St. Louis Blues: Handcuffed at the Deadline
What a difference two weeks has made for the St. Louis Blues. Yet, with less than three months to go in the 2016 season, the Blues are staring down the barrel of their toughest challenge yet.
On February 6th, the Blues may have been out of the Jonathan Drouin sweepstakes, but a dysfunctional offense led to all sorts of trade speculation. Many, yours truly included, thought that major pieces of the St. Louis roster could be sent packing for offensive help.
Then, in one night, things took a turn at Scottrade.
The good: The Blues busted out of a 0-22 Power Play slump with three consecutive goals with the man advantage. The bad: Alex Pietrangelo got injured on a knee-to-knee hit and will be out until at least the trade deadline.
With five of seven before the deadline against current playoff teams, it’s not getting any easier for the boys in Blue.
I don’t envy GM Doug Armstrong’s job right now.
The St. Louis Blues looked poised to play with a full roster for the first time since October, but had the rug pulled out from under them yet again. In essence, here in St. Louis, we still don’t know who we are.
The Blues’ offense looked rejuvenated with the return of Jaden Schwartz last Friday, yet offensive woes reared their head again against Winnipeg and the Blues have squeaked by with two goals in their last three wins.
While the Blues’ biggest position of organizational depth lies at defense, Pietrangelo’s injury forces the Blues to rely on the guys who seemed most ready to move: Kevin Shattenkirk and Carl Gunnarsson. While Shattenkirk may be known for his offense and Gunnarsson as a scapegoat, it’s been ‘so far, so good’ since the injury.
Decisions loom. Shattenkirk has more value now than he will command again for his current contract, but who else on this roster could possibly command the power play or lock down the kind of 25-minute nights he’s been recently forced into? Unless Pietrangelo comes back with additional offensive talents, moving Shattenkirk would carry prohibitive risk.
Pietrangelo is a team leader and locked up long-term, but the Blues haven’t missed much of a step since he left. With a massive stockpile of defensive prospects in the minors, the Blues have the flexibility to consider moving him for a king’s ransom. Any number of rebuilding teams, notably Edmonton, would be aching to jettison picks or young forwards for a sure-thing defenseman.
Even more controversial may be the case of David Backes, who the Blues have been negotiating with before he has an opportunity to walk at the end of the season. If Backes and the Blues aren’t going to meet eye to eye, the St. Louis Blues organization must see what they can gain from renting Backes out.
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Other Blues free agents include Troy Brouwer, a patented Hitchcock player who seems too much in the coach’s good graces to move and Magnus Paajarvi, who would be unlikely to garner much attention.
But with a roster still held together with patchwork and duct tape, the absence of any of these players could cause the whole fabric of the team to come unglued. In all reality, the best idea for Armstrong is to ‘play it as it lays’ and ride out the rest of the season with what he has, whether he likes it or not.
For the St. Louis Blues to stave off trade talk, Shattenkirk must pass his tests against the opposition’s best. Robert Bortuzzo must play night in and night out and perform consistently. Schwartz must continue to improve an offense that lingers at the bottom half of the league. Hitchcock’s incessant line juggling must produce results.
Next: Blues Make Smart Move With Jaskin
Armstrong, however, stays put this deadline at his own peril. If the Blues succeed in April, he’s a genius. If they fall yet again due to a lack of playoff scoring, five consecutive years of playoff failure will seriously question his ability to run this franchise.