Will The Blues Bid Goodbye to Martin Brodeur?

As we know, the Blues announced Wednesday evening (after the Wild traded for Devon Dubnyk) that Martin Brodeur had been “granted” a one-week long leave of absence.

Martin Brodeur has been granted a one-week leave of absence from the Blues. MORE >>> http://t.co/YtIUAHhLI7 #stlblues pic.twitter.com/gw164zqTBM
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) January 14, 2015

While I’m sure it was less of a granting and more of a sentence handed down from the front office, wonky wording aside, the announcement certainly came as something of a surprise.

While we all knew the logjam at goaltender had to be resolved somehow, and I was ever-hopeful the Blues would prefer to keep Jake Allen as the number two to Elliott, I, like many fans, was cognizant of the fact that the Blues would get far more for Jake Allen than they would ever have been able to for Martin Brodeur.

Additionally, Brodeur has gone 3-3-0, and earned one shutout over the seven games he played for the Blues. While his save percentage is at only a.899, he’s performed markedly better than I, at least, expected.

A .899 save percentage however is clearly not second-string material. Heck, it won’t get you a call-up from the AHL for third-string.

Fiscally it makes sense to trade Allen and keep Brodeur. They could get a decent skater for him, maybe a third-round pick, and continue to build towards the future.

But if the Blues honestly think they have a crack at the Cup, it makes sense to ditch Brodeur and keep Allen waiting in the wings behind Elliott.

Trade Speculation

Glancing over the salary cap, it seems like the Blues aren’t in too much trouble. They’re no Montreal Canadiens, but they aren’t the Bruins, either. They’ve built a solid team, and have 16 players committed next season for only $58 million. Tarasenko will likely be looking to make a significantly larger chunk next year than he currently does, and at $900,000 his cap hit is crazily low for the value of his play.

Tarasenko’s value is in his playmaking abilities and his unselfish play. He’s got nearly the same amount of assists as he does goals and his STL (Schwartz, Tarasenko, Lehtera) line is a big points-producer. He is not one the Blues are interested in losing.

Said cost is easily solved by selling off a more expensive, but middle-of-the-road player, such as Oshie or Berglund. It’s a simple solution and wouldn’t rock the boat too much. But if the front office wanted to get crazy, things could get very interesting come trade deadline.

The Blues could move an older, higher-cost player and put all their eggs in the Tarasenko basket.

Jan 13, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko (91) looks on during the first period against the Edmonton Oilers at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Stastny would fetch a pretty penny, as when he’s healthy he’s a veritable fountain of points. While he’s not someone I’m keen on giving up, it’s been a successful move before, most recently with the Pittsburgh Penguins who essentially remade their team over the summer of 2014. By sending away James Neal to the Predators the Penguins rid themselves of an allegedly bad influence in the room (not that I’m conflating this at all with Stastny’s off-ice behavior) and got Hornqvist and Spaling in trade. Spaling is so far working well on nearly every line he’s been on, and although Hornqvist is currently out on IR, he’s played on both Crosby and Malkin’s lines and is considered a great fit for the team.

My point is this: a team that is low in the standings will often give more than is wise in trade for a great player.

Another option remains. Hitchcock has the Blues play a very physical game. They are almost to a man 6 feet tall or taller, and he has often credited their prowess on the power play to them “buy into checking.” It’s possible the Blues no longer need an enforcer like Steve Ott, and could trade him for a second or third-round pick in 2015 to get someone with better hands and an aggressive style of play that would fit nicely with his coaching philosphy.

Many good puck-handling defensemen have gone in the second and third rounds, such as Duncan Keith (drafted 54th overall), P.K. Subban (43rd overall), Kris Letang (62nd overall).

And while the Blues aren’t in dire straits when it comes to defensemen, they only have two right now we could term elite. They’re not hurting, but it wouldn’t be a bad thing to add to their depth at D.