St. Louis Blues: Three Moves the Team Should Make on Deadline Day

The St. Louis Blues accomplished their main goal of trading Kevin Shattenkirk before Wednesday’s trade deadline. But given the team’s recent play, current playoff picture, and their pool of NHL-ready youngsters, the team should spend the remaining hours until the deadline cashing in the rest of their expendable assets.

24 hours after Kevin Shattenkirk was shipped off to the nation’s capital, the St. Louis Blues were edged out by Edmonton. They’ve now dropped four games in a row. It’s been a rough few days now for the Blues and us fans. Honestly, I don’t think the seas will get any calmer ahead.

The Blues are still in a tough battle for a wild card spot with Calgary and Los Angeles. The two Pacific teams fought each other Tuesday night. Unfortunately for the Blues, both teams snagged points. Calgary further separated themselves from St. Louis while the hated Kings gained some ground.

And this has been happening for a week now.

Calgary is now a winner of five straight. Los Angeles has been losing every other game but it’s been good enough to hang with the Blues for the final spot.

Do we have any reason to expect these trends to suddenly cease? No. We don’t.

Especially now that Shattenkirk is gone. The Blues will be worse in every facet of their game for the rest of the year. Meanwhile, the Kings have added Ben Bishop to pair with Jonathan Quick and the Flames may be making some moves to improve as well.

Now, I’m not going to suggest the Blues need to go into tank mode. But, I think they can make some more moves. Unlike other sellers, they’d still have legitimate NHL talent ready to fill whatever holes are Doug (I am not sorry for this pun).

I’m just saying they should consider going with the Shattenkirk philosophy with some other expiring contracts before the 2 p.m. CT deadline.

Here are three minor moves I’d like to see Doug Armstrong make today.

1. Trade Scottie Upshall

I love Scottie Upshall. The veteran forward has been a great addition to this team and his play isn’t talked about enough. I don’t think his play is going unnoticed by other clubs, though. His contract makes him an unrestricted free agent in the coming months and he’s a ridiculously cheap option for what he brings. Actual Stanley Cup contenders might want to add some depth here or slide him into a physical fourth line role like he’s seen with the St. Louis Blues.

If the Blues can shop him and acquire a fourth round 2017 draft pick or better, they should pull the trigger. That seems to be the going rate for complimentary rentals. It’ll give him a shot at a ring and if there’s any interest later, the Blues can bring him back on a team-friendly deal again.

For what it’s worth, Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweeted yesterday he also believes there is a chance Upshall is shopped.

2. Ditch the Nail Yakupov Experiment

I, along with probably every one of you who read this, was really excited when Nail Yakupov became a St. Louis Blue. We all had hopes that he would show his true No. 1 pick talent here and prove that his underwhelming NHL career so far was just a matter of Oiler.

But, it really doesn’t look that way.

I don’t necessarily think it is Yakupov’s fault. Ken Hitchcock never gave him a chance to play regular minutes and find his bearings in St. Louis. That could have changed when Mike Yeo took over, but it hasn’t. The Russian speedster is dead weight most nights in a Scottrade Center press box.

With the forward depth the Blues currently have, Yakupov is more than expendable. They should try to call around to see if another club wants to take a chance, where he can get actual meaningful minutes. I refuse to believe the Blues were the only team interested in him last summer.

He is a restricted free agent this summer, so his new team would have a twenty games to analyze him in their system and make a decision. Or, maybe he can make an immediate impact for a fringe club.

If the Blues can get any draft pick or some type of player in return, they should consider it. Move on from a failed experiment and let us try to forget how much this team has disappointed us with Nail Yakupov.

3. Trade Vladimir Sobotka’s Rights

Ugh. I hate bringing this up. I’m so over the Vladimir Sobotka drama. It’s unreal.

But, with the team in transition and considering the bad blood between he and the Blues, maybe they should trade his rights to a contender?

The center has 30 points in 41 games with the KHL’s Omsk right now. He’s no major difference maker but he is a quality player that would help many contenders up the middle. The Blues have some serious depth at center now and Sobotka’s chances of returning to St. Louis really seem all but gone.

I wouldn’t put money on this happening at all, because it’s more of a delicate situation and Sobotka would need to get out of his contract in Russia. However, it’s worth a shot.

The Blues could potentially get another NHL-ready player or another middling draft pick to close this wound up. It’d be a hard sell for Armstrong, as Sobotka will become a free agent if he plays any NHL game this year. The Blues can still treat this as a rental situation and pick up whatever they can.

If not, they can still do so in the offseason. But why wait?

Benefits of Doing So

The St. Louis Blues could very well be done at the deadline. I wouldn’t be shocked to see no activity by 2 p.m. But, I’d assume they are going to try to better themselves today. I certainly hope so, at least. By dealing Upshall, Yakupov, and (in my dreams) Sobotka, they can rack up the draft picks or some potential players for next year. It’s some kind of start.

Next: Shattenkirk Traded to Capitals

The effect of these moves on the Blues current chances wouldn’t be massive either. It would clear up some of the room for all these forwards, in particular Kenny Agostino, who a lot of us would like to see back up. Maybe the team still hangs on to a playoff spot.

I don’t think we are in for an exciting day, but can’t a guy dream? These are just some moves I’d feel good about.

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1. Trade Scottie Upshall

2. Ditch the Nail Yakupov Experiment

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3. Trade Vladimir Sobotka’s Rights

Benefits of Doing So