2024-2025 Blues Trade Proposals Thread.

[Snubbed4Vezina]

If fans really want to cheer themselves up, just consider Fowler our deadline deal. How smart was it for Armstrong to get him when he did instead of paying the high prices yesterday to add a top 4 guy? In retrospect, Fowler was a crazy bargain.

Fowler + Broberg + Holloway added to this team in 8 months for:

Paul Fischer
Jeremie Biakabutuka
2025 2nd Round Pick
2025 3rd Round Pick
2027 2nd Round Pick
2028 3rd Round Pick

We've been quite fortunate. Those acquisitions (especially Broberg and Holloway) completely changed the trajectory of this team.

 

[Reality Czech]

Fowler + Broberg + Holloway added to this team in 8 months for:

Paul Fischer
Jeremie Biakabutuka
2025 2nd Round Pick
2025 3rd Round Pick
2027 2nd Round Pick
2028 3rd Round Pick

We've been quite fortunate. Those acquisitions (especially Broberg and Holloway) completely changed the trajectory of this team.

Meanwhile the Leafs paid 2 firsts, Minten and Grebenkin (their 2nd and 5th best prospects according to one list I saw) for Laughton and Carlo.

 

[LogosBlue]

Fowler + Broberg + Holloway added to this team in 8 months for:

Paul Fischer
Jeremie Biakabutuka
2025 2nd Round Pick
2025 3rd Round Pick
2027 2nd Round Pick
2028 3rd Round Pick

We've been quite fortunate. Those acquisitions (especially Broberg and Holloway) completely changed the trajectory of this team.

This is exactly where my mind went yesterday evening. Keep this in mind during the draft as well when we don't have a 2nd or 3rd. We do have these excellent players. They are much more valuable than a 2nd or 3rd.

I was hoping to see some action yesterday (with the Blues being the beneficiary of a sellers market) but i understand the reasoning of why we didn't. First off, i don't blame Schenn for invoking his no trade clause to stop the trade. He got it for a reason and used it. Nuff said. This shows us a couple of things... he likes it in St.Louis and wants to keep his family there. I was wondering if the professional desire to chase another cup (with Berube and a talented Toronto roster) would sway him to choose to leave but i guess it shows his loyalty to the Blues is stronger than his desire to uproot his family and chase another cup in a different city.

UFA's. I'm sure someone offered us something for Suter and Faksa but it wasn't substantial enough to pull the trigger. Just good business on DA's side imo. We won't know what the offers were but i can understand not selling if he wasn't given the price he wanted. With Parayko going down and Faksa being a center, the return would need to be substantial to hamstring the defensive depth and lack thereof at center.

 

[Reality Czech]

This is exactly where my mind went yesterday evening. Keep this in mind during the draft as well when we don't have a 2nd or 3rd. We do have these excellent players. They are much more valuable than a 2nd or 3rd.

I was hoping to see some action yesterday (with the Blues being the beneficiary of a sellers market) but i understand the reasoning of why we didn't. First off, i don't blame Schenn for invoking his no trade clause to stop the trade. He got it for a reason and used it. Nuff said. This shows us a couple of things... he likes it in St.Louis and wants to keep his family there. I was wondering if the professional desire to chase another cup (with Berube and a talented Toronto roster) would sway him to choose to leave but i guess it shows his loyalty to the Blues is stronger than his desire to uproot his family and chase another cup in a different city.

UFA's. I'm sure someone offered us something for Suter and Faksa but it wasn't substantial enough to pull the trigger. Just good business on DA's side imo. We won't know what the offers were but i can understand not selling if he wasn't given the price he wanted. With Parayko going down and Faksa being a center, the return would need to be substantial to hamstring the defensive depth and lack thereof at center.

Well said. It's hard to truly judge Army without knowing what discussions were had and what offers there may have been. I have no doubt he was working the phones all day, but looking at the deals made I'm not sure if I'd want the Blues to be in on any of them.

It's kind of funny that neither Schenn nor ROR want any part of that Toronto circus even though they have a strong team and I'm sure both have a great relationship with Berube. It really does seem that our current team is very close off the ice and obviously Schenn is quite comfortable here. That's not something you easily give up, even for let's say a 10% chance of winning another Cup.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

This is exactly where my mind went yesterday evening. Keep this in mind during the draft as well when we don't have a 2nd or 3rd. We do have these excellent players. They are much more valuable than a 2nd or 3rd.

