2024-2025 Blues Trade Proposals Thread.

[Mike Liut]

I would be interested to know why Stenberg has significantly higher upside than Neighbours? WJC doesn't matter because if Stenberg was Canadian he might not have played either.

I am not a Stenberg expert, but I’d be thrilled if he is as good as Neighbors.

 

[Stealth JD]

I would be interested to know why Stenberg has significantly higher upside than Neighbours? WJC doesn't matter because if Stenberg was Canadian he might not have played either.

If Stenberg were Canadian, he could've been taken top-15 though as well....
Who knows what his Junior production might have looked like.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

People are reinventing the definitions of words all the time now. We might as well make up new words too!

English is a plastic language, MosDef.

 

[ezcreepin]

English is a plastic language, MosDef.

It's how language works, whether fortunate or unfortunate that is.

 

[Xerloris]

People are reinventing the definitions of words all the time now. We might as well make up new words too!

Well people are making up genders and all words are made up anyway so why not make some new one?

 

[Beninnola]

Could you all see us pursue Pastrnak if Boston put him on the market?

If the offseason sees Marner, pasta, and previously Rantanen move - that’s a whole lot of the top 10 wingers in the game moving in a single year.

Maybe Utah would be a team that looked at this. And Anahiem maybe. Chicago or Carolina maybe. Maybe isn’t the best fit for us.

 

[Dr Robot]

Could you all see us pursue Pastrnak if Boston put him on the market?

If the offseason sees Marner, pasta, and previously Rantanen move - that’s a whole lot of the top 10 wingers in the game moving in a single year.

Maybe Utah would be a team that looked at this. And Anahiem maybe. Chicago or Carolina maybe. Maybe isn’t the best fit for us.

If Pasta moves then it means they are also selling McAvoy and doing a full teardown. I think McAvoy would be our preference of the two but the price will be absurd. I haven’t kept tabs on Hampus Lindholm(Defense) but he might be an under the radar trade target.

 

[Beninnola]

If Pasta moves then it means they are also selling McAvoy and doing a full teardown. I think McAvoy would be our preference of the two but the price will be absurd. I haven’t kept tabs on Hampus Lindholm(Defense) but he might be an under the radar trade target.

I would be funny if they unloaded both Lindholms in a package deal.

 

[The Note]

Pasta’s a great player but the price would be astronomical and winger is about the last position the Blues should be trading major assets for.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

If Pasta moves then it means they are also selling McAvoy and doing a full teardown. I think McAvoy would be our preference of the two but the price will be absurd. I haven’t kept tabs on Hampus Lindholm(Defense) but he might be an under the radar trade target.

I can’t see Bruins doing anything remotely like that. They want to reload and get back in playoffs next year. Swayman will be better, and if the 2 d are healthy it could happen.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

If Pasta moves then it means they are also selling McAvoy and doing a full teardown. I think McAvoy would be our preference of the two but the price will be absurd. I haven’t kept tabs on Hampus Lindholm(Defense) but he might be an under the radar trade target.

I would agree on McAvoy. Pasta is incredible. But I truly think we need another top pair defender to be real contenders.

 

[PeoriaBlues309]

If Charlie were on the market whatsoever, I’d move A LOT for him.

A top 4 of McAvoy, Parayko, Broberg, and Fowler would be very, very good.

 

[Brian39]

I probably wouldn't be interested in Pasta at the price it would almost certainly require. He is clearly an upgrade over every RW in our system, but RW is not an area of need on our team. Kyrou has turned into a truly awesome player, Buch is still a damn good player, and Snuggy is looking like a really nice young player. You don't get Pasta without giving up a package that hurts and I don't really want to give up a painful package to upgrade the RW position. After that trade, I'd still want to get better at C and D, but all the assets to make that improvement would be gone.

I'd give up a painful package for McAvoy though. I love his game, he's young enough to fill a roster need for the 5 years left on his contract, his AAV is perfectly reasonable, and stylistically I think he'd be a great fit as the 'other' RD in the top 4 along with Parayko. Obviously my preference would be an ROR-style deal where we get to protect our favorite 2-3 prospects by giving them the 2025 1st, the 2026 1st, their pick of their favorite prospect other than our protected prospects, a lesser (but not throwaway) prospect, Leddy, and whichever of Joseph/Texier they want to try as a reclamation cap dump. I'd give up a massive quantity of 'good' futures to retain a prospect we view as potentially great. But push comes to shove there isn't much in the organization that would be truly off the table if they wanted less quantity and more quality.

