St. Louis Blues: Kevin Shattenkirk Traded to Washington Capitals
Congratulations, St. Louis Blues fans. You made it through the turbulent adventure that is the Kevin Shattenkirk Trade Saga. Can’t say you’ve been rewarded though.
Monday night, the St. Louis Blues reportedly reached a deal with the Washington Capitals to ship the scoring defenseman. After seven seasons wearing the Note, Kevin Shattenkirk will find himself on the east coast with a true contender.
In return, the Blues have apparently received a 2017 1st round pick, a conditional 2019 2nd round pick, minor leaguer Brad Malone and young forward Zachary Sanford. The Blues have also reportedly sent goalie Pheonix Copley back to his original team.
However, while that’s the return being reported, I’m not sure it adds up. Washington does not currently have a second-rounder because they had previously dealt it to Montreal for former Blue Lars Eller.
Look, I think we all knew a trade was bound to happen. Maybe it has been hard to accept or maybe you’ve been anxiously awaiting this move.
But what’s important now is the quality of the return.
The 2017 1st Round pick is the main piece and provides the most value for the Blues. It will be a late first to pair along with what will likely be the mid-round pick the Blues will already earn themselves.
The second most valuable piece of this is the conditional 2019 2nd round pick falling into St. Louis’ pocket. That is of course, if this even comes to fruition since I’m not sure where Washington is getting a second to deal. It’s more about quantity here. I’d actually be shocked if this pick isn’t used in a deal made by the Blues this summer to either clear some cap or fill a need. It’s just another asset.
And then there’s the new St. Louis Blue. Forward prospect Zach Sanford is also coming to St. Louis. Sanford is nothing crazy special, so please don’t get too excited. In 26 career games, the 22-year-old has three points. He’s a tall winger who has only seen bottom minutes in his first year in the league. (Why am I having Ty Rattie flashbacks?)
I’ll be honest and say I’m not real familiar with the kid. But I just watched a few videos, read his scouting reports, and tried to quickly indulge. And, I can’t say that my cheeks hurt from smiling. But I’m not going to trash the kid either.
Maybe he’ll work out. Maybe he won’t. We will see.
Meanwhile, Brad Malone seems like a depth throw-in. He’s surely headed to the Wolves along with Sanford. He was a late addition to the trade along with Copley, and if we are looking at this from a 1-for-1 swap angle, someone grab the bottle of tequila away from Doug Armstrong.
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Verdict
I do think the Blues were lucky to pick up the first round pick for Kevin Shattenkirk.
This morning, I wrote that after the Martin Hanzal and Ben Bishop trades, I thought the Blues would get a first round pick and a middling prospect for Shattenkirk. Value wise, I think I hit the nail on the head. I’m not sure I’d call Sanford a true prospect at this point so him combined with the 2nd rounder almost meets that type of value.
Until that Hanzal deal, no team had parted with their first round pick. They’ve been sacred lately, for some reason.
While picking up the draft picks is nice, I just personally can’t feel good about this trade. Maybe it’s because I’ve watched Shattenkirk be a great player in St. Louis for seven years. Maybe it’s because I don’t want to admit this season is almost lost and I would have liked to see an NHL-caliber player coming back to help now.
But, we will have to wait and see with Sanford. I’m sure he is going to fall right back into the group of forwards the Blues already don’t know how to manage. We’ve seen it with Nail Yakupov, Dmitrij Jaskin, and Rattie. The playing time just isn’t there. I just really think Sanford could end up as a forgotten man as well. Wouldn’t be shocked to see him sent to Chicago.
As for the Blues trading Copley, I don’t see why that was unnecessary. The Blues have a lot of goaltender depth and some solid prospects. But, he has a good AHL track record and was the first option to fill in if Jake Allen or Carter Hutton went down.
Ultimately, I feel like this deal was made out of fear. General Manager Doug Armstrong’s leash isn’t as long as it used to be and if you were him, could you really not make a move to improve your team but also NOT deal your best trade asset? No. You couldn’t. That’d be a fireable offense.
I will say this, though. The deadline isn’t until Wednesday afternoon. The Blues still have time to do more and choose how this season can play out for them. So let’s not riot or party yet.
Farewell
And a sincere adios to Kevin Shattenkirk.
The first thing we have to remember here is that none of this is on him. In his time with the Blues, he was an All-Star and the most consistent scoring option the Blues have had on the blue line. Maybe he turned down extensions which made trading him more difficult, but he had to do what was best for him.
And remember, he was our reward for suffering through the years of Erik Johnson. When the Blues acquired Kevin Shattenkirk and Chris Stewart for the former No. 1 overall pick, no one expected Shattenkirk to be as good as he’s been (which is much better than Johnson).
But as much as hockey is a game, it’s also a business. And everyone leaves eventually.
In 425 games as a Blue, Kevin Shattenkirk scored 59 goals and produced 258 points as well as many key moments in playoff runs. And we should be thankful for those.
So, I’ll miss No. 22. And you should too.
Unfortunately for him, he’s headed to Washington. They probably liked him for the 2nd round playoff exit experience. He might experience some serious deja vu.