2025 Trade Deadline | Who gets traded?

[Brian39]

Players with as much term left like Binnington, Schenn, Faulk etc rarely ever get moved at the deadline, it would be much likelier for a deal like that to happen in the offseason.

Binner and Faulk only have 2 years left after this one and Schenn has 3.

Hertl went at last year's deadline and he had 6 years of term. The MIttlestadt/Byram trade was 2 days before the deadline last year. Neither had 2+ years of term, but both expire to RFAs and were clearly not rentals. Allen only had 1 more year of term, but that was a deadline trade last year too. The previous season the Canucks traded for Hronek about a week before the deadline. He had a year of term and expired as an RFA after that. A week earlier, the Devils traded for pending RFA Timo Meier with the clear intention to extend him (which they did).

Hell, JT Miller just got moved a couple weeks ago.

Late February up to the deadline is definitely mostly about rentals, but it isn't super rare for buyers to go after guys that can help their team for more than just one playoff push. I don't think a trade is likely and I'd be surprised if Faulk is moved. But I also think that Schenn and Binner are possibly going to be better than any rental that gets moved at their respective positions.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Binner and Faulk only have 2 years left after this one and Schenn has 3.

Hertl went at last year's deadline and he had 6 years of term. The MIttlestadt/Byram trade was 2 days before the deadline last year. Neither had 2+ years of term, but both expire to RFAs and were clearly not rentals. Allen only had 1 more year of term, but that was a deadline trade last year too. The previous season the Canucks traded for Hronek about a week before the deadline. He had a year of term and expired as an RFA after that. A week earlier, the Devils traded for pending RFA Timo Meier with the clear intention to extend him (which they did).

Hell, JT Miller just got moved a couple weeks ago.

Late February up to the deadline is definitely mostly about rentals, but it isn't super rare for buyers to go after guys that can help their team for more than just one playoff push. I don't think a trade is likely and I'd be surprised if Faulk is moved. But I also think that Schenn and Binner are possibly going to be better than any rental that gets moved at their respective positions.

Another thing that helps teams move players with term is being out of the flat cap. So there's less need for cap balancing or retention. In a year, we've gone from San Jose retaining 6.5 years on Hertl to Vancouver not having to retain or take a cap dump to move Miller.

I think we might see 1 guy with term go, and I think it'd be Schenn given how much smoke there is surrounding him currently.

 

[StlBigFly]

I’m sticking with most of my iffy predictions made prior to 4 nations: (note my win rate is very very poor)

Faksa to STL - will be retained. I think they need what he brings. I predict he will be signed within 10 days. 2 years? Something like that. It’ll probably cost more to find a replacement than the return we’d get from trading him at this deadline? Meanwhile Faksa’s agent can use the deadline as the pivot to maximize his clients deal. I don’t think he’s a July 1st guy anymore…he’s gonna go later in ufa probably if he gets there, so the best time to get him signed is probably this tdl when the existing team is evaluating the replacement cost.

Binner traded. I personally think it is very low chance but it’s my guess - I don’t think there’s a massive return but I felt if he went and was a champion then the teams who need a goalie will be hard pressed to pass on him. Opportunity cost type of thing. Trading binner helps the blues by lowering our win expectation the rest of the year = better draft pick. By the time we’re playoff competitive - Binner will be past his productive years. It’s probably best for Binnington to be in the playoff environment.

Faulk to ? - shipped, although I personally think offseason is more likely, I’m guessing because I think it’s on the horizon.

Toropchenko to Toronto - they have a general weakness on their depth chart for this position and it seems reasonable to bring a coach’s plug and play guy. Modest return. But if I were the blues, I’d hold them to a price that wasn’t super modest. This type of deal should be a helpful situation for both parties, not just one.

Schenn to STL: I’ve shifted to thinking Schenn stays. I’m changing my prediction to that even though that shouldn’t be allowed. I don’t think there’s a market for him where a deal could come to exist that would be approved by both sides of a deal. His contract maybe would need to be a bit better or his production a bit higher for the fair price that would have to be paid to make sense.

Suter - I think teams would look here if they had injuries but I’m not up to date on that. I don’t think he will be rented if there is no injury situation? I think he’s not really a guy who works as a 7th or bottom pairing guy maybe? He eats minutes, so he needs a role that does that. I’m guessing no. The bonus pool money that will be due to him isn’t enough to prevent a deal but it’s a thing too. An acquiring team will have that performance bonus hit for their share of his time with them, which may jack their cap situation up next year if they intended to end this year right at the cap.

Bonus prediction area:

Detroit is a wildcard to me. They’ve got to be feeling great about Larkin’s performance at 4 nations, have a mature group, the young defense is growing, they maybe would want a guy with term.

I could imagine a whole bunch of current Blues fitting in with what Detroit has. I think can come up with reasonable trades that involve Binner, Schenn, really most of the term guys mentioned in the rumor mill.

