Blues 2024 Off-Season Trade Proposals Thread

[BlueDream]

It is kind of amusing to see Oiler fans act as if Bro/Holloway are giving up a near certain Stanley Cup by signing these offer sheets (usually immediately followed by trashing the Blues). While the Oilers will likely be in the mix this year again due to their high end talent, there are at least 6-8 other teams that are on the same level. So even if they are a legit Cup contender, their odds are +/- 15% to actually win it all at best. That's a big gamble to take with millions of dollars on the line.

It really has been comical to read. They lose in the Cup Finals and suddenly their team is God’s gift to the Earth.

I can never count out McDrai but that may have been their chance, and it’s very possible they never come that close to a Cup again. With the looming extensions for Draisaitl and Bouchard plus other core players aging, that team is going to lose significant depth very soon, and they have no young assets on the way to help them out.

I’m more than content with our future Cup chances compared to theirs.

 

[BleedBlue14]

Agreed in every way.

Watch Fischer and Ralph. I have a v strong feeling that between them, 1 will emerge in a v positive way. Clearly our draft team punches above it's weight.

Lastly the stones of the ownership group must be acknowledged. To back an audacious restoration plan and to allow funding when there has clearly been a performance dip the past 2 yrs, speaks volumes. Players see a committed ownership group and want to be here.

As an aside this dialogue of Broberg/Holloway missing out on a SCF is alot. I see their team, clearly top heavy, v strong fwds and 1 injury away from defensive catastrophe. Skinner better than Binner/Hofer, not even close. Plenty in the West will have some v strong motivations to beat Oil. Not to mention the east.

This was my biggest takeaway from the offer sheets as a whole.

Regardless of whether or not the players become staples of the team or even regulars. Ownership is fully committed to winning regardless of the player payroll. You worry when going through stretches like this if they're going to dial it back.

It seems like the lack of wanting to retain over years is more of a philosophical view of Armstrong vs. not being able to get approval from ownership. He seems to have the greenlight to do whatever it takes to create a winning product on ice, even if the results down show instantaneously.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Yeah, I know there was some concern over an internal budget set by ownership for the next couple seasons, but I get the impression that ownership will give Army and group the flexibility to make the moves they want to make.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

This was my biggest takeaway from the offer sheets as a whole.

Regardless of whether or not the players become staples of the team or even regulars. Ownership is fully committed to winning regardless of the player payroll. You worry when going through stretches like this if they're going to dial it back.

It seems like the lack of wanting to retain over years is more of a philosophical view of Armstrong vs. not being able to get approval from ownership. He seems to have the greenlight to do whatever it takes to create a winning product on ice, even if the results down show instantaneously.

There's not much more this ownership could have done to show the fans how committed they are to winning. There's a stark contrast between the Blues ownership group, and the other one down Clark St.

We're lucky to have Stillman and Co.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

The offer sheet reminded me of something Stillman said during his EOS Q&A.

Stillman: We’re not going to spend to the cap for the sake of saying we spent to the cap. I guess you could say that at a time when we are bringing on young players, maybe our payroll would drop some. That’s fine if it does, and we wouldn’t pass up some opportunities to save some money on the cap. But we’re also not going to say, “Well, we’re below the cap, so we better do something to get up there.” If there’s a player out there and he’s 22 and we can drop a bunch of money on him, then great. But usually that doesn’t exist and that player who could fit is not available. It’s a long way of saying that we’re going to build the team the best we can, whether we’re at the cap or below it.

 

[Brian39]

Because this is the 'trade proposal' thread, I thought it would be useful/entertaining to think about what the Blues might be looking to acquire over the next 9 months. Not specific players, but the type of player/roles we might be seeking. Obviously you are always exploring the market and are always open to a trade you can "win" by snagging a guy at below what his market value should be. That's not what I want to focus on. I'm talking about the types players that Army might be actively shopping for.

Realistically, other than potentially selling vets for futures I think our only concerted trade effort would be a top pair LHD.

I think we're done brining in bottom/middle of the lineup guys. We added a ton of them this summer and many are young (or youngish) with potential to be medium-to-long term solutions. We're not shopping for a goalie. We're not shopping for wingers.

