St. Louis Blues Need To Land The Bread Man This Time

The St. Louis Blues have a long history of missing out on certain players. It is rare to get another opportunity to acquire those men, but St. Louis might have a chance this time.

It is almost in the blood of the St. Louis Blues to just miss out on certain players. The most famous one, of course, is passing up Jonathan Toews to draft Erik Johnson.

There are plenty of others. The Blues almost landed Taylor Hall in a recent trade until Kevin Shattenkirk shattenkirked all over the deal and it fell through.

Whether it’s trades, free agency or the draft, the Blues have a laundry list a mile long of guys they could have had but did not. You rarely get a second chance, let alone a third one, to rectify those mistakes.

The Blues might just have that with the “Bread Man” Artemi Panarin.

For those of you unaware, the Chicago Blackhawks signed Panarin as a free agent out of Russia in 2015. He was being paid $3.5 million, but only had a cap hit of $812,500 those first two years.

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Vladimir Tarasenko all but begged the Blues to sign Panarin. He told them several times how good he was/could be. Whether that fell on deaf ears or he just did not fit into the Blues plans, they missed out big time.

Panarin won the Calder Trophy for the NHL’s best rookie. He scored 30 goals and 77 points in his first season. There were no language or cultural barriers holding this kid back.

So, as always seems to happen, the Blues missed out. They sort of missed out, again, when Panarin was traded to Columbus in the summer of 2017.

In reality, the Blues never had a chance there. Chicago wanted to re-acquire Brandon Saad. However, it feels like they missed out, just knowing he was available again.

Now, depending on your viewpoint, the Blues have either a second or third chance.

Panarin has informed Columbus he will not discuss a contract extension and intends to test the free agent market after the 2018-19 season. If there is any chance the Blue Jackets will deal him, the Blues have to get in there.

We have discussed how poorly the St. Louis market does in picking up free agents, whether that’s baseball or hockey. If you can go after Panarin before he hits that market and help him fall in love with the city, you’d be a lot better off.

Panarin is going to want a payday next summer, regardless. He has earned it.

In three seasons, he has a total of 88 goals and 233 points. He’s had seasons of 77, 74 and 82 points.

Anyone who said he was a byproduct of Chicago had their mouths shut when he set a career high for points in Columbus. He scored game winners and clutch goals for the Blue Jackets in the playoffs as well.

The Bread Man is already getting $6 million, so he’ll be looking for Tarasenko money or more. That’s fine. He is one of the few players that would be worth it.

The only negative factor of picking up Panarin would be it points out the Blues biggest hole again. It would be fantastic to have Panarin and Tarasenko together. Who would center them?

It seems unlikely the Blues would want to take Brayden Schenn off a pairing with Jaden Schwartz. You no longer have Paul Stastny. So, who fills that hole? Do you sign Stastny hoping he could play better in St. Louis with two elite wingers? That’s a big ask.

However, you can cross that bridge at a later date. You give me two wingers that can put up 70-plus points and, potentially, 30-plus goals and I’ll figure out the center problem later.

It has to be said there are no guarantees that Panarin is truly available. Columbus is just entering their prime as a contending team, so trading your leading point scorer is not exactly high on their priority list.

However, if Panarin gives them an indication he doesn’t want back in, they might try to get something while the getting is good. If or when that happens, the Blues have to pay up this time.

Next: Pros/Cons Of Ilya Kovalchuk Signing With St. Louis

None of us want to lose prospects, but this guy has proven he’s a sure thing, even in a short amount of time.

What a marriage it would be. Panera owns St. Louis Bread Co. So, the Bread Man would fit right in. Please let it happen.

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