deadline

[flyingnote38]

looking at the Blues' perceived needs vs likely available players
one stop shopping with an obvious seller would suggest a fit with Seattle
Jarnkrok and Soucy would check all the Blues' boxes

downside is, are, to make it work under the cap we'd need to move Scandella or Sundquist
I assume we'd prefer Scandella but that's probably negative value in the deal (given he's got 2 more years on his deal)

so that makes picks/prospect burden heavier

not sure what we'd be willing to part with to get stomped slightly less flatly by the Aves in the second round

[theohall]

Blues don't have a 2nd Rd pick to trade this season and I doubt Armstrong wants to part with yet another 1st. This limits what the Blues can do involving picks unless someone is willing to take picks from 23 on.

[ibldbl]

I wouldn't be surprised if they do nothing at the deadline. The cap is a big issue.

[glen a richter]

Unless they can move Scandella for a pick I’d prefer to stand pat. You making trades for a cup run that probably won’t materialize? No point in having a substantial shake up when there’s clearly better teams with a much better chance of winning this year than the Blues. Hang in there and there’s a whole new world of kids almost ready to open another window.

[theohall]

Given the way players from Springfield stepped up this season, I don't see a reason to make a trade other than the aforementionedpp trying to move Scandella for a pick. The issue with moving Scandella - whomever takes on his cap is going to want a pick or prospect with him for taking on his cap hit - even though it isn't that significant. GMs aren't stupid - well, most of them aren't.

When the playoffs roll around, rosters get expanded and there is no cap, the Blues will likely recall Neal, Joshua, Kostin, Rosen, and Lindgren - if they don't switch players around before then. With the way the 4th line (Bozak, Toropchenko, and MacEachern) is playing, that isn't happening this week.

[glen a richter]

Is Binners ntc full or partial? I just read an article that allegedly Army is shopping him and a potential match exists with Edmonton. I’m intrigued, for sure.

[flyingnote38]

trading binner would be a bold move, but likely not a bad idea
unclear on the NTC. cap friendly lists 18 team no trade list 2024-5, 14 for 2025-6, and 10 for 2026-7. does that mean its currently full or not currently applicable?

[goon attack]

I wouldn't trade Binnington. yes Husso has been great for a very brief period, but Binnington is a proven winner, and Husso could be crap in the playoffs. I say trade Husso.

[WaukeeBlues]

I'm guessing Blues just stay put. I don't think Army wants to pay the prices we're seeing right now and I don't know that the Blues are one piece away either.

This team needs some incredible play to avoid a quick playoffs this year and one player ain'ta gonna change that.

I also Lol'd at Arizona taking on Little's contract. They're taking every negative value contract that's out there (cash to pay is less than the AAV) for the next 2 years. How embarrasing.

[ibldbl]

St. Louis Blues acquire defensemen Nick Leddy and Luke Witkowski from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for defenseman Jake Walman, forward Oskar Sundqvist and a second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

https://www.nhl.com/news/nick-leddy-tra ... =278542340

I know Sunny has been hurt quite a bit, but I don't like this much.

[glen a richter]

I don't like it

[Portland Blues]

I don't like it

[flyingnote38]

seems like a lot to give up (especially the 2nd) for a couple months of Leddy
I can only assume that Armie is as concerned as I am about this team potentially missing the playoffs
if we were in the East we'd be toast as it is

[theohall]

Leddy is a significant improvement over Walman and immediately becomes one of the top 4. Detroit retained a significant chunk of Leddy's salary to even allow this trade to happen. Wondering if the Blues will find a way to move Scandella in the off-season to re-sign Leddy. But that's all going to depend on how the rest of the season goes.

Losing Sundqvist - not sure how much that will hurt this season - given he hasn't been 100% all year - or even in the future seeing as the Blues are going to have to find homes for the guys coming out of juniors next season. Yes, Sundqvist as a PKer and player who can play anywhere in the lineup will be missed, just not sure it will be as much missed given players available in the Blues system. In terms of the PK, Thomas and Buchnevich have become the big PK guys while Sundqvist has not been as impactful in that role this season - likely due to still recovering from his surgeries. It's a smart trade by the Red Wings - who win this trade hands down if Leddy doesn't work out.

Witkowski is essentially a career AHLer who can fill-in when needed. Betting someone gets a longer look at playing time - like Logan Brown with Joshua getting promoted to split time between Brown, Joshua, MacEachern and Toropchenko.

[theohall]

Detroit has 18 draft picks over the next 2 seasons. Can't say Yzerman doesn't understand giving up players to get picks when the team isn't winning. And he isn't sacrificing their core young talent. All 3 players traded were upcoming UFAs.

