Blues Trade Deadline Thread

[ViPeRx007]

Where am I?

Sir, this is a Burger King drive thru.

Not even that good of a place! Don’t get me wrong, I’m game for a Whopper, just like the next guy, but, there are superior options.

[ViPeRx007]

Where am I?

Holy crap it's Viper.

gaijin, my dude! How have you been....for the last 5+ years?

[gaijin]

Where am I?

Holy crap it's Viper.

gaijin, my dude! How have you been....for the last 5+ years?

Things are good. Saving the world one day at a time.

[WaukeeBlues]

Backes gets moved along with a 1st round pick and another player to the Ducks for Ondrej Kase.

I don't understand that one at all. Kase is one of the best young players the Ducks have (age 24). What the hell are they doing?

This after they've dealt their best young D last year.

whatever...

[glen a richter]

Viper is here? Dude, so much has happened since we last saw you. Did you hear this crazy story? The Blues won the Cup!

[ComradeT]

Given that Capitals just gave a 3rd rounder for Kovalchuk to the Canadiens, a 2nd and a cond. 4th for Scandella looks pretty good. Caps are trying to assemble the Russian national team circa 2014.

[flyingnote38]

not sure how to factor salary retention in deals.
thought the Scandella addition was ok. sellers market and all that

[gaijin]

I wondered if, since several teams were needing goaltending to replace injured starters (Markstrom in Vancouver and Grubauer in Colorado), if Allen might have been dangled out there at the deadline to see what kind of return he might get.

But I guess not. Not that I am really surprised. He has actually been performing well in his current role, so I don't mind him sticking around. And the teams who need the goaltending help are potential playoff opponents, and who wants to make them better? I also wonder how much of his "January Jake" reputation is still in the minds of GMs across the League.

[theohall]

I suspect the Blues might have gotten a better return for Allen than New Jersey did for Domingue, but who really knows? Only thing that would have prevented that is if Vancouver expects their LTIR guys to return before the playoffs.

[glen a richter]

I wouldn't have been comfortable with Allen being traded at this point. If something happens to Binner I don't think Husso is really as advertised. I know San Antonio is doing poorly anyway and it's a team effort, but Husso hasn't really helped them out any.

The goalie I'm looking at as the "next one" is Joel Hofer and he's years away. When the team finally moves on from Allen, they'll probably just sign a FA backup on the cheap while Hofer finishes up his development over the next 5-6 seasons, or Vadim Zherenko who's supposedly pretty good.

[theohall]

Evan Fitzpatrick might surprise people, too. He's always taken a couple of years adjusting at each next level. We'll have a better idea next season. Fitzpatrick beat Thomas' Hamilton Bulldogs in the Memorial Cup. Hofer and Fitzpatrick were both on 17-18 Memorial Cup teams, but Hofer didn't play.

What's interesting about Hofer, he was Team Canada's 3rd goalie at the World Juniors and even after playing great in his first relief effort, they gave the next start to their "#2" who wound up being pulled, letting Hofer take over the net. Another, yeah - he's good - but sometimes overlooked by the supposed experts, until he proves them wrong when it matters.

Both of them are taller than Binnington and Allen. Hofer needs to add weight. FItzpatrick has already bulked up.

[glen a richter]

I wouldn't expect Jake to be retained, though if they can get him at a lower salary plus, god willing, offloading Justin Faulk on Seattle, it wouldn't come across to me as a problem. I think the Binnington/Allen tandem is solid enough and it gives time for the others to finish their development.

As much as we hope that Faulk is just given to Seattle, I don't think our thinking and Army's thinking is the same. Watch he's with the team for the length of his extension. This is getting way past the scope of this thread, so I'll just leave it there.

[WaukeeBlues]

I wouldn't expect Jake to be retained, though if they can get him at a lower salary plus, god willing, offloading Justin Faulk on Seattle, it wouldn't come across to me as a problem. I think the Binnington/Allen tandem is solid enough and it gives time for the others to finish their development.

As much as we hope that Faulk is just given to Seattle, I don't think our thinking and Army's thinking is the same. Watch he's with the team for the length of his extension. This is getting way past the scope of this thread, so I'll just leave it there.

All depends on Pietrangelo. If we re-sign him, and if so what's the AAV?

If the answers are "yes" and "a lot" then Faulk is a guy (among others) that Army is going to have to look at unloading whether he likes it or not. I would hope it's assumed Dunn and Parayko aren't going anywhere, neither are O'Reilly, Tarasenko, can probably include Schenn and Perron in that group. There's only so many cap hits after that that you're "more ok" with moving than others at that point.

Either via buy out or trade I think 2 of Steen, Bozak and Jake Allen are gone this offseason. Assuming we re-sign Petro.

