I don't think there's a blockbuster coming. Blockbuster implies a main piece of our team or of our future. D'Ags or Stewart are definitely trade bait, but I wouldn't call a deal involving them a blockbuster.
Sorry for the mangled intro.
I don't want to see the Blues part with Rattie, Jaskin, or Schwartz either. We don't know what we have in them yet (and may not know for several years).
Maybe I'm foreseeing problems that won't exist. Steen needs to succeed at center, if that's where he plays. Berglund needs to step up his game. Cole needs to find his comfort level in the NHL.
If Lehtera comes over next season and makes the transition to the NHL, the center spot could be a real team strength.
I certainly hope that MacDonald plays out his career in St. Louis -- either that or he fetches a windfall in prospects/picks via trade.
Robb's statement:
I'd bet against ANY trade by The Blues before the 2 weeks before the trade deadline.
That should be when? Six weeks from now?
i'd say trading McDonald would be a pretty big mistake. he brings some things to our offense that no one else can quite match right now.D'Agostini, McDonald, and Stewart. What do they all have in common? The likelihood or possibility for various reasons that they will no longer be with us in the nearish future.
i'd say trading McDonald would be a pretty big mistake. he brings some things to our offense that no one else can quite match right now.
as for the other two, obviously i'd prefer to trade D'Agostini because i'm still a pretty big believer in Stewart, but if it took Stewart to find the right defenseman, okay.
I agree on McDonald. I think I read on his twitter that he wants to play for another 4 years? Good luck with that, but with his injuries I kind of doubt that happens...at least not here. I appreciate what he has done for us and he is a very good player, but at some point in the near future we are going to need to let Schwartz take his spot IMO.
Yes he is a great player but the time off doesn't make his past concussion issues go away. As a smaller player, one more hit to his head and he could be gone for a while. He's just risky. So, yeah, he'd have to take a discount. And I don't think the Blues would be "desperate" for him to stay. I agree that he is one of the more dynamic players on our team and I'm sure management would like him back, but this Blues team that just finished 2nd in the West with McDonald only playing 25 games is not exactly desperate. Let's remember that and not act like the rest of our team is complete crap.The extra time off will have helped with McDonald's injury issues, and he'll be feeling better today than at any point in recent years. We also can't ignore the fact that when he is healthy, he is by far our most dynamic player on the ice and that shows on the score sheet and PP production.
There is no doubt that he'll have to take a pay cut to stay in St. Louis, but equally, there is no doubt that the organisation will be desperate for him to stay.
Yes he is a great player but the time off doesn't make his past concussion issues go away. As a smaller player, one more hit to his head and he could be gone for a while. He's just risky. So, yeah, he'd have to take a discount. And I don't think the Blues would be "desperate" for him to stay. I agree that he is one of the more dynamic players on our team and I'm sure management would like him back, but this Blues team that just finished 2nd in the West with McDonald only playing 25 games is not exactly desperate. Let's remember that and not act like the rest of our team is complete crap.
I agree on McDonald. I think I read on his twitter that he wants to play for another 4 years? Good luck with that, but with his injuries I kind of doubt that happens...at least not here. I appreciate what he has done for us and he is a very good player, but at some point in the near future we are going to need to let Schwartz take his spot IMO.
Schwartz has a long way to go before he takes Andy McDonald's spot. He is on a pace for 50 points in the minor leagues and isn't superior at that level. Andy is close to a point a game player in the NHL. In Andy's last partial season in the minors, Andy was a 1.5 points a game player. Schwartz needs to prove he can dominate play and score consistently in the minors in order to be a top six or top three in the NHL.
He's not exactly playing with world class talent either. I think he could put up similar numbers in the NHL that he is in the AHL simply because the guys he will be playing with will be much better. He puts up 50 points per season, I'd be thrilled.
He's not exactly playing with world class talent either. I think he could put up similar numbers in the NHL that he is in the AHL simply because the guys he will be playing with will be much better. He puts up 50 points per season, I'd be thrilled.
If he is capable of making the players around him better, then it would show at the AHL level. A cross reference in Blues talent Lars Eller had one single 20 goal scorer on his Peoria team back in 2009-2010, and he managed nearly 60 points. The most he has managed at the NHL level so far is 30 points. 50 points in the AHL doesn't translate to 50 points in the NHL or Trent Whitfield would've been a star and we would all have Jean-Guy Trudel jerseys. Justin Papineau at 20 managed better than a 50 point pace with a team that had 50 point guy Pascal Rheaume as its leading scorer. He was a point a game player at 21. It didn't translate to the next level. Michael Handzus was nearly a point a game player at 20 years old and the team's leading scorer. He has never eclipsed the 60 point mark his entire NHL career that he scored at 20 in Worcester. So if history is any indicator, then I'm not quite as excited. The players in the NHL are bigger, stronger, and faster than in the AHL. If you can't score at that level, then you most likely won't score at the NHL level. It isn't an end all for Schwartz's career or potential, but I certainly would like to see first line production in the minors before I would consider them a future front line NHL producer. I'm thinking that he may need more seasoning, especially with the talent that is in front of him.