Three Draft-Day Scenarios For St. Louis Blues

Apr 17, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals center Brooks Laich (21) and New York Islanders center Ryan Strome (18) battle for the puck in the first period in game two of the first round of the the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Verizon Center. The Capitals won 4-3, and the series is tied 1-1. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

St. Louis Acquires First-Round Pick From Washington

If you follow the Bleedin’ Blue and Stars and Sticks FanSided accounts, chances are you already know how this trade goes down as Stars and Sticks editor Dave Stevenson and I hashed this trade out Monday afternoon. (Though he soon targeted another, I found this trade more to my taste.)

Live Feed

Stars and Sticks

With two of their four right wings reaching free agency this summer the Capitals will be on the lookout for a right-winger who can make them as dangerous from the right as they are for the left with Ovechkin leading the charge. And no team searching for a right wing needs to look further than the Blues, who boast a tremendous right wing who may be looking for a change of scenery.

As the St. Louis Blues are beyond unwilling to let Tarasenko slip through their fingers, they may be looking to cut cap space elsewhere. Oshie is not tremendously expensive, but he does hold one of the higher cap hits on the St. Louis roster, and rumors have been swirling about the Blues shopping him for most of the previous season.

Oshie is a truly capable player, and as hildymac pointed out over at St. Louis Game Time, is quite cheap for his skill level and the points he brings. She writes,

"The first chant-Oshie getting Big Money-would be true if you compared him with working stiffs or surgeons. But this is the NHL. His salary cap hit (SCH) for 2014-15 was $4,175,000 making him the 102nd ranked forward. Considering there are 180 Top 6 forwards in the NHL, his SCH appears tame. There are 37 forwards with a SCH at $6 million or more. In other words, more than one-third of the forwards paid more than Oshie made 50% more than him. That’s what I call Big Money. The second chant-Oshie is not earning his keep-is fiction. His 55 points ranked him 58th among all forwards. Not bad for a guy getting paid as the 102nd. But he looks far more productive than nearly all of the forwards in his SCH range."

Oshie also wears the A for St. Louis, and holds a lot of sway in the dressing room. He works his tail off on and off the ice, and to see him having difficulty succeeding in Hitchcock’s system is honestly upsetting, considering that Armstrong signed Hitchcock back to yet another year-long contract.

And who can forget how good Oshie is at setting up plays, sometimes in an unbelievable fashion?

While I’d prefer to keep Oshie around to see what he can do under a new coach come 2016-2017, Oshie needs a new opportunity on a new team, Washington needs a right winger and the Blues need a first-round pick. It seems like a perfect match.

The Blues could trade Oshie in exchange for left wing Marcus Johansson and a 2015 Draft first-round pick. Since Armstrong is nobody’s fool, however, he should package that with a conditional future pick that will kick in for the Blues should Johansson not play for the Blues in the postseason.

Next: Detroit