But you can add me to the pile of voices who don't think Boston has any interest in a full-blown rebuild where they make Pasta or McAvoy available. Right or wrong, I think that they will largely throw this season into the garbage in terms of 'who are we as a franchise' planning.

H Lindholm only played 17 games and the wheels didn't really fall off that team until McAvoy got hurt. Carlo was traded shortly following the McAvoy injury too, so the large bulk of their 'one of the worst teams in the league' caliber play came once the blueline was left without all 3.

Regardless of your opinion on Swayman or the contract, the talent is very clearly there and I there are plenty of examples of guys struggling all year when they miss camp. Even more examples of talented goalies who struggle in the adjustment to true #1 before dialing it in long-term. Again, right or wrong, I think that they will absolutely give him 2025/26 to decide whether they have the franchise goalie to retool around or whether a full scale tear down is needed.

E Lindholm hasn't fit offensively there, but he is still very much a middle-or-top-6 center overall. He's only 30, this is year 1 of his deal, and if he is movable they certainly wouldn't get good value for him. Again, I think it makes tons of sense to give him 2025/26 to turn it around and write this year off as an adjustment period. Geekie has been pretty good for them and is only 26. Mittlestadt is 26 and a reclamation project. Pasta is 28, McAvoy is 27. Swayman is 26. They added a 1st, a couple 2nds, and Minten at the deadline too, so they added some futures. They have put themselves into position to get a really nice prospect in this year's draft too. They have $27M in cap space and really only have modest raises due internally, so they have the ability to add.

I think there is enough there for them to use 2025/26 as a year to evaluate/rehabilitate some pieces with an eye towards jumping back into the pack of good teams for 2026/27 when Pasta is still only 30, McAvoy is 29, and Swayman is 28. Those aren't unreasonable ages to be reopening a window given their talent levels. Maybe 2025/26 is another disaster for them and they change course, but all 3 have NMCs and tons of term, so I really don't see any urgency to move them now.

 

[BleedBlue14]

I don't see Boston tearing it to the ground. They did a really good job of getting decent picks/prospects this deadline and capitalizing on a seller's market and only moving out supplementary pieces while doing so who aren't that large of a loss.

They could very reasonably turn things around next season if they added a guy like Tavares if he leaves Toronto. It would be a pretty good fit for them too to be honest.

I think if they could they would ship out E. Lindholm. I've never been too impressed by his play outside of when he was surrounded by Johnny Hockey and Matthew Tkachuk, which I'd imagine wasn't too hard to do with those types of players on your wings.

As to the full conversation I'd unload a good chunk of our future for McAvoy, I'm not sure I would be too interested in Pastrnak even though he's a world class winger. It's just not a need for them right now. Thomas looks like he can be an 80-90 point matchup center with Buchy and either Neighbors or one of our other young wingers on a line. Holloway and Kyrou have pretty undeniable chemistry and are a fantastic 2nd line. Adding a guy like Pasta could enhance the Thomas line, but that line really clicks when Thomas has the puck most of the time, I'm not sure where that would fit in with adding a Pastrnak.

McAvoy however would solve our one glaring hole for the next 5-7 years. At that point aside from juggling the cap I'm not sure we'd need to add much externally from the outside minus a 2nd pairing defenseman or two depending on how Colt ages and some bottom 6 players as guys need to get raises and inevitably price themselves out (assuming all goes as well for our youth as it has to this point).

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

We have a plethora of good prospects in our system right now and McAvoy is exactly the type of player that I'd move some of them for.

 

[The Note]

Boston’s got 3 picks in the first two rounds of the next 3 drafts, including what will be likely be a top 5 pick in this draft. They’ve already accumulated a ton of draft capital, they don’t even really have to “tear it down” to have an eye to the future. Can’t imagine a world where McAvoy becomes available, barring him requesting out which also seems far fetched. He’s absolutely a guy you go all in for should he be on the market.

 

[Blanick]

I agree with others in this thread. I just don't see Boston selling off yet. They have some real solid prospects to add over the next few years and do a retool similar to the Blues.