I was hoping to see some action yesterday (with the Blues being the beneficiary of a sellers market) but i understand the reasoning of why we didn't. First off, i don't blame Schenn for invoking his no trade clause to stop the trade. He got it for a reason and used it. Nuff said. This shows us a couple of things... he likes it in St.Louis and wants to keep his family there. I was wondering if the professional desire to chase another cup (with Berube and a talented Toronto roster) would sway him to choose to leave but i guess it shows his loyalty to the Blues is stronger than his desire to uproot his family and chase another cup in a different city.

UFA's. I'm sure someone offered us something for Suter and Faksa but it wasn't substantial enough to pull the trigger. Just good business on DA's side imo. We won't know what the offers were but i can understand not selling if he wasn't given the price he wanted. With Parayko going down and Faksa being a center, the return would need to be substantial to hamstring the defensive depth and lack thereof at center.

Is there a link or direct quote from Schenn or Armstrong that he invoked his no trade clause? I'm just curious. If any of them said it directly and not the media. I haven't seen where Armstrong or Schenn have said it.

 

[LGB]

The idea of trading Kyrou for a young RHD this offseason is starting to look very appealing to me. I think Holloway has surpassed him as our second best forward. Bolduc and Neighbours keep getting better, while Snuggerud and Stenberg will be arriving soon. We’ll have the horses to fill out a quality top 9 without him. If we can get a really good young defenseman I think it would set us back minimally next season and set us up much better long term.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Is there a link or direct quote from Schenn or Armstrong that he invoked his no trade clause? I'm just curious. If any of them said it directly and not the media. I haven't seen where Armstrong or Schenn have said it.

No, and Army will never give a direct answer on that. What was reported in media was also somewhat vague and can be interpreted in 2 ways. Either there was a deal and Schenn turned rejected Toronto, or Toronto had a time limit for how long they would spend on Schenn, never got an indication that we'd accept a deal or if he'd even waive if they got a deal accepted, so they pivoted to plan B. Earlier in the day, someone mentioned that Burke said the deal was basically done, but I haven't seen any clip or quote of that to know.

I'd assume based on what Toronto spent, they were willing to meet Army's price, whatever it was, but that's all speculation and we'll never know.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

81-10-25 has insane chemistry and is constantly one of the only lines that can produce offense night in and night out, let's trade 2/3rds of it away

 

[BlueMed]

The idea of trading Kyrou for a young RHD this offseason is starting to look very appealing to me. I think Holloway has surpassed him as our second best forward. Bolduc and Neighbours keep getting better, while Snuggerud and Stenberg will be arriving soon. We’ll have the horses to fill out a quality top 9 without him. If we can get a really good young defenseman I think it would set us back minimally next season and set us up much better long term.

That depends on the young defenseman. If he is unproven (young prospect), I would NOT be interested in trading Kyrou for him. Our current core group of forwards are Thomas, Buch, Kyrou, Holloway, and +/- Neighbours. There's no super elite forward in there but if Dvorsky and Snuggerud can turn into 50-60 point forwards in the next 1-2 years, then you have a legit squad. The Blues are 15th overall in goals for this season currently (while tied for 2nd in most games played). Ideally, if Kyrou is traded, it's for a forward better than him (Brady Tkachuk?) or a young defenseman better than what Broberg will become.

 

[LetsGoBooze]

The idea of trading Kyrou for a young RHD this offseason is starting to look very appealing to me. I think Holloway has surpassed him as our second best forward. Bolduc and Neighbours keep getting better, while Snuggerud and Stenberg will be arriving soon. We’ll have the horses to fill out a quality top 9 without him. If we can get a really good young defenseman I think it would set us back minimally next season and set us up much better long term.

This. I just stated something very similar in the prospects thread. If we can get a young, top 4 D, preferably RD, Kyrou holds the value for a really solid return. Trading him pre-NTC opens up a lot of suitors, Buffalo included. Not advocating for a prospect or magic beans but rather an established Dman like Byram, Power, or Dobson.

 

[sfvega]

This. I just stated something very similar in the prospects thread. If we can get a young, top 4 D, preferably RD, Kyrou holds the value for a really solid return. Trading him pre-NTC opens up a lot of suitors, Buffalo included. Not advocating for a prospect or magic beans but rather an established Dman like Byram, Power, or Dobson.

Kyrou is one of my favorite Blues, but if Power is on the table for him (admittedly a big if) then it's a yes.

 

[LetsGoBooze]

Kyrou is one of my favorite Blues, but if Power is on the table for him (admittedly a big if) then it's a yes.

