind?

If I was a Vegas odds maker, I'd set the odds 20%/20/, etc, on big add/small add/ nothing/ small selll/ big sell. I literally have no clue what we'll do, and I expect what we do may be more driven by what deals are available than anything because we can go any direction.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Anytime Strickland posts something like this, I remember back to him posting about how Leddy would be a good target for the Blues, which at the time seemed weird, and sure enough a day or so later, we traded for Leddy. He's also known to have some "fanboy" moments, like he did with Tkachuk, so it can be hard trying to figure out if he's just a fan speculating or someone that might have some inside knowledge and is being used as a controlled leak.

This is true for multiple reasons though. For the Blues, of course we'd want some vet C to come in, so that next season if Dvorsky makes the team, he'll have less pressure. For the team acquiring Schenn, almost all of them will have to dump salary, Toronto especially. We have been scouting NYI recently too, so it wouldn't shock me if Pageau was someone we'd look at. Toronto has Domi, who is more of a pure offensive guy, and Jarnkrok who is more of a 3rd line winger that can play C.



I think I lean towards, we should sell at least 1 big piece, Schenn being the one that makes sense, and mainly so that we have more assets to use over the summer to upgrade the team for next season. Try to improve our draft position as much as possible, so that maybe we can be lucky in the lotto, and then get a 1st+ to flip for players in a way that Washington did last summer.

 

[StlBigFly]

Anytime Strickland posts something like this, I remember back to him posting about how Leddy would be a good target for the Blues, which at the time seemed weird, and sure enough a day or so later, we traded for Leddy. He's also known to have some "fanboy" moments, like he did with Tkachuk, so it can be hard trying to figure out if he's just a fan speculating or someone that might have some inside knowledge and is being used as a controlled leak.

This is true for multiple reasons though. For the Blues, of course we'd want some vet C to come in, so that next season if Dvorsky makes the team, he'll have less pressure. For the team acquiring Schenn, almost all of them will have to dump salary, Toronto especially. We have been scouting NYI recently too, so it wouldn't shock me if Pageau was someone we'd look at. Toronto has Domi, who is more of a pure offensive guy, and Jarnkrok who is more of a 3rd line winger that can play C.



I think I lean towards, we should sell at least 1 big piece, Schenn being the one that makes sense, and mainly so that we have more assets to use over the summer to upgrade the team for next season. Try to improve our draft position as much as possible, so that maybe we can be lucky in the lotto, and then get a 1st+ to flip for players in a way that Washington did last summer.

I think Andy likes to be the one who knows stuff, and that’s a good trait to have sometimes, so I think out of all the guys like jr, Lou, and those guys that Andy is much more likely to ask or send texts to team personnel, players and agents to get info than the other guys. He does break quite a few stories.

 

[StlBigFly]

Schenn out McLeod / Geekie in? In separate deals?

Challenging to see us fill the slot with a downgrade when we could drag Alexandrov up and manage 20 remaining games.

Would it really be worth it to take a term cap dump back in a Schenn deal that downgraded our center depth for 3 years? I think if we move him then upgrade too.

I am no longer best friends with domi. New best friend McLeod.

 

[Spektre]

I'm no JR fan at all. To be fair, that's accurate. This is a deadline where anything is possible. Army has been vocally disappointed with the team and core this season, but we have been playing great since the 4N break. Is that enough to change his mind?

If I was a Vegas odds maker, I'd set the odds 20%/20/, etc, on big add/small add/ nothing/ small selll/ big sell. I literally have no clue what we'll do, and I expect what we do may be more driven by what deals are available than anything because we can go any direction.

He's not actually a journalist. His journalist role was when he worked for the Post Dispatch. I don't really have an issue with him laying out the facts, but he gives no opinion and then backs it up with x, y, z... It's just boring.

 

[bleedblue1223]

The frustrating part with that article, he titles it, "What I'm hearing about Brayden Schenn...", and he's essentially not hearing anything one way or the other.