 

[Beninnola]

On the current theme:

If there’s no McAvoy available…

I feel the other choices are a bit worse in their own way, but include:

Fox - 27 y/o 9.5AAV for 4 more years

Hamilton - 31 y/o 9AAV for 3 more years

Dobson - 25 y/o rfa

Bouchard - 25 y/o rfa

Letang/EK - 38 y/o and 35 y/o. Letang is 6.2 aav. EK has whatever retention and is 11.5 before it.

Sanhiem* - plays offside - does the current Leddy experiment encourage this? 29 y/o 6.25 for 6 more years

(Work in progress, at work will add a few more if they come to mind)

I think Bouchard maybe the second best choice behind McAvoy? Or maybe sanhiem? Dobson feels like he’d be stupid expensive.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Bouchard would be stupid expensive too, and part of me is scared to see what he looks like away from McDavid and Draisaitl.

 

[Brian39]

On the current theme:

If there’s no McAvoy available…

I feel the other choices are a bit worse in their own way, but include:

Fox - 27 y/o 9.5AAV for 4 more years

Hamilton - 31 y/o 9AAV for 3 more years

Dobson - 25 y/o rfa

Bouchard - 25 y/o rfa

Letang/EK - 38 y/o and 35 y/o. Letang is 6.2 aav. EK has whatever retention and is 11.5 before it.

Sanhiem* - plays offside - does the current Leddy experiment encourage this? 29 y/o 6.25 for 6 more years

(Work in progress, at work will add a few more if they come to mind)

I think Bouchard maybe the second best choice behind McAvoy? Or maybe sanhiem? Dobson feels like he’d be stupid expensive.

I think that Hamilton is the most realistic to actually get moved (or at least moved for a price that I don't hate).

Like Boston, I don't see the Rangers completely blowing up the team yet. They just extended Shesterkin in December. In January they acquired JT Miller and acquired/extended Borgen. I just don't see them blowing it up by trading their best D man half a year later. He's young enough that he will still be a really good player whenever they are ready to contend again and his desire to get to the Rangers to start his career certainly suggests that he'll be willing to extend when the time comes.

I don't see Edmonton letting Bouchard walk. They have left plenty of cap space for next season to extend him and then they have massive flexibility for 2026/27 to re-shape the core around a (presumably) extended McDavid. In a worst-case where McDavid rejects a contract and they would want to blow it up, an extended Bouchard wouldn't have trade protection in the summer of 2026 so he could be moved as part of a tear down.

Dobson is intriguing, but I still very much believe that he is trying to get an extension that will be really uncomfortable (or walking himself to UFA if he doesn't get it).

Letang isn't going anywhere while he has a full NMC and Sid is still a Pen. I don't have any real read on Karlsson's desired locations, but he has a full NMC and I'd wager that he'd prefer other destinations.

Sanheim is interesting, but I can't say that I've watched much of Philly while he's been playing his off side. I'm also not sold that Philly is going to be looking to get worse again this summer. He's young enough that he should still very much contribute for them whenever they get back to relevancy.

Hamilton makes a lot of sense for the Devils to move though. His full NMC becomes a 10 team trade list this summer and the Devils now have a glut of RD behind Hamilton (Pesce and Kovacevic locked in long term and Casey/Nemec as high end 21 year olds). Luke Hughes has been a pretty damn good PPQB when he's gotten the opportunity. For whatever it is worth, Quinn made his big leap to 'stud 1D' in his 3rd full NHL season at age 22 and Jack made the leap to ppg+ player in his 3rd full NHL season at age 20. Next year will be Luke's 3rd full season at age 22. Clearing a path for L Hughes to be their undisputed top PP QB and clearing a path for Casey/Nemec makes a ton of sense. They don't need to clear cap space to give L Hughes his next contract, but they don't have the space to lock him up long term and address much else. You can definitely argue that Hamilton at $9M is a luxury spend that could be better used elsewhere given the construction of the rest of their blue line.

His AAV and term is enough that I think will scare away a good chunk of teams. He had a bad injury last year that limited him to just 20 games and he suffered a (completely separate) season-ender last month. He doesn't munch the minutes that you really want a $9M guy playing, even in a rising cap environment. Like ROR did, he has a large bonus due on 7/1 that I can't imagine the Devils will be eager to pay if they are planning to trade him a couple weeks/months later ($10.55M). I think there is a good chance that his value as a trade asset is much lower than his on-ice value. I think a team willing to pay the bonus and eat the full $9M cap hit could probably get him for a pretty reasonable asset spend. And if the Devils are demanding a premium asset in return, I think they would have to retain some on the AAV to make the cap hit easier on the receiving team.