We started the offseason with two clear areas of long term need: C and D

Center is still a relatively weak area of the organization, but I don't see us shopping for a center in the next 9 months. We added Faksa for immediate help at center in the bottom 6 and PK. I have to expect that Holoway and Texier will both be given the chance to center the 3rd line given their history at the position. There is still the question of whether Schenn or Buch is really a 2C in 2024, but I don't see us packaging a bunch of assets for an immediate 2C that potentially blocks Dvorsky. With Dvo, Dean, and Stenberg in the pipeline, I'd wager that the only C prospects we'd bring in would be the result of a trade where we love a specific guy and not a concerted effort to get C prospects.

I don't expect it to happen before the season, but I'd wager that Army will probably spend a lot of his next 9 months quietly evaluating the forward additions to the NHL to determine which (and how many) forward prospects could be deemed expendable in a big move for a LHD.

This team still has its share of holes, but I see a hell of a lot fewer holes that I'd like to plug via trade than I did a year ago.

 

[Brian39]

To follow up my overly broad macro view of potential trades, I'll bring up a wholly unrealistic target:

Thomas Harley

Dallas is in clear win-now mode and he became a pretty damn big part of their D group last year. However, they are in a real cap crunch if he isn't willing to sign a 1-2 year bridge. I think they will be able to successfully strong arm him into a bridge and I think they have the flexibility to match any non-massive overpay offer sheet. But if they get to camp and he looks willing to miss games to get a long term deal, I could see them considering packages that help their NHL team in the short term.

How much of an overpay would it take? How willing are you to help a division rival make a Cup run? I think I'd be willing to give up a lot and I'd be okay with watching Dallas lift a Cup if we can set ourselves up with a 22 year old top pair LHD.

I'd start the conversation by offering Leddy and Saad (both with 50% retention).

Adding Saad to that forward group would replace a lot of what they lost with Pavelski retiring. I don't think they are going to find too many defensively sound 20+ goal scoring veterans for $2.25M against the cap for 2 seasons.

Leddy has been a legit top pair D alongside Parayko in a brutally hard role and I think is still a clear top 4 D man. I think he could be pretty effective next to Miro in the role Harley is currently in. $2M x 2 for that type of guy is pretty damn valuable for a team in win-now mode.

Those two guys would get them to a 22 man roster with about $2M of remaining cap space this year. Perhaps as importantly, they both remain cheap in 2025/26. Dallas currently has a boatload of space for that season, but they also have 9 NHL players signed. Oettinger, Lindell, and Johnston are all due large contracts plus they will need to replace Benn (60 points last year) and Duchene (65 points last year). That money will go quick and a couple good cheap vets would help a lot.

That alone shouldn't get it done, but I do think that two good, cheap vets is a pretty sizeable amount of value for a team in their position. I'd try very hard to hold onto our 2025 1st. Even with robust protection, we're still too young/raw/middling for me to view that pick as anything but extremely valuable. But we have a deep prospect pool and I'd dip into it as an addition to Leddy/Saad if we could land Harley (with the intention of an 8 year extension).

I don't think Harley has true #1 D upside, but I think he can be a long term top pair guy. I think his upside (and floor) are just enough that adding him would cause me to look at the prospect pool and believe that we have a long term core in place that can start doing it at the NHL level sooner than later.

 

[BleedBlue14]

Because this is the 'trade proposal' thread, I thought it would be useful/entertaining to think about what the Blues might be looking to acquire over the next 9 months. Not specific players, but the type of player/roles we might be seeking. Obviously you are always exploring the market and are always open to a trade you can "win" by snagging a guy at below what his market value should be. That's not what I want to focus on. I'm talking about the types players that Army might be actively shopping for.

Realistically, other than potentially selling vets for futures I think our only concerted trade effort would be a top pair LHD.

I think we're done brining in bottom/middle of the lineup guys. We added a ton of them this summer and many are young (or youngish) with potential to be medium-to-long term solutions. We're not shopping for a goalie. We're not shopping for wingers.

We started the offseason with two clear areas of long term need: C and D

Center is still a relatively weak area of the organization, but I don't see us shopping for a center in the next 9 months. We added Faksa for immediate help at center in the bottom 6 and PK. I have to expect that Holoway and Texier will both be given the chance to center the 3rd line given their history at the position. There is still the question of whether Schenn or Buch is really a 2C in 2024, but I don't see us packaging a bunch of assets for an immediate 2C that potentially blocks Dvorsky. With Dvo, Dean, and Stenberg in the pipeline, I'd wager that the only C prospects we'd bring in would be the result of a trade where we love a specific guy and not a concerted effort to get C prospects.