Im sure any big deal there will be adds from one side or another, but as foundational pieces, Kyrou holds good value. Im with you, i'd happily give up Kyrou+, for a massive D upgrade.

 

[BlueDream]

You obviously didn’t read the part where I literally said:

I think it’s great that you don’t think there’s anything we could have done to improve yesterday though

But just putting that line in your post doesn’t change the fact that you literally were doing that. You were asking for some type of trade - any trade at all. The Thunderbirds roster is pretty full (although you did get your wish on them acquiring someone). The Blues are in a position where it didn’t really make sense to buy nor sell. Our UFAs weren’t bringing back anything of value, so I’m completely fine with standing pat.

——

(Now for my general thought that isn’t directed at you):

I’m extremely happy that Schenn is still here. I love his quote saying he didn’t want to quit on his teammates and go somewhere else during this playoff push. Say what you want about him but he says time and time again how much he loves it here and I personally love having that guy as our captain. Someone that values what he has here instead of just chasing another Cup is pretty cool and I respect him a ton for what he’s done for this organization. And he still provides a lot of value to this team, which is great to see considering we had posters on here all offseason calling him a 4th liner and how him and Kyrou apparently would never work together. Imagine that.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

But just putting that line in your post doesn’t change the fact that you literally were doing that. You were asking for some type of trade - any trade at all. The Thunderbirds roster is pretty full (although you did get your wish on them acquiring someone). The Blues are in a position where it didn’t really make sense to buy nor sell. Our UFAs weren’t bringing back anything of value, so I’m completely fine with standing pat.

Yes, but crucially, not “any trade at all” just to say you made one. That’s absurd.

I explained it in the TBirds thread, but my point is: if you believe there wasn’t anything we could have done to improve the organization last week, I simply disagree. For example, Addison improves our AHL roster. I think that matters, and I’m comfortable knowing that I probably think that matters more than most do. But he was also FREE.

Example two: Nobody paid much attention when we signed Matt Luff earlier this season, but he’s been a leader down there, and he’s given our prospects a fighting chance at a successful season.

Tinkering just to tinker doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. But to say that any tinkering in of itself is just “a trade to make a trade” is absurd wild oversimplification of my point. There is always some way you can improve something in your roster, or your farm system, or your prospect pool. Standing completely pat says “nah, we’re perfect, nothing more could be done to improve.” I disagree that that’s the case, and the Addison trade sort of proves my point.

 

[BlueDream]

Yes, but crucially, not “any trade at all” just to say you made one. That’s absurd.

I explained it in the TBirds thread, but my point is: if you believe there wasn’t anything we could have done to improve the organization last week, I simply disagree. For example, Addison improves our AHL roster. I think that matters, and I’m comfortable knowing that I probably think that matters more than most do. But he was also FREE.

Example two: Nobody paid much attention when we signed Matt Luff earlier this season, but he’s been a leader down there, and he’s given our prospects a fighting chance at a successful season.

Tinkering just to tinker doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. But to say that any tinkering in of itself is just “a trade to make a trade” is absurd wild oversimplification of my point. There is always some way you can improve something in your roster, or your farm system, or your prospect pool. Standing completely pat says “nah, we’re perfect, nothing more could be done to improve.” I disagree that that’s the case, and the Addison trade sort of proves my point.

But that’s ignoring the risk of it. By trying to do that, you also might lose the trade and be weakening your roster, or farm system, or prospect pool.

If there was “always some way” to improve your organization, then why not make a trade every single day? Or every week? It doesn’t work like that.

I think by saying something like “man I can’t believe a team did NOTHING. Not even a single trade!” is what is an oversimplification. GMs are constantly talking to each other. I promise they’ve looked at more scenarios and options than you can think of, so if a team didn’t make a move, it’s because of the reason above. The potential reward wasn’t greater than the risk.

 

[Reality Czech]

Yes, but crucially, not “any trade at all” just to say you made one. That’s absurd.

I explained it in the TBirds thread, but my point is: if you believe there wasn’t anything we could have done to improve the organization last week, I simply disagree. For example, Addison improves our AHL roster. I think that matters, and I’m comfortable knowing that I probably think that matters more than most do. But he was also FREE.

Example two: Nobody paid much attention when we signed Matt Luff earlier this season, but he’s been a leader down there, and he’s given our prospects a fighting chance at a successful season.

Tinkering just to tinker doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. But to say that any tinkering in of itself is just “a trade to make a trade” is absurd wild oversimplification of my point. There is always some way you can improve something in your roster, or your farm system, or your prospect pool. Standing completely pat says “nah, we’re perfect, nothing more could be done to improve.” I disagree that that’s the case, and the Addison trade sort of proves my point.