 

[Majorityof1]

He's not actually a journalist. His journalist role was when he worked for the Post Dispatch. I don't really have an issue with him laying out the facts, but he gives no opinion and then backs it up with x, y, z... It's just boring.

Oh, no doubt, he's a hack. 100%. I'm just pointing out, this is a case where we could go big, small, or not at all in any direction, and I'd not be at all surprised.

The only thing that would surprise me is going all in on a big name pure rental. But a small rental or a bigger name with term, wouldn't shock me. Nor would selling small pieces or big core pieces. Nor would doing nothing. As rare as they are at the deadline, I wouldn't even be surprised by a hockey trade. It's just really wide open with what we can do at this point

 

[SirPaste]

JR says in his latest that we could buy, sell, or stand pat, but none of them seem likely. He does think there is a good chance that we either do or don’t trade Schenn.

Some ace reporting right there haha

 

[bleedblue1223]

FWIW, and it's probably not much, Pagnotta has us linked to Byram and Power. Feels like every trade deadline or off-season, Army basically tells everyone that he's open to anything, so all the insiders basically think anything can happen, and in fairness it's true. Sometimes it means that we had a high price and no one meets it, and we don't do anything, and sometimes it means we are ultra aggressive with 2 offer-sheets at the same time on the same team.

That's where I'll give someone like JR some grace, there really isn't any inside info to be had, except, anything could happen. We could go ultra aggressive and move someone like Kyrou for Power. We could decide to move Schenn or hold based on his high price. We could simply try and move Faksa. Or we could legitimately hold and see the season out with what we have.

After tonight, we'll probably have a much better idea based on playoff probability, but even playoffs right now feels like a 20% chance. Feels like any direction at this point is like rolling a die and seeing where it lands.

 

[Brian39]

Renting Boesser pro and con list...

Our only true hole in the roster is top 6 scoring from the right side so let’s fill it. Snuggerud will have icetime too. Probably unwise to be like hey college guy good luck with these 17 minutes per game of icetime btw playoff hockey is rough good luck break a leg.

This draft is “weak” and we’re too good to get a bad draft pick so f it.

We could perhaps retain assets if Vancouver would take Texier. Texier plus first for Boesser and a third?

We could attempt to flip Boesser after the postseason for a late round pick. We also could attempt to sign him.

I think giving the team a preview of a full top 6 would give the front office the understanding of its potential.

I understand why we shouldn’t do this. I’d vote yes. It’s kinda degen but also you can either take shots or not.

Cons:

People don’t want to have fun.

It’s “irresponsible”

Other lame reasons I don’t care about

I very, very much disagree that our only true hole in the roster is top 6 scoring from the right side.

Sunny has been great for the last 4 weeks, but I do not at all believe that this is the 'new normal' or that he can be relied on to play that well for another 20 games and into the playoffs. He is simply not a Cup-caliber 3C at this stage of his career and I don't know that he was ever that. I think at his peak, he could slide into a 3C role for stretches on a contending roster that had 3 better centers on the roster. I think our largest hole is still very much at center.

Frankly, I'm not even sure that top 6 scoring from the right side is even a hole in the roster. We currently have Kyrou and Buch playing RW in our top 6. Buch is matching up against other team's top lines and that isn't going to change. He has 5 goals less than Boeser and has never been the goal scorer Boeser is. But he does way more work off the puck than Boeser and has consistently been a better playmaker than Boeser (this year included). Kyrou's 24 goals leads the team and is 6 more than Boeser has this year. He doesn't have the 40 goal season on his resume that Boeser had last season, but his career high is 37 and he has outscored Boeser in 2 of the last 3 seasons. Barring a big change this year, it will become 3 of the last 4 years.

Rental Boeser would not push Kyrou out of the top 6. If we brought in Boeser, he would not push either of our top 2 RWs out of the top 6. Neighbours has been looking good with Buch/Thomas recently, but I think that a top 6 scoring LW to push him to the 3rd line would be a better fit than bringing in another RW. I think there is a real argument that the RW position is our least pressing need in the forward group. I'm not interested in paying the price on Boeser.

