The St. Louis Blues are entering a critical time heading into the offseason, and one of the burning questions is what to do with forward Brayden Schenn.
The St. Louis Blues will likely be right up to the cap limit when the season begins on October 2, and with plenty of restricted and unrestricted free agents to sign, the team is going to be forced to make tough decisions.
Schenn is a player that the Blues will need to consider either extending or trading soon. His value will likely never be higher than it is right now despite having one year left on his contract.
The 27-year-old veteran is set to make $5.125 million next season, which in comparison to players like Alex Pietrangelo ($6.5 million) and Vladimir Tarasenko ($7.5 million) may not be that much. However, with his play over the past two seasons wearing the Blue note, he is due to make a lot more money.
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There have not been many reports on a possible Schenn extension, or what the figures may look like if the Blues decide to keep their top-line center.
There are a couple of benchmarks we can use for what the extension might look like, including a contract that was announced for Vegas Golden Knights forward William Karlsson.
It was announced that he and the Golden Knights agreed to an eight-year contract with an AAV of around $6 million. For a guy who is just two seasons removed from a 35-goal season, this is an excellent price for Vegas.
The announcement of the Karlsson extension is a week removed from the Philadelphia Flyers announcing they extended newly-acquired forward Kevin Hayes.
Hayes has never reached the 20-goal plateau in his career and is coming off a season in which he appeared in just 20 games in the 2018-2019 season with the Winnipeg Jets and New York Rangers.
Why the Flyers justified giving Hayes a seven-year contract worth $7.14 million a year is beyond me, but this will give players like Schenn more leverage in contract negotiations.
Schenn is coming off a 54-point season, good for third on the team and has met or exceeded 20 goals in a season four times in his six-year career. Schenn’s durability at his age should net him a healthy payday as well. He has not missed more than 10 games in a season since the 2012-2013 season.
The Blues are going to need to find the money for a possible Schenn contract somewhere, and the most likely option for the Blues to do so is trading either Jake Allen or Alexander Steen.
Allen is making $4.35 million for the next two seasons, and you might be able to find justification in a salary like that if he was still the starting goalie. With Jordan Binnington set to make close to what Allen is making now, it will be difficult for the Blues to pay eight million to two goalies and still sign Schenn.
Trading Steen seems more complicated than trading Allen. Steen is entering his age 35 season and will be earning $5.75 million for the next two years. Although an efficient player toward the end of the season, paying $5.75 million for a fourth-line winger seems near impossible to move.
If the Blues were to move Schenn, they should be covered in the center position for the future. Ryan O’Reilly is going to anchor the top center spot for years to come and with the performance of Robert Thomas in his rookie season, St. Louis should feel comfortable with him anchoring a line next year.
Tyler Bozak was phenomenal down the stretch for St. Louis while playing with Thomas and Pat Maroon, and the Blues still have players like Oskar Sundqvist and Ivan Barbashev who are capable of playing center as well.
Signing Schenn long-term would be a welcome sight for this writer, but with the financial commitments to other players, it may be worth exploring trading him before the season in order to maximize his value.