Hamilton isn't a great fit to address the PK need and maybe we're content with Fowler as the PP QB next year. And he is a short-to-medium term solution and not a long-term one. But he would be a good fit if the plan is to upgrade Faulk without spending premium assets and (assuming Krug is done) we have the cap space to eat a bloated AAV.

 

[Reality Czech]

On the current theme:

If there’s no McAvoy available…

I feel the other choices are a bit worse in their own way, but include:

Fox - 27 y/o 9.5AAV for 4 more years

Hamilton - 31 y/o 9AAV for 3 more years

Dobson - 25 y/o rfa

Bouchard - 25 y/o rfa

Letang/EK - 38 y/o and 35 y/o. Letang is 6.2 aav. EK has whatever retention and is 11.5 before it.

Sanhiem* - plays offside - does the current Leddy experiment encourage this? 29 y/o 6.25 for 6 more years

(Work in progress, at work will add a few more if they come to mind)

I think Bouchard maybe the second best choice behind McAvoy? Or maybe sanhiem? Dobson feels like he’d be stupid expensive.

We're not trading for any of those guys

 

[Beninnola]

We're not trading for any of those guys

That would probably make me happy but I think I’ll need to wait til July 1 to believe.

I’m not thinking Kyrou will be traded but the big change in trade protection has me feeling a lot like how I felt before Snuggerud signed: I had no specific reason to doubt he would sign and I have no specific reason I think Kyrou will be traded. Just was/will be curious until the thing happens or the deadline passes. Once the trade protection kicks in I can happily move on from that speculation.

If Kyrou is involved in a deal I think an nhl defenseman is a likely return.

 

[Reality Czech]

That would probably make me happy but I think I’ll need to wait til July 1 to believe.

I’m not thinking Kyrou will be traded but the big change in trade protection has me feeling a lot like how I felt before Snuggerud signed: I had no specific reason to doubt he would sign and I have no specific reason I think Kyrou will be traded. Just was/will be curious until the thing happens or the deadline passes. Once the trade protection kicks in I can happily move on from that speculation.

If Kyrou is involved in a deal I think an nhl defenseman is a likely return.

It could happen but I think Kyrou has gotten over that hump, especially after listening to Army's recent interview on Spittin Chiclets. I'd never say never though.

I know fans always want that big fish but these sorts of trades rarely happen. I can't see the Rangers trading Fox or the Oilers trading Bouchard (who I wouldn't want anyway at his likely price tag). Paying up the nose for Dobson would also make me nervous on top of the big package required to land him. I think if we trade for a d-man it will be for someone a tier or two below the guys you listed. Our defense has been pretty damn good lately by playing as a solid 5 man unit, so I'm not sure we need a guy on that level anyway.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

It could happen but I think Kyrou has gotten over that hump, especially after listening to Army's recent interview on Spittin Chiclets. I'd never say never though.

I know fans always want that big fish but these sorts of trades rarely happen. I can't see the Rangers trading Fox or the Oilers trading Bouchard (who I wouldn't want anyway at his likely price tag). Paying up the nose for Dobson would also make me nervous on top of the big package required to land him. I think if we trade for a d-man it will be for someone a tier or two below the guys you listed. Our defense has been pretty damn good lately by playing as a solid 5 man unit, so I'm not sure we need a guy on that level anyway.

I think we’ll trade for a Dman who’s already been extended, so that we already know the numbers.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

I will say this... when Parayko went down, we rattled off a twelve (got it right this time) game win streak. When Holloway went down, the wheels started coming off. Part of that is compounding issues, part of that is a testament to how good Hollywood has been for us this year.

We've got young forwards on the way, and Monty seems to like Snuggy in particular, but I think we might have a greater need for a new forward than we do for a new Dman this offseason. Obviously you want to be planning for life after Faulk, Fowler, Leddy, Suter, etc, and we should be doing that too.

I would be in favor of bringing in someone like Donato, Roslovic, or Pius Suter on the high end to hold the line while the young guys rotate in. Especially if we can get them on a 2-year deal. I just don't think it's quite fair to expect Snuggerud, Dvorsky, and/or Stenberg to step in and help the team as top-6 injury fill-ins right now. I want them getting cups of coffee, not having to carry the team through injury trouble. Another capable veteran player would make me feel a lot better about this team's ability to keep growing over the next couple of seasons.