 

[StlBigFly]

I very, very much disagree that our only true hole in the roster is top 6 scoring from the right side.

Sunny has been great for the last 4 weeks, but I do not at all believe that this is the 'new normal' or that he can be relied on to play that well for another 20 games and into the playoffs. He is simply not a Cup-caliber 3C at this stage of his career and I don't know that he was ever that. I think at his peak, he could slide into a 3C role for stretches on a contending roster that had 3 better centers on the roster. I think our largest hole is still very much at center.

Frankly, I'm not even sure that top 6 scoring from the right side is even a hole in the roster. We currently have Kyrou and Buch playing RW in our top 6. Buch is matching up against other team's top lines and that isn't going to change. He has 5 goals less than Boeser and has never been the goal scorer Boeser is. But he does way more work off the puck than Boeser and has consistently been a better playmaker than Boeser (this year included). Kyrou's 24 goals leads the team and is 6 more than Boeser has this year. He doesn't have the 40 goal season on his resume that Boeser had last season, but his career high is 37 and he has outscored Boeser in 2 of the last 3 seasons. Barring a big change this year, it will become 3 of the last 4 years.

Rental Boeser would not push Kyrou out of the top 6. If we brought in Boeser, he would not push either of our top 2 RWs out of the top 6. Neighbours has been looking good with Buch/Thomas recently, but I think that a top 6 scoring LW to push him to the 3rd line would be a better fit than bringing in another RW. I think there is a real argument that the RW position is our least pressing need in the forward group. I'm not interested in paying the price on Boeser.

For me it’s the stick handedness for the shot with Thomas’ handedness.

Buch would either stay, move over or he’d be the anchor of a high minute “third line”. IMO he’s place holding rn or the other wing is, either way. It would really depend on what was best, either option would work great. He’d probably be a defender on the pp, sh icetime too, on the ice pretty much most big moments, no demotion.

Maybe you go Buchy with Kyrou, Holloway with the Thomas and shooter, neighbors high minute third line.

The plays we run aren’t going to be the same if there’s a guy who holds the stick with right handedness with Thomas and is a guy we design plays for because he shoots real gud.

All the ways the puck can go beyond the goal line and be passed will be opposite or backhands instead of forehands. The paths the shooters take will be different. It’s not a small change when you think of the detail in things like power play execution or the paths a zone cycle would have to go in order to have created a shot on goal.

I like Tuch but Thomas isn’t really a pressure guy. I think you need a bigger body like Tuch if you are more direct. I think we’d want something like Debrincat. Somebody physical who converts near the net but can be threat from further out too, and a fast shooter. Boesser would be not my preference and I was half kidding when I made that post…nhl trade deadline is fun. I like Snuggerud here I just don’t put expectations on the young guys. Isn’t fair. It isn’t realistic to think a young man in his situation could have the conditioning for a full role. Sure would be cool! And you could do Snuggerud - Thomas - Buchnevich just fine. It doesn’t really matter where they lineup or what their wing is called, it’s about where the shot is passed from and taken from, the process before that to generate the shot.

 

[SirPaste]

FWIW, and it's probably not much, Pagnotta has us linked to Byram and Power. Feels like every trade deadline or off-season, Army basically tells everyone that he's open to anything, so all the insiders basically think anything can happen, and in fairness it's true. Sometimes it means that we had a high price and no one meets it, and we don't do anything, and sometimes it means we are ultra aggressive with 2 offer-sheets at the same time on the same team.

That's where I'll give someone like JR some grace, there really isn't any inside info to be had, except, anything could happen. We could go ultra aggressive and move someone like Kyrou for Power. We could decide to move Schenn or hold based on his high price. We could simply try and move Faksa. Or we could legitimately hold and see the season out with what we have.