I don't expect it to happen before the season, but I'd wager that Army will probably spend a lot of his next 9 months quietly evaluating the forward additions to the NHL to determine which (and how many) forward prospects could be deemed expendable in a big move for a LHD.

This team still has its share of holes, but I see a hell of a lot fewer holes that I'd like to plug via trade than I did a year ago.

I had alot of the same thoughts when looking at the roster. Realistically the need at the top of the lineup that will always be there is there. I don't think there's a quick fix for that, or really a desire to fix that instantaneously. By most accounts it seems like they're really looking to build a young core to bring together behind the Thomas Kyrou group.

I'd imagine the main movement we see over this next season would come from the group of Saad, Leddy, Krug, Faulk, maybe Binnington if they believe Hofer needs more ice time - but I think that is still extremely unlikely. With where our group and prospect group is at as well, I don't see Armstrong caring to keep any picks aside from our 1sts for the next 2 years if there is an opportunity available.

Naturally some of our guys are going to take ice time hits on forward this season. I think they're going to give a pretty long leash to Bolduc, Neighbors, and Holloway. Thomas, Kyrou and Buch aren't losing playing time any time soon. Texier, Joseph, Saad seem like the other 3 guys that will round out the top 9 group. So what happens if Dvorsky is making an impact in camp? Do we see an immediate move of Saad? Or do we just see a shuttle of some guys coming in and out of the lineup? I'd venture to guess that Toropchenko, Faksa, and Sunny will be our 4th line. And realistically there isn't much offensive upside there but that could be a rough group to play against.

The only area I could see us realistically target would be a youngish top 4 RD similar to Broberg in the event we can move out Faulk.

There's going to be a lot of competition internally which is great. And while doing so, we have added quite a bit of size and speed, somehow. There's a really good chance the bottom 6 of this team is a heavy heavy forechecking group.

Some combination of Saad/Schenn, Holloway, Joseph, Toropchenko, Faksa, Sunny. That's alot of size and quite a bit of physicality in there.

I'd agree that the Blues wont pass up a chance to add a top end LD even with the addition of Broberg. But I think we're going to give Broberg a long long leash in the top 4 once he gets going, and Leddy has been a serviceable player here so I don't see it as much of a dire need as it was 2 weeks ago.

I could see some sort of moving out Saad, more unlikely Schenn to be able to bring back a short term center that has a bit more ability to play up in the lineup to bridge to Dvorsky. But in all reality, I could see a world where they want to see what Holloway can do at the center position.

I don't think it's smart to be cautious about blocking avenues for young promising prospects to grow into roles. But I think if you look down the line and in 2 years Lindstein is ready, and Broberg has become every bit of a top 4 D man I don't think you get to cautious about adding a #1 defenseman because of that. I just think RD may be the albeit almost impossible avenue, but more positionally suited avenue for what we would need at that time. Either way the goal has to be to find a guy that can be your alpha on defense one way or another, it's something we still lack, but are afforded time to figure out.

As a side note, it will be very interesting to see if we give Broberg a pretty nice runway running PP1. Our only other real options at the moment are probably Faulk who I dont think fits the best with what that group needs, Perunovich who really is no guarantee to be playing until Krug gets back if he does.


Edit: Realize I forgot to include Schenn in the original top 9 group. I don't really see a way we don't move off of Saad this year unless we're fine with Texier/Joseph/Torpo/Sunny rotating out a spot in the press box

 

[Brian39]

So what happens if Dvorsky is making an impact in camp?

Agreed with a ton of your post, but wanted to address this specifically.

I'm at the point where Dvorsky can't make the NHL team out of camp.

Frankly, I want to see him prove it in the AHL. I'm happy about how his development went last year, but the reality is that he had to be removed from the SHL. We can talk about extenuating circumstances, line mate quality, etc. But the bottom line is that 10 months ago he was pretty damn far from being a top 9 NHLer.

A great couple weeks in training camp wouldn't convince me that I should move NHL players to give him a spot. If he looks like a legit NHL center next month in camp, then I would send him to the AHL with an explanation that he can play himself into the NHL in about 4-8 weeks if he rips up the AHL.

 

[BleedBlue14]

Agreed with a ton of your post, but wanted to address this specifically.

I'm at the point where Dvorsky can't make the NHL team out of camp.

Frankly, I want to see him prove it in the AHL. I'm happy about how his development went last year, but the reality is that he had to be removed from the SHL. We can talk about extenuating circumstances, line mate quality, etc. But the bottom line is that 10 months ago he was pretty damn far from being a top 9 NHLer.