[theohall]

I would argue that Dunn could possibly be replaced by Perunovich. Dunn might cost to much to keep this off-season depending on Pietrangelo's AAV. The reason Dunn might cost too much, based on his offensive production, he could ask for Parayko money, even though he isn't even as close to as good defensively. Unloading Faulk is a major issue with his full NTC until the final 2 years of the contract. And if the Blues unload Steen/Bozak via buyouts, what about possibly re-signing Scandella. He might be the kind of guy to take less to play for real contender.

[theohall]

Buyout info:
Allen would save 2.66M for 20-21 at the cost of 1.33M for 21-22.
Bozak would save 2.83M for 20-21 at the cost of 1.42M for 21-22
Steen would save 2.33M for 20-21 at the cost of 1.17M for 21-22

I wouldn't be surprised to see Bozak possibly traded, since he has a limited NTC. Combine that with buying out either Allen or Steen and it makes paying the guys remaining, not including Scandella, easier.

Three RFAs with arbitration rights - which can become an issue: MacEachern, Barbashev, and De La Rose (I don't see De La Rose being around again)
One RFA without arbitration rights - Dunn
Three UFAs - Brouwer (gone), Scandella (no idea), and Pietrangelo (very likely re-signs just for how much?

Current space for next season before any buyouts, trades or re-signs is only $7,722,501. Pietrangelo is likely going to cost 9. So something has to give somewhere, which is where trading Bozak comes into play. Just trading him would clear 5M in space. $12,722,501 would re-sign Pietrangelo and possibly all of the RFAs (assuming they keep Dunn), but Scandella walks. Trade/buyout Allen or buyout Steen and they could keep probably Scandella, too.

[glen a richter]

If the Blues were to re-sign Scandella and Pietrangelo I have to wonder exactly what's the plan for Mikkola moving forward? Seems that Scandella is basically a younger Bouwmeester with more NHL experience than Mikkola, so where Niko was supposed to logically replace Bouw, now Scandella would and that kind of forces Mikkola down the depth chart. Perunovich and maybe Tucker would jump up so do they just trade him?

This team has altogether too much of a logjam at LHD, but there's not one good RHD prospect in sight. They need to address that at the draft this year.

[theohall]

Quality RHD is hard to find which is why any time I see anyone suggesting any kind of trade for Parayko, I laugh.

Ask the Vegas Golden Knights how hard RHD is to find. They have a whopping 2 of them on their roster - 37 year old Engelland and 23 year old rookie Zach Whitecloud whose played a whopping 11 games total - 10 of them this February. Hmmm... they fired Gallant then magically promote a rookie RHD which the team had been lacking all season. Maybe when the 2nd coach tells the GM WTF - the GM listens, finally.

[JCShutout]

If the Blues do resign Petro, I could see them banking on an expensive RD trio combined with replaceable, affordable LD. I could see them resigning Scandella for the right price, letting Mikkola be up and down again, and eventually taking over for Gunnarson after next year, or Dunn if he's too expensive and gets traded. Parayko is a guy you HAVE to find a way to keep.

I'm wary of buyouts because that extends the cap hit (albeit lowered) to multiple seasons. I could see someone in the offseason who misses out on the FA frenzy taking a flyer on a guy like Bozak, who is still having a solid year, and at one year, might be worth the risk, especially if the Blues just take back a nothing player/prospect or like a 4th or 5th round pick. I can see someone in the offseason giving up a little more for Jake after his good year this year (maybe a 3rd or 2nd) if they don't like FA prices on goalies, and see it as a one year trial before considering resigning him. No one is trading for Steen.

The Blues can probably make it work without a buyout if they can just move one of those big deals (or don't have Faulk on the roster) and Dunn doesn't break the bank.

Schwartz is a couple of years away too, and I think he's a big, underrated part of this team. I'd love him back at Schenn's AAV.

[glen a richter]

The thing that concerns me is that you have Dunn, Gunnarsson and Scandella are all LHD. If Scandella is re-signed, then you have Gunnarsson as the first man out. But then it gets complicated because the top D prospects are all LHD: Mikkola, Perunovich, Tucker whose development has been outstanding, Walman. On the other side you have FHOF'er Mitch Reinke. I mean come on. You have four guys who are lobbying to take over Gunnarsson's spot after he leaves and the obvious first choice is Perunovich who's already 21 and will probably be NHL ready sooner than later.

I would think you could probably get a 2nd rounder from a team for Mikkola, recoup that pick. Then I'd be looking at RHD in the draft, and there's a few worth considering who could be available when the Blues pick. Braden Schneider, Justin Barron who had a blood clot issue and will probably drop into the second round, William Villanueve who's made huge strides this season getting a ton of ice time.

Take a team like Detroit. They have 3 second round picks, and I think they'd be willing to part with one to get a young defender like Mikkola. If they can address RHD with the 1st round pick and an acquired 2nd round pick, that's a good start to solving a problem that's going to pop up down the road.

[JCShutout]

I like how Scandella fits the team, but I'd rather resign Petro and just play Mikkola. Gotta play the kids sometime. A resigning of Scandella just seems like the kind of move we would make, depending on the price of course.