If you're complaining about Army not making a trade to improve the AHL team's bottom 6, it might be time to turn off the internet for awhile.

Obviously there are plenty of teams that didn't make any moves this past week and I doubt any of them think their team's are perfect.

 

[StlBigFly]

I wonder if there is a cost to ripping off other teams. We’ve certainly had our losing trades but some of our wins are real black eyes on our trade partners. I wonder if these types of things motivate others to shop with caution.

Getting Broberg and Holloway the way we did, Edmonton is going to be trolled for a decade… Buchnevich before that, the RoR trade - although Tage is working now…that was a massive fail trade for years. lol Berglund noped out, Sobotka sucked for them, although I do recall I feel he skated a lot of defensive minutes for them so that part is probably ok.

The only thing I wanted from the deadline was no blatant error so I’m happy. I think if I had any ask it would have been Luke Schenn? Only because of entertainment not team management.

I think Luke went for a 2nd and 4th? That’s a bit too much for me, but sure would have been nice if he were cheaper and brought in just for funsies. Schenn bro playoff push would have been entertaining.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

If you're complaining about Army not making a trade to improve the AHL team's bottom 6, it might be time to turn off the internet for awhile.

Obviously there are plenty of teams that didn't make any moves this past week and I doubt any of them think their team's are perfect.

You are straw-manning me so hard dude. If you disagree, that's fine, but there's no reason to invent a version of what I said that makes you feel better about it. Neither of Matt Luff or Calen Addison are bottom-6ers, and I think you know that, but it's not even the point. If you disagree that the quality of our AHL squad matters, good on ya, but I think you're wrong.

As for your second point, we were one of three teams league-wide to do nothing last week: us, Calgary, and Vancouver. Both us and VAN made AHL transactions (they traded for Khaira). I agree that none of those rosters are perfect, but let's not pretend like Doug was part of the majority last week. "Plenty of teams"... come on man.

 

[Quaz]

T-Birds picked up Dman Calen Addison who should help their playoff push big time!

 

[LGB]

Nemec's third period-

Nemec being lazy and cavalier



Nemec being slow to process, getting out positioned and out muscled by Cole perfetti, who isn't exactly Matthew tkachuk:




Lol, okay dude:

This is really ugly from Nemec. Doesn’t look like a guy I’d want on our team.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

This is really ugly from Nemec. Doesn’t look like a guy I’d want on our team.

Ugh.

 

[TheOrganist]

Ya, I was one of the ones pushing for at least the concept of a Nemec trade but he’s getting panned on the prospects board and I can see why. Ugly.

 

[LetsGoBooze]

For the right price, i'd still add him and try to develop him further. Could just need a change of scenery and new motivation. But im in no way sending one of our top prospects for him. I'd do Ralph and an even lower tier guy. It would be nice to get a PP QB, but they have to atleast be serviceable 2way.

 

[Xerloris]

This is really ugly from Nemec. Doesn’t look like a guy I’d want on our team.

Eh what do you expect when they barely let the guy play. I've seen Parayko make bad plays to. The real teller is how often will Nemec have nights like that? Who the f*** knows as long as they only give him a few games a year

 

[bleedblue1223]

He's in a similar situation as David Jiricek and Broberg before we got him. I think right now we are riding the high of Broberg and thinking most top prospects just need a change of scenery, but plenty of those guys do genuinely flop. Boqvist was a recent top 10 pick that flopped, Drysdale and Korchinski are guys that aren't developing, Juolevi was another top pick that busted.

This is why any suggestion of Kyrou for Mercer+Nemec is just a bad idea. Both of those guys are either trending down or stagnating. Similar to Broberg, Nemec or those guys can make sense, but only when the value is cheap.

The key is finding the guys that are under-utilized and have more to give. Broberg played on his off-side, never got much consistency, so you could see where there was potential. Or finding a guy like Dunn when he was here, where for whatever reason, he just couldn't get the role he was meant for, despite pretty decent stats.

I'd absolutely still take the risk on a guy like Nemec, but I still wouldn't be offering up Kyrou or Dvorsky or Snuggerud. The benefit that we have, we have a clear role for an offensive minded defenseman. We have a Parayko pair to shelter them during 5v5, and we have a wide open path for a PP QB. That's hard to have on a contending team. I think at the draft, things can get a bit more interesting with our 1st round pick, assuming it's in that 12-16 range, where it carries value, but the prospect will be a lot easier to trade.