St. Louis Blues: Does Pursuing Carey Price Still Make Sense?

Carey Price has been at the center of St. Louis Blues trade rumors over the past handful of seasons, but the question remains, is he still a fit in St. Louis?

The St. Louis Blues are stuck in an organizational hole and could be looking to sell off key pieces of the team. These players could include starting goalie Jake Allen, and a change in goal could help the Blues turn their team around.

A trade for Price would be one of the most complicated trades in Blues history. The former Vezina and Hart Trophy winner is 31 years old and is making an absurd $10.5 million a year.

After a busy offseason for the Blues, the team spent right up to the salary cap and currently have just $445 thousand left in cap space according to capfriendly.com.

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There are many reasons why Price would be a great fit in St. Louis. When healthy, Price is the best goalie on the planet, and he has all the numbers in the world to back that up.

He has spent his entire 12-year career with the Montreal Canadiens and has had a few injury-plagued seasons over the past few years.

The biggest question mark heading into the Blues past five seasons has been whether or not the goaltending situation can hold up for an entire season. Questions have always been raised about Allen, and the Blues have always handcuffed him to quality backup goalies.

Players like Brian Elliot and Carter Hutton have had recent success in light of Allen’s struggles, and both goalies have gone on to be number one goalies on other teams. In fact, Hutton’s Buffalo Sabres have won ten straight games with Hutton being at the forefront of the win streak.

Acquiring Price would mean that the Blues would need to also trade not only Allen but other players who are making a significant amount of money. The Canadiens have considerable cap space of $11 million, and they could be open to moving Price’s $10.5 million contract.

A player of Price’s caliber would also cost some high-end prospects. Though no talks between the Blues and Canadiens have ever been documented concerning Price, I would have to imagine that players like Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, and Klim Kostin have come up in negotiations.

I think a lot of Blues fans are happy that Thomas is still part of the Blues team, and while Kyrou and Kostin have not had significant experience in the NHL, they both have very bright futures in the league.

Even if the Blues were willing to acquire Price, the question still needs to be asked about whether or not a trade for a 31-year-old goalie makes sense.

If you were to ask me two years ago if the Blues should trade for Price, I would be all over it. I would be the first one marching down to 14th and Clark to beg Armstrong to pull the trigger on a trade.

This year, however, may be different. The Blues have the second worst record in the league and acquiring a superstar goalie may not make the most sense at this point in the season.

The Blues could still trade Allen for much less. In fact, the Blues have already been linked to Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard, but regardless of what names get thrown around on the rumor mill, a goalie change would be a significant move.

The argument in favor of acquiring Price is that he is under contract for six more years after this one, but depending on your outlook on age and its impact on performance, it could also be a big negative in the argument against acquiring Price.

I think the Carey Price ship has sailed, but I would welcome a trade to acquire the former MVP. A change clearly needs to be made on the team and if the Canadiens were open to trading him, I think it would be worth a call.