The Jets and Utah are interesting sneaky trade partners too, but I think Steve Yzerman is the most likely unexpected big deal trade partner.

If I absolutely have to pick a specific deal just to have one on the books - and just to keep it simple - I think Detroit would take binner and give us Talbot back. I’d hope we could extract their 2025 first. I think it would be nice to go into the draft with a top 10 pick and a top 25 pick. Binner for Talbot and a 1st isn’t great, but your helping your own pick get better and can use the other one to re-adjust defense if needed. Maybe you move Faulk and the red wing first for a quality depth defenseman or package the first with Schenn to augment his value a little, or maybe you just draft and add to the Swedish mafia.

 

[Renard]

I think Suter might return a bit more than people expect. He's been pretty damn effective as a defensive #4 D man this year and was pretty effective as a defensive #5 D man in the playoffs for Dallas. His on ice play really hasn't been the problem with him that led to 2 buyouts. The issues were locker room related plus his play relative to the amount and remaining term on his contract. The contract concerns are basically non-existent on his current deal and I think that 'being an asshole' is a much lesser concern for a 3 month rental than a guy on your team from the start who has term left on the deal.

He's a #4/5 D man that every single team could fit under the cap. I can't say that I'd prefer Colin MIller or Troy Stretcher to him and they both returned 4ths. Eddy returned a 3rd and a 5th last year and I'm not sure his resume leading up to the deal was better than Suter's. Lyubushkin returned a 3rd last year and I don't think he was playing any better than Suter. If the market this year is similar to last year's, he really should be worth more than a 4th. And if it turns into a seller's market (with a weaker draft) then maybe he even returns a 2nd (very likely with something else going with him). Not a franchise-altering return, but also not a simple late round pick.

I'm wondering if the rest of the league view Suter as a shit disturber given his days in Minnesota

 

[BlueSeal]

Doug Armstrong retiring will be like a trade. This team is a mess with no end in sight and a lot of 'Let's wait and see'. That's not how you compete if that's really his intention.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Doug Armstrong retiring will be like a trade. This team is a mess with no end in sight and a lot of 'Let's wait and see'. That's not how you compete if that's really his intention.

There is an end in sight. What are you talking about?

 

[Reality Czech]

Doug Armstrong retiring will be like a trade. This team is a mess with no end in sight and a lot of 'Let's wait and see'. That's not how you compete if that's really his intention.

Armchair GMs always know better.

 

[Ranksu]

 

[Beauterham]

It feels like every topic I open I see this post.

But having said that, let's play along. What pieces could Edmonton possibly add to a package that are interesting?
- Matvei Petrov (winger who could be an interesting add with a bigger piece)
- Eemil Vinni (another potential add besides a bigger piece + we could use another young goalie in our pipeline who's still quite a few years away)
- Sam O'Reilly (center prospect and late 1-rounder. Secondary piece in a trade)
- Beau Akey (Another secondary piece + we're already stacked with LHD's in our pipeline)
- Paul Fischer (our former prospect, another secondary piece +, again, we're already stacked with LHD's)

And that's basicly it... Unless we'd want Savoie, but as he's 5'9" that's probably a no.

And this is the problem with a trade with the Oilers, they don't have a young rosterplayer or 'soon-to-be-NHL-ready-prospect'. Unless we decide to trade Binner for spare parts, involve a 3rd team, or mostly focus on picks as return (EDM doesn't have a '25 1st) a trade with the Oilers is going to be difficult.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

It feels like every topic I open I see this post.

But having said that, let's play along. What pieces could Edmonton possibly add to a package that are interesting?
- Matvei Petrov (winger who could be an interesting add with a bigger piece)
- Eemil Vinni (another potential add besides a bigger piece + we could use another young goalie in our pipeline who's still quite a few years away)
- Sam O'Reilly (center prospect and late 1-rounder. Secondary piece in a trade)
- Beau Akey (Another secondary piece + we're already stacked with LHD's in our pipeline)
- Paul Fischer (our former prospect, another secondary piece +, again, we're already stacked with LHD's)

And that's basicly it... Unless we'd want Savoie, but as he's 5'9" that's probably a no.

And this is the problem with a trade with the Oilers, they don't have a young rosterplayer or 'soon-to-be-NHL-ready-prospect'. Unless we decide to trade Binner for spare parts, involve a 3rd team, or mostly focus on picks as return (EDM doesn't have a '25 1st) a trade with the Oilers is going to be difficult.

Rather have a 26 first anyway

 

[TheOrganist]

As Brian laid out, Carolina makes by far the most sense if we elect to move 50 but just like Schenn, I continue to be very skeptical that Armstrong is going to do anything that hampers our ability to make the playoffs next season. That’s where his mind is at right now unless he gets an offer he can’t refuse. Could see us moving the low hanging fruit (Faksa/Suter) to recoup some mid-range picks but that’s about it.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

Craig Button is such a clown. Carolina would 100% love Binny over splody-knees Anderson rofl.