A great couple weeks in training camp wouldn't convince me that I should move NHL players to give him a spot. If he looks like a legit NHL center next month, I would send him to the AHL with the explanation that he can play himself to the NHL in about 4-8 weeks if he rips up the AHL.

I agree with that. I also forgot to include Schenn in the top 9 group. I think they may do something similar to what they did with Neighbors last year with Bolduc now that I relook at it. Give him a little bit of runway early in the season, but ultimately send him down for a little bit while they work out the lineup if he isn't producing at an extremely high level.

Either way, I can't see us hanging on to Saad past this TDL if we are able to move him, regardless of where the team is at. I guess it never hurts to filter guys like Joseph, Toropchenko, Faksa, Sunny in and out of the lineup and have the luxury to do that. But I'd venture to guess regardless of what happens after the college season we are going to have room for Snuggerud at the NHL level unless he is hurt or physically needs a break.

 

[britishblue]

Outside of a 2C I don't really see any massive holes in the roster.

Obviously Dvorsky is that long term.

The plan was obviously Hayes to bridge the gap but that didnt pan out so I don't think we'll see Army spend significant assets in that area.

Buch/Schenn/perhaps even Holloway will keep the seat warm.

I hope it isn't the case, but Kessel could take a step back in his first full season. If so a bottom pairing RHD could be a need.

If Krug is out and Perunovich continues to not be great a PP specialist d could also be a need.

We'll likely just see vets moved gradually as the youth develops.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I agree with that. I also forgot to include Schenn in the top 9 group. I think they may do something similar to what they did with Neighbors last year with Bolduc now that I relook at it. Give him a little bit of runway early in the season, but ultimately send him down for a little bit while they work out the lineup if he isn't producing at an extremely high level.

Either way, I can't see us hanging on to Saad past this TDL if we are able to move him, regardless of where the team is at. I guess it never hurts to filter guys like Joseph, Toropchenko, Faksa, Sunny in and out of the lineup and have the luxury to do that. But I'd venture to guess regardless of what happens after the college season we are going to have room for Snuggerud at the NHL level unless he is hurt or physically needs a break.

I see Carolina or Detroit as a good fit for Saad. There aren't enough good trading partners for Saad without retention, but, of course, each team's cap situation will shake out and clear up. A surprise third team could bid for him, but really only Carolina and Detroit are in the sweet spot as they have attractive draft capital.

Faksa would be fairly easy to move and the remainder of the Blues' tradebait (Suter, Peru, Kap) are so cheap that it won't matter.

I think Saad and Suter to Detroit for a couple picks and player would be great. And then maybe send Faksa to a playoff hopeful as a rental. Keep Kap and Peru.

 

[Xerloris]

To follow up my overly broad macro view of potential trades, I'll bring up a wholly unrealistic target:

Thomas Harley

Dallas is in clear win-now mode and he became a pretty damn big part of their D group last year. However, they are in a real cap crunch if he isn't willing to sign a 1-2 year bridge. I think they will be able to successfully strong arm him into a bridge and I think they have the flexibility to match any non-massive overpay offer sheet. But if they get to camp and he looks willing to miss games to get a long term deal, I could see them considering packages that help their NHL team in the short term.

How much of an overpay would it take? How willing are you to help a division rival make a Cup run? I think I'd be willing to give up a lot and I'd be okay with watching Dallas lift a Cup if we can set ourselves up with a 22 year old top pair LHD.

I'd start the conversation by offering Leddy and Saad (both with 50% retention).

Adding Saad to that forward group would replace a lot of what they lost with Pavelski retiring. I don't think they are going to find too many defensively sound 20+ goal scoring veterans for $2.25M against the cap for 2 seasons.

Leddy has been a legit top pair D alongside Parayko in a brutally hard role and I think is still a clear top 4 D man. I think he could be pretty effective next to Miro in the role Harley is currently in. $2M x 2 for that type of guy is pretty damn valuable for a team in win-now mode.

Those two guys would get them to a 22 man roster with about $2M of remaining cap space this year. Perhaps as importantly, they both remain cheap in 2025/26. Dallas currently has a boatload of space for that season, but they also have 9 NHL players signed. Oettinger, Lindell, and Johnston are all due large contracts plus they will need to replace Benn (60 points last year) and Duchene (65 points last year). That money will go quick and a couple good cheap vets would help a lot.

