St. Louis Blues Help Will Have To Come From Within

Excitement could not be higher for the St. Louis Blues as they edge toward and into the 2018-19 season. However, due to their cap situation any late season help will likely have to emerge from within.

It cannot be said by many, if any, that the St. Louis Blues and general manager Doug Armstrong are all-in on the 2018-19 season. While he made shrewd moves that will not hamstring the team in the future, Armstrong made sure the Blues were going to be thought of as contenders.

Whether that comes to fruition or not depends on the players and the coaching staff formulating a game plan and coming together over the course of 82-plus games. It cannot be denied that the Blues were one of the winners of the offseason.

The only main problem that might be on the horizon is the lack of wiggle room within the salary cap. Armstrong might need to bring out his inner Stan Bowman should the team need some late assistance.

More likely is that help for the Blues will come within. That is not such a terrible idea, however.

The Blues additions in the summer of 2018 bolstered their depth and filled up plenty of roster spots. It also took potential spots away from some up and coming players as well.

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That might dampen the spirits of some fans, understandably so. However, it also takes the pressure off these young kids and allows them to earn spots.

The Blues are deep enough heading into the start of 2018-19 to not need any of their prospects to step in. However, if someone has a fantastic camp, the Blues only have a handful of contracts that they absolutely have to keep up. There is still enough wiggle room within the roster for a player, or two, to earn a roster spot coming out of camp.

Jordan Kyrou is a prime example. Most were penciling him into the roster prior to free agency because of the excitement around his speed and potential scoring ability.

Now, Kyrou is almost a certainty to start the season with the San Antonio Rampage. That is slightly disappointing, but could be best for him to get acclimated to the more physical nature of the pro game.

Of course, the situation with Robert Thomas makes things a little more complicated. Even so, the Blues have plenty of young talent that will be chomping at the bit.

At the NHL trade deadline, as reported by Jeremy Rutherford and quoted on MyNHLTradeRumors, the Blues won’t have many assets to send away and still bring in players.

The lower tier players, such as Oskar Sundqvist or Nikita Soshnikov, even if they have great seasons, don’t have enough monetary value to allow a higher priced player to come to St. Louis. You would either have to package something of high value or send a higher-priced contract player away. Neither scenario is very likely since the Blues are rather attached to their higher-priced players.

The only player that might make sense is Alex Steen. Steen has some value left and it seems unlikely the Blues will want to see out the rest of his contract. However, Steen is the type of player that if he is playing well, you might as well keep him and if he is not playing well, he might not be considered worth his contract.

Regardless, the Blues should have plenty of bodies ready to come up from the minors if they need a tweak to their roster come playoff time. The players they have coming through the pipeline, if as good as advertised, will be more than enough to compliment this team. If the Blues need an actual upgrade, they might be in trouble anyway.

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Hopefully, that does not happen and the Blues have smooth sailing throughout the year. We all know about injuries though. Any way you slice it, the Blues might end up needing their youth by the end of the year.

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