After tonight, we'll probably have a much better idea based on playoff probability, but even playoffs right now feels like a 20% chance. Feels like any direction at this point is like rolling a die and seeing where it lands.

Never been super high on Power, feel like he gets by on reputation and where he was drafted but every time Ive watched him play I was very underwhelmed. Not saying I would hate to have him but I certainly am not paying a high price to acquire him.

I think the Blues are going to hold and see if they can make a run with what they got. Small chance a younger player with a bit of control shakes loose but other than that I would not be giving up any assets to add anything. I also wouldn't sell Schenn/Binny at this point unless completely blown away by an offer, would do a lot of damage in the locker room IMO after this little run they've had.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Looking at the forward group for next season, I honestly see 1 hole, and that's #2 C. That spot will either be Schenn or someone else. Now, I'm making an assumption that Snuggerud and Dvorsky are both on the team, which I'd agree is somewhat of a strong assumption, maybe it's more likely that 1 starts on the team, but both will be here soon.

C: Thomas, Schenn/X, Dvorsky
LW: Neighbours, Holloway, Bolduc
RW: Buchnevich, Kyrou, Snuggerud

4th line: Toropchenko-Sundqvist-Joseph

I think Sunny works as a #3 C in shorter spurts, like the one he is on now, but I don't think over an 82 game stretch he is. I do think he's a great #4 C, especially at his contract. I'm fine mixing the wingers up, Joseph has been good lately, Toropchenko won't have as low of a shooting % moving forward, Walker will be around and he consistently brings what he brings.

It's possible the top 9 changes with any sort of major move, and I'm not saying it's good to go for playoffs, but if Dvorsky and Snuggerud prove they are ready in camp, then it's time to start their NHL development. With Holloway's breakout, I like that each position has someone that can produce 1st line quality numbers, and Monty has parts to work with.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Never been super high on Power, feel like he gets by on reputation and where he was drafted but every time Ive watched him play I was very underwhelmed. Not saying I would hate to have him but I certainly am not paying a high price to acquire him.

I think the Blues are going to hold and see if they can make a run with what they got. Small chance a younger player with a bit of control shakes loose but other than that I would not be giving up any assets to add anything. I also wouldn't sell Schenn/Binny at this point unless completely blown away by an offer, would do a lot of damage in the locker room IMO after this little run they've had.

If we sent Schenn to Tampa for Geekie, I think room would understand and be happy for him. Or Vegas for Roy+. If we send him to Jets for pure futures, less so.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Never been super high on Power, feel like he gets by on reputation and where he was drafted but every time Ive watched him play I was very underwhelmed. Not saying I would hate to have him but I certainly am not paying a high price to acquire him.

I think the Blues are going to hold and see if they can make a run with what they got. Small chance a younger player with a bit of control shakes loose but other than that I would not be giving up any assets to add anything. I also wouldn't sell Schenn/Binny at this point unless completely blown away by an offer, would do a lot of damage in the locker room IMO after this little run they've had.

I agree. He has great offensive metrics, is terrible defensively, but with Dahlin he's not able to play the role he's meant for. Is he a Dougie Hamilton that needs that change and for a team to understand who he is, or is he just someone that always leaves you wanting more and never puts it together. I see both sides on that one.

If I'm making a massive bet on Power or Byram, I'm leaning Power though.

 

[bleedblue1223]

And there has been 0 smoke to this, but with Ellis' continued form and knowing that he's on some sort of a clock like Ben Bishop was here, part of me wonders if Hofer is a bit more available than all of us would have assumed. Is it possible that we go with Binnington and Ellis moving forward? Or maybe we view Ellis as a trade chip?

Something will happen here, but it feels like everything else with the team, I could see them going in any direction.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

FWIW, and it's probably not much, Pagnotta has us linked to Byram and Power. Feels like every trade deadline or off-season, Army basically tells everyone that he's open to anything, so all the insiders basically think anything can happen, and in fairness it's true. Sometimes it means that we had a high price and no one meets it, and we don't do anything, and sometimes it means we are ultra aggressive with 2 offer-sheets at the same time on the same team.