That alone shouldn't get it done, but I do think that two good, cheap vets is a pretty sizeable amount of value for a team in their position. I'd try very hard to hold onto our 2025 1st. Even with robust protection, we're still too young/raw/middling for me to view that pick as anything but extremely valuable. But we have a deep prospect pool and I'd dip into it as an addition to Leddy/Saad if we could land Harley (with the intention of an 8 year extension).

I don't think Harley has true #1 D upside, but I think he can be a long term top pair guy. I think his upside (and floor) are just enough that adding him would cause me to look at the prospect pool and believe that we have a long term core in place that can start doing it at the NHL level sooner than later.

We're not a contender atm so I see no issue in making a trade that helps a division rival. Though I am less confident in Harley as you seem to be but that's because I really have not seen him play at all.

 

[bleedblue1223]

The confirmation that we were in on Necas to some degree tells me that we are at least some what looking at the top 6 next. Granted, we don't know the context of the discussions, but I do expect Army to remain relatively aggressive on anything that could upgrade the team moving forward.

 

[greybush314]

If McGroarty is traded can he still forego college this year? Not sure if there is a deadline.

 

[BleedBlue14]

What is the buyout rule that we had talked about earlier in the offseason with Kotkaniemi? Isn't his buyout dirt cheap if it's done before he hits a certain age?

Would you all view Kotkaniemi for Saad as something practical or even beneficial for this team after all of the moves that have happened? He fits that age range and if a buyout is very practical in terms of length and/or AAV I wouldn't see how he'd block anyone. The only person he'd potentially block would possibly be Holloway if we are looking at him as a C, but he seems to profile as a really good 3rd liner as opposed to a top 6 guy.

It doesn't necessarily fix our log jam, but it does allow Buch or Schenn to not have to play center. And further increases this abundance of young players and could possibly fill a need for Carolina.

I'm not unreasonable enough to think that none of the 12 first round picks that we have will bust. So realistically i'm not factoring in to much about potentially blocking a guy like Dean. I think you can walk that line a little bit more conservatively when you talk about a guy like Dvorsky or Snuggerud though.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

What is the buyout rule that we had talked about earlier in the offseason with Kotkaniemi? Isn't his buyout dirt cheap if it's done before he hits a certain age?

Would you all view Kotkaniemi for Saad as something practical or even beneficial for this team after all of the moves that have happened? He fits that age range and if a buyout is very practical in terms of length and/or AAV I wouldn't see how he'd block anyone. The only person he'd potentially block would possibly be Holloway if we are looking at him as a C, but he seems to profile as a really good 3rd liner as opposed to a top 6 guy.

It doesn't necessarily fix our log jam, but it does allow Buch or Schenn to not have to play center. And further increases this abundance of young players and could possibly fill a need for Carolina.

I'm not unreasonable enough to think that none of the 12 first round picks that we have will bust. So realistically i'm not factoring in to much about potentially blocking a guy like Dean. I think you can walk that line a little bit more conservatively when you talk about a guy like Dvorsky or Snuggerud though.

I'd rather have Buch and/or Schenn play Center and wait for Dvorsky than trade Saad for Kotkaniemi. Saad had 1 less goal than Kotkaniemi had points last season. Plus I value Saad's Cheaper shorter contract more than Kotkaniemi.

 

[Brian39]

If McGroarty is traded can he still forego college this year? Not sure if there is a deadline.

No deadline. Signing a contract ends his NCAA eligibility and there is no agreement between the NHL and NCAA like there is between the NHL and CHL. McGroarty could leave the bench in the middle of an afternoon Wolverines game, sign an NHL contract, and suit up in the NHL that night.

What is the buyout rule that we had talked about earlier in the offseason with Kotkaniemi? Isn't his buyout dirt cheap if it's done before he hits a certain age?

Would you all view Kotkaniemi for Saad as something practical or even beneficial for this team after all of the moves that have happened? He fits that age range and if a buyout is very practical in terms of length and/or AAV I wouldn't see how he'd block anyone. The only person he'd potentially block would possibly be Holloway if we are looking at him as a C, but he seems to profile as a really good 3rd liner as opposed to a top 6 guy.

It doesn't necessarily fix our log jam, but it does allow Buch or Schenn to not have to play center. And further increases this abundance of young players and could possibly fill a need for Carolina.