THERE'S ONLY 1 TEAM THAT NEEDS GOALTENDING, THE ONE OUR VIEWERS ROOT FOR!!!!! f***ing stupid.

 

[TheOrganist]

Craig Button is such a clown. Carolina would 100% love Binny over splody-knees Anderson rofl.

THERE'S ONLY 1 TEAM THAT NEEDS GOALTENDING, THE ONE OUR VIEWERS ROOT FOR!!!!! f***ing stupid.

Dreger is another one who has shown he has no idea what he's talking about in regards to the Blues.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I tend to believe what most of them say when it comes to what they say the Blues are wanting to do, and when you combine that when Army talks about maybe he's priced his assets too high, I think it makes more sense. For the past few years, I think it's been clear around that league that Army has wanted to do a lot, he's wanted to be aggressive, whether that's selling or buying, but he's probably only been interested in deal that lean our way in value, either because that's what he's looking for, or he values our players higher than the league does.

The insiders always say how the teams and others are looking at what St. Louis is going to do, in recent years we've heard how Army has been interested in guys like Necas, Meier, Fowler, Sanheim, etc. Even going back to the potential Shatty deals for Drouin and Hall that fell through because Shatty didn't want to extend in those places.

When someone like Button says that only Edmonton would want Binnington, we know that's silly, but he's not entirely wrong, as there probably are a limited amount of playoff teams willing to pay a high price for a goalie at the deadline. When they talk about our guys being available, I tend to agree, I think that's Army's approach, nothing is off limits, but some will have a high enough price where they are essentially off limits.

 

[Beauterham]

Rather have a 26 first anyway

Agree.

I have a hard time gauging a potential return for Binner. What could a potential deal look like? 26 1st, prospect, other pick?

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Agree.

I have a hard time gauging a potential return for Binner. What could a potential deal look like? 26 1st, prospect, other pick?

Eating and offsetting salary is part. I would want O’Reilly. Hard to say.

 

[Beauterham]

Eating and offsetting salary is part. I would want O’Reilly. Hard to say.

I guess we could take on a bad contract to help EDM with their cap issues (and increase the return). Jeff Skinners is going to be UFA at the end of the season so he seems like a potential candidate. Either him or Stuart Skinner. Or maybe even both. Stuart Skinner has one extra year but his cap is fairly low so we could use him as a back-up next season.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

I picked Faksaa because is a very good 4th liner. I also picked Toropchenko for the same reason.

I added Kyrou only if we get a player(s) who compliments the youth talent on the team.

Suter also doesn't miss hockey games. You acquire him and you've got a solid third-pairing LD that you can be pretty confident will be there throughout the entirety of your playoff run.

I wouldn't be shocked if he fetches a late 2nd.

100%

I should include him in my vote.

A cup worthy team could definitely use him.

 

[Brian39]

I really don't have any interest in moving Binner if the primary asset (or the entire return) is picks. I'm far from an expert on this year's draft class, but the end of the 1st round this year doesn't do much to excite me. And mid-late 1sts in 2026 likely won't be ready to meaningfully contribute for 5+ years. We're in the D+6 season for the 2019 draft class and nobody drafted 20-32 has hit 100 career points. Neighbours is the leading scorer of the guys picked 20-32 in the 2020 draft class and he is at 75 points. His breakout year was in his D+4 season. We're in the D+4 season for the 2021 draft class and Wyatt Johnston is the only guy in the 20-32 range making an impact. He broke out way earlier than his D+4, but he (like tons of prospects) didn't play in the season before his draft due to COVID, so it is hard to say if he'd have been there in the 20s in a normal draft season.

I say all that because the D+4 season is really the earliest you can reasonably expect to get meaningful contribution from a guy you pick in the 20-32 range.

The D+4 season for a 2026 1st round pick would be 2029/30. That's Neighbours' age 27 season. Broberg and Holloway's age 28 season, Thomas' age 30 season and Kyrou's age 31 season. A 2026 1st round pick is an asset that you hope can be a complimentary player to the core we are trying to build around and would be (hopefully/possibly) used to replace that core as they age/price out of the team. I'm not really interested in that type of asset if we are trading Binner. If we're trading Binner, I want it to be for an asset that grows with the core we are trying to build around with the hope that it becomes part of that core. I want a guy who is ready to be a legit contributor when those guys are all still in their mid-to late 20s.

If we're moving Binner, I want to target prospects and/or young NHL players. If we can't get a deal we like, then I'm more than content to hold him and continue exploring the market in the future. I'm comfortable that we could land a nice draft pick package on draft day, in the summer, or at next year's deadline.