St. Louis Blues: Top 5 Trade Targets For The 2020 Season
By Jason Martin
The St. Louis Blues are heading into the 2019-20 season with almost the same team as their Stanley Cup-winning roster, but it doesn’t have to stay like that.
It’s hard to tell if this year’s version of the St. Louis Blues has many flaws. The team has barely played four preseason games, but if we look at the career norms for the active players on the team, we might be able to guesstimate some potential issues.
Like any conversation regarding the Blues and adding players to the roster, it’s important to recognize that the team will be unable to make any moves without trading from the current NHL roster.
St. Louis has almost zero money to spend on new talent, and they currently have just over $400k left in cap space. This number, however, will go up once the final roster is set and players who contribute to the cap with NHL salaries, go down to the AHL, and as a result, the money will be cleared up.
Still, the team is looking at about $2 million in cap space once the puck drops against the Washington Capitals on October 2.
A common direction to point your finger at is forward Alex Steen and backup goalie Jake Allen. St. Louis has stated repeatedly that they have every intention of keeping Allen on the roster to play with Jordan Binnington, but the rest of the roster could be fair game.
This isn’t to say that the Blues are going to end up trading Ryan O’Reilly or Vladimir Tarasenko, but don’t think it’s out of the question to see some other big names mentioned in trade rumors if the Blues struggle this year.
Without knowing how well the Blues will play during the upcoming season, and not knowing what players will be available, let’s look at five players who the Blues could potentially acquire.