St. Louis Blues: Why Paul Stastny Should Not Return

By Todd Panula | Jun 4, 2018

WINNIPEG, MB - FEBRUARY 9: Mathieu Perreault #85 of the Winnipeg Jets plays the puck up the ice as Paul Stastny #26 of the St. Louis Blues gives chase during third period action at the Bell MTS Place on February 9, 2018 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Blues defeated the Jets 5-2. (Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The St. Louis Blues would be smart to pursue any and every avenue they have to making their team better for 2018-19. However, that should include less of looking to the past and more of looking to the future.

When the St. Louis Blues traded away Paul Stastny, there was the usual split between fans about the merits of the deal. Most people were disappointed with the return, though St. Louis would not have a first round pick this year without that trade. The value of Erik Foley remains to be seen.

The other people saw it as a decent trade that ridded the Blues of excess salary. With the team needing serious upgrades toward the top of the lineup, every dollar available makes it easier to land something.

Despite all that, throughout the playoffs, there has been a growing sentiment of sentimentality toward former players. Simply because their teams did better than the Blues, we forget all the complaints about those players and they become green grass on someone else’s lawn compared to our own brownish grass.

The saying of the grass is not always greener could not be more true here. David Perron had a fantastic year, but he was playing in a completely different offense with fewer defensive responsibilities. Stastny had a surge with the Jets, but his numbers dipped slightly as the playoffs went along and his overall stats are higher because he had more games. Ryan Reaves is a great locker room guy, but his playoff goals are the exception, not the rule. He was not the reason the Blues missed the playoffs.

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So, the fact that so many are interested in the return of these players is semi-concerning. The Blues had them all together at various points and did not get the job done. Their return is less than likely to bring different results.

Don’t get me wrong – I was one of the biggest Stastny supporters while he was here. I felt his stats were decent and he would have been very good as a second line center and great on the third line. The problem was the Blues were forced to use him as a top center.

It just never quite clicked.

Add to that the constant din made by fans complaining about the salary he was being paid, and it becomes an experience we should all be against reliving. Bringing him back, even if he is interested, just might not make sense.

That point alone is enough to make the Blues and their fans want to shy away from Stastny’s return. Through no fault of his own, he was given fair market value (at the time) of $7 million when he was signed.

His stats, in fans minds, did not live up to that number. Unfortunately, the Sharks set the market value and given that, Stastny is unlikely to want to take a pay cut, whether for a hometown team or not.

Whether you were a fan of Stastny or one that did not care for him, there is just no reason for the Blues to pay him that much money again. Even if St. Louis did not make the trade and he stayed the entire season, with the same production, I would argue that he was no longer worth the $7 million price tag.

So, it is unfair to expect him to come back if someone else is willing to take that bill. Stastny still has gas in the tank, at 32. If he can get $7 million, then he deserves to try.

The bottom line is that he cannot make $7 million with the Blues. It just would not make sense.

You cannot pay a third line center $7 million for third line production. You might eat up too much of your cap space if you no longer have that $7 million cushion you so longed for before Stastny found his game in Winnipeg.

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, Stastny clearly did not fit with the Blues system. While he would do it on occasion, you rarely saw Stastny shoot or screen goaltenders or drive the net with purpose.

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He did all those things with regularity for the Jets. Either he lost some will to do those things with the Blues or the scheme did not allow him to do those things. Either way, not enough has changed to expect him to suddenly do it for the Blues this time around.

If St. Louis brings him back, I will probably complain the least. Stastny is a good player still and hopefully they would get him at a reasonable price. It just feels like this team needs to be looking toward the future, and that does not just mean the prospects.

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