That's where I'll give someone like JR some grace, there really isn't any inside info to be had, except, anything could happen. We could go ultra aggressive and move someone like Kyrou for Power. We could decide to move Schenn or hold based on his high price. We could simply try and move Faksa. Or we could legitimately hold and see the season out with what we have.

After tonight, we'll probably have a much better idea based on playoff probability, but even playoffs right now feels like a 20% chance. Feels like any direction at this point is like rolling a die and seeing where it lands.

He describes this in his new book ‘GM Oscura’.

 

[Reality Czech]

I think Andy likes to be the one who knows stuff, and that’s a good trait to have sometimes, so I think out of all the guys like jr, Lou, and those guys that Andy is much more likely to ask or send texts to team personnel, players and agents to get info than the other guys. He does break quite a few stories.

I'm biased because I'm a fan of his and listener to his podcast but there's no doubt he's well connected. He travels with the team and knows a whole bunch of Blues players and personnel, both past and present. He's alluded to the fact that there's plenty of things he's heard but won't report for various reasons, especially if it will put someone in a tough spot or if it was off the record.

Sure, he's been wrong about things too but that will happen when you're on the air for several hours each week. The Tkachuk thing was more his own opinion than based on any specific Intel, but he's also talks with the Tkachuk family. We probably were 2nd or 3rd in the running to get him. The Schenn tweet seems more speculation than a sign a trade is imminent.

 

[LetsGoBooze]

FWIW, and it's probably not much, Pagnotta has us linked to Byram and Power. Feels like every trade deadline or off-season, Army basically tells everyone that he's open to anything, so all the insiders basically think anything can happen, and in fairness it's true. Sometimes it means that we had a high price and no one meets it, and we don't do anything, and sometimes it means we are ultra aggressive with 2 offer-sheets at the same time on the same team.

That's where I'll give someone like JR some grace, there really isn't any inside info to be had, except, anything could happen. We could go ultra aggressive and move someone like Kyrou for Power. We could decide to move Schenn or hold based on his high price. We could simply try and move Faksa. Or we could legitimately hold and see the season out with what we have.

After tonight, we'll probably have a much better idea based on playoff probability, but even playoffs right now feels like a 20% chance. Feels like any direction at this point is like rolling a die and seeing where it lands.

You nailed why i'll never go in on Strick, JR, or Lou. These guys get fed nearly zero insider info because the management group is so tight-lipped. Therefore, in their "reporting" they have to speculate quite a bit even to have stories or write articles. Its honestly a tough spot to be, but if thats how DA likes to run his organization we have to accept were not gonna get many, if any details on things ahead of time, or deals that fell through.

 

[LetsGoBooze]

Deadline deal-maker to remain competitive, but also with an eye on the future:

Schenn (1mill retained) for a 2025 1st and B-tier prospect

Stl 2025 1st (top 10 protected) and C-tier prospect for Pavel Zacha

Stl comes away with still having a 1st, albeit most likely later, an upgraded prospect, AND Zacha for the next 2.5 years at a cheaper AAV than Schenn, even with the retention included ontop of Zacha.

 

[Majorityof1]

Deadline deal-maker to remain competitive, but also with an eye on the future:

Schenn (1mill retained) for a 2025 1st and B-tier prospect

Stl 2025 1st (top 10 protected) and C-tier prospect for Pavel Zacha

Stl comes away with still having a 1st, albeit most likely later, an upgraded prospect, AND Zacha for the next 2.5 years at a cheaper AAV than Schenn, even with the retention included ontop of Zacha.

Schenn to Zacha seems lateral on the ice. We'd upgrade a C-prospect, but downgrade our 1st. The prospect would still just be a B-tier prospect though. I'd rather have the higher first.

It seems to be a trade that messes with our chemistry and leadership structure for no real gains. The cap gains aren't that much especially in light that our cap structure is pretty good moving forward. I don't like it