As to the Blues trade, Sundqvist will be a UFA after the 22-23 season while Walman is an RFA after this season, so it's not like the Blues gave up much in relation to term for renting Leddy, if that's what happens. You have to give talent to get talent. It remains to be seen the impact of not having Sundqvist available. I'm of the mind the Blues have enough talent now to overcome losing him, considering the only time he was needed in a top 6 role at all was during the Covid crap. While the Blues deal with their normal injuries, he hasn't been used in the top 6 at all, due to the Blues increased depth at forward. That was one of the benefits he provided in addition to his PK and defensive role. Sundqvist's average time on ice was his 2nd lowest for any of his 5 seasons with the Blues. Were it not for being on the PK, it would likely be even lower. This makes me understand better why he was traded, even though I may not completely like it. It's essentially Leddy for Sundqvist and Walman for Witkoski, plus a Blues 2023 2nd (which is likely for Detroit retaining half of Leddy's salary).

The left side D now should be Krug, Leddy, Mikkola, Scandella. Scandella just became odd-man out 7th D who only plays when someone else is out. One of Leddy's strength is mentoring which should help Mikkola, even though he doesn't need much given the way he's playing.

[WaukeeBlues]

I originally hated this trade. HATED. I'm very slowly seeing the logic. I will assume Leddy is a significant upgrade from Walman I guess. It's hard to know with how tough it's been for Leddy in Detroit this year. But the biggest thing for me is the cap space opened up in dealing Sunny. It hurts my soul to see another player leave, but that's the reality and unless they're off-the-wall fantastic, you really can't be paying 4th line guys $2.75 in a flat cap or nearly flat cap world. Those injuries have taken a toll. I hope he bounces back with Detroit, I really do. But we needed some cap flexibility this summer and we now have a little more.

JR gave the Blues a "3" on a scale of 1-10 for this year's trade deadline and I tend to agree with that. We didn't really improve significantly. Anything can happen but I don't see a long playoff run in the Blues this year.

We're approaching tenuous times where the direction of this franchise is up for debate.

Army has, right or wrong, hitched his wagon to a core of 7 guys (Schenn, Buchnevich, Saad, Faulk, Krug, Parayko and Binner), collectively all here for at least the next 4 years, for a total of $42.3 million, average age 28.7, and most with some degree of trade protection.

I don't see a Stanley Cup with this core. Especially on defense. I'll never be happier to be wrong but it feels like the other top dogs are just younger and better. Then again I didn't think the core back in the late 2010's was winning a cup and there we go.

I don't know. I feel like we're rapidly approaching a "messy middle" situation: not bad enough to miss the playoffs, not good enough to contend. We'll see...

[glen a richter]

I think that there's enough young talent coming in at some point between Bolduc, Neighbours, Dickinson if he comes back 100% from his injury and we'll see about the defense. My issue is that you take a team like the Lightning which made solidifying the bottom 6 a priority and bang, back to back champions. You have a team like the Rangers who made trades at this deadline to solidify their bottom 6 and they have to be in the conversation for strong Cup contenders. A team can't contend without a really strong bottom 6 and I suppose that Sunny was bound to leave eventually, maybe Toropchenko can essentially replace him but his body of work isn't big enough to know that yet. I never like giving up draft picks either, unless the return is absolutely going to get the team over the hump.

[theohall]

When the Blues are healthy, they have ROR, Schenn, and Thomas at center. That leaves Bozak, Brown, MacEachren, and Joshua as the C replacing Sundqvist. Toropchenko is a straight winger, not a Sundqvist replacement. He's more like a Ryan Reaves without the fighting, but bigger.

Leddy has fit in seamlessly from what I've seen, even more so after Krug was injured.

[theohall]

After reading Jr's Athletic article about the Leddy acquisition and the Blues not doing more, Armstrong's quote was dead on. "You can't be all in all the time".

The Blues didn't give up any prospects and only one 2nd round pick. Armstrong was also handicapped by the cap. While some are saying why didn't the Blues get so and so (not the crowd here), they all seem to magically think other GMs wanted Scandella's contract, which is considerably far from any sane reality, while refusing to acknowledge what more the Blues would've had to give up just to be under the cap. Leddy at half salary for Sundqvist and a 2023 2nd wound up being an even cap trade. Same with Walman for Witkowski. Does anyone honestly believe any similar kind of deal could've happened with any of the higher salary defenseman moved? Or especially Chychrun???

Looking at who moved, what was traded, the Blues being unwilling to give up a 1st or prospects, and the cap limitations, Armstrong just may have gotten the BPA for the cost the Blues were willing to pay. Not the best BPA traded, but the one that fit the Blues limitations.

As to improving the 4th line, I believe the Blues already have those players available based on how the depth recalls in November and December performed.