I'm not unreasonable enough to think that none of the 12 first round picks that we have will bust. So realistically i'm not factoring in to much about potentially blocking a guy like Dean. I think you can walk that line a little bit more conservatively when you talk about a guy like Dvorsky or Snuggerud though.

If a player is 26 or older, you have to pay 2/3 of the remaining salary owed to them. If the player is under 26, you only have to pay them 1/3 of the remaining salary owed.

Kotkaniemi is 24, but most importantly won't turn 26 until after the buyout window starts in the summer of 2026. Which means that is he is bought out next summer or in the first buyout window in the summer of 2026, the team who buys him out is only on the hook for 33% of what he would have been owed.

If bought out next summer, he would be paid $8.4M spread out over 10 years and the cap hit for him would be no higher than $841k for 7 of those 10 seasons ($461k the other 3 years).

If bought out in 2026, he would be paid $6.8M spread out over 8 years and the cap hit would be $870k for 5 of the 8 years ($470k the other 3 years).

Edit: I wouldn't be opposed to taking a flier on Kotkaniemi, even if that means moving Saad to do so. But I wouldn't trade Saad for him straight up. Saad is a guy who will consistently get you 20 goals (and almost always 25 goals) with 2nd line and 2nd PP unit deployment. He is above average defensively and his $4.5M x 2 remaining contract is perfectly reasonable. He should have positive trade value and Kotkaniemi is a negative value asset. I would either need Carolina to add a good asset, or I would want to take Kotkaniemi for free after trading Saad separately for a good return.

 

[BleedBlue14]

I'd rather have Buch and/or Schenn play Center and wait for Dvorsky than trade Saad for Kotkaniemi. Saad had 1 less goal than Kotkaniemi had points last season. Plus I value Saad's Cheaper shorter contract more than Kotkaniemi.

Makes sense, would be a flexible option that if he would work out he could probably be your long-term 3C and create more of a gap in contracts while keeping the age range fairly young. Good chance Kotkaniemi is what he is. But if we're wanting to build a young core together and limit the amount of veterans (On the foward group) to 2 or 3 being Buch, Schenn and Sunny with the other wave being Thomas, Kyrou. I think it's a plausible enough group of veterans to go what we're going through.

If a player is 26 or older, you have to pay 2/3 of the remaining salary owed to them. If the player is under 26, you only have to pay them 1/3 of the remaining salary owed.

Kotkaniemi is 24, but most importantly won't turn 26 until after the buyout window starts in the summer of 2026. Which means that is he is bought out next summer or in the first buyout window in the summer of 2026, the team who buys him out is only on the hook for 33% of what he would have been owed.

If bought out next summer, he would be paid $8.4M spread out over 10 years and the cap hit for him would be no higher than $841k for 7 of those 10 seasons ($461k the other 3 years).

If bought out in 2026, he would be paid $6.8M spread out over 8 years and the cap hit would be $870k for 5 of the 8 years ($470k the other 3 years).

Edit: I wouldn't be opposed to taking a flier on Kotkaniemi, even if that means moving Saad to do so. But I wouldn't trade Saad for him straight up. Saad is a guy who will consistently get you 20 goals (and almost always 25 goals) with 2nd line and 2nd PP unit deployment. He is above average defensively and his $4.5M x 2 remaining contract is perfectly reasonable. He should have positive trade value and Kotkaniemi is a negative value asset. I would either need Carolina to add a good asset, or I would want to take Kotkaniemi for free after trading Saad separately for a good return.

Thank you! I couldn't remember what it was exactly.

I think the whole point behind the thought for me was it would probably allow us to have both Buch and Schenn on the wings. Although I guess if you are pigeon-holing Kotkaniemi or Holloway into a 2C role to have them both on the wings, i'm not sure it really solves the issue. However, it does give a bit of a bigger role to a younger player to see what they can handle and see if they can flourish.

I'm interested what exactly Kotkaniemi's value would be if he were traded. The contract isn't great. He's still very young though. And with how easy it is to plug him in for a year or two before any real meaningful cap hits via buyout, I'd imagine there are a few teams that would lineup to take the chance. You never want to really buyout anyone, especially when it is over a prolonged period of time. But it seems he's at minimum a 3rd line center with a high end draft pedigree. Not familiar with him enough to have a true belief one way or another if he could amount to much more than what he is now.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

If there was a solid top to middle 6 center with a year or two left on their deal available on the market, I would trade Saad+ for them in a heartbeat. Not that I dislike Saad, but we have so many wingers, and that would fix our one obvious weakness.

Here’s to hoping Schenn or Buch can fill that hole for the next year or two until Dvorsky takes that spot.

 

[Fez Whatley]

There's not much more this ownership could have done to show the fans how committed they are to winning. There's a stark contrast between the Blues ownership group, and the other one down Clark St.

We're lucky to have Stillman and Co.

Only thing that could make me happier with them is if they buy the cards.

 

[Thallis]

To follow up my overly broad macro view of potential trades, I'll bring up a wholly unrealistic target:

Thomas Harley

Dallas is in clear win-now mode and he became a pretty damn big part of their D group last year. However, they are in a real cap crunch if he isn't willing to sign a 1-2 year bridge. I think they will be able to successfully strong arm him into a bridge and I think they have the flexibility to match any non-massive overpay offer sheet. But if they get to camp and he looks willing to miss games to get a long term deal, I could see them considering packages that help their NHL team in the short term.

How much of an overpay would it take? How willing are you to help a division rival make a Cup run? I think I'd be willing to give up a lot and I'd be okay with watching Dallas lift a Cup if we can set ourselves up with a 22 year old top pair LHD.

I'd start the conversation by offering Leddy and Saad (both with 50% retention).

Adding Saad to that forward group would replace a lot of what they lost with Pavelski retiring. I don't think they are going to find too many defensively sound 20+ goal scoring veterans for $2.25M against the cap for 2 seasons.

Leddy has been a legit top pair D alongside Parayko in a brutally hard role and I think is still a clear top 4 D man. I think he could be pretty effective next to Miro in the role Harley is currently in. $2M x 2 for that type of guy is pretty damn valuable for a team in win-now mode.

Those two guys would get them to a 22 man roster with about $2M of remaining cap space this year. Perhaps as importantly, they both remain cheap in 2025/26. Dallas currently has a boatload of space for that season, but they also have 9 NHL players signed. Oettinger, Lindell, and Johnston are all due large contracts plus they will need to replace Benn (60 points last year) and Duchene (65 points last year). That money will go quick and a couple good cheap vets would help a lot.

That alone shouldn't get it done, but I do think that two good, cheap vets is a pretty sizeable amount of value for a team in their position. I'd try very hard to hold onto our 2025 1st. Even with robust protection, we're still too young/raw/middling for me to view that pick as anything but extremely valuable. But we have a deep prospect pool and I'd dip into it as an addition to Leddy/Saad if we could land Harley (with the intention of an 8 year extension).

I don't think Harley has true #1 D upside, but I think he can be a long term top pair guy. I think his upside (and floor) are just enough that adding him would cause me to look at the prospect pool and believe that we have a long term core in place that can start doing it at the NHL level sooner than later.

You're not getting a young potential top pairing D for 2 mediocre players in their 30s. It's like if Minnesota offered us Foligno and Bogosian for Neighbours.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

I know I’m late, but one last comment about ownership. It truly can’t be stated enough how nice it is to have an ownership group comprised of mostly, if not all, locals who have a genuine rooting interest in the team. They understand that in order to profit the most, they need to actually try and field a good team. Unlike that other local team.

 

[TK 421]

It's flat out irresponsible to start Dvorsky in the NHL out of camp even if he looks great. He's already put himself in a bad spot developmentally once and was fortunate the Blues saved his season quickly with the move to the OHL. He needs reps outside of the spotlight with an AHL team that can provide the opportunity for upward mobility in the lineup in an emergent situation for him. It doesn't get any better than that for a 19 year old kid trying to acclimate to NA pro hockey from a development perspective. He could go from 3C to 1C inside a few weeks in that environment, I'm not suggesting he will but the point is it's baked into the cake that he could. Dominating the AHL is typically the point where you start thinking about bringing a player that young up, I'd want him to play at least 40 AHL games even if he's at the domination level the entire 40 just so he gets a minimum amount of AHL reps before NHL play. So sometime in 2025 is the earliest I'd want to see him and personally I'd prefer we just leave him the hell alone for 60+ AHL games then start integrating him for the last quarter or so of the season.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I know I’m late, but one last comment about ownership. It truly can’t be stated enough how nice it is to have an ownership group comprised of mostly, if not all, locals who have a genuine rooting interest in the team. They understand that in order to profit the most, they need to actually try and field a good team. Unlike that other local team.

It's 100% local now...as of a month ago or sumpn like that.