St. Louis Blues Trading For Chris Kreider Not Worth The Price

The St. Louis Blues are considering adding a top six forward. However, the price tag will likely make it more than it could possibly worth.

With the St. Louis Blues in the hunt for a Stanley Cup just months after winning the first one in the franchise, some fans are willing to mortgage it all for another ring. Winning a second championship would definitely be worth it for the team, but not at any cost.

Winning a second Stanley Cup would be fantastic for the city and the ownership group, but the franchise has the chance to be in the hunt for several years if they play their cards right. Panicking and disrupting the train of talent coming through the pipeline in an attempt to change the course of only 2019-20 would be a mistake.

Three months ago, the rumor began that the Blues were one of the teams interested in acquiring pending free agent Chris Kreider from the New York Rangers. I thought it would be a mistake then. It is an even worse idea now since we have more of an idea what the Rangers would want.

According to Alex Ferrario of 101 ESPN, the Rangers would want a package similar to what they acquired in the Kevin Hayes trade with Winnipeg. In that deal, the Rangers got Brendan Lemieux, a first round pick and a conditional fourth round pick.

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Translate that to this current potential trade. That means the Blues have to package two picks, plus it means you’re going to be sending Jordan Kyrou or Klim Kostin away.

On top of that, that is just what the Rangers are asking for right now. There are at least four other teams besides the Blues showing interest. That will drive the price up even more.

I’m sorry, but Kreider is not worth that. Especially not for a rental.

That’s what fans often forget when they are begging for deals like this. Kreider is going to want upwards of $5 million, or maybe more, in his next contract.

When the Blues have Vladimir Tarasenko back next season, even if they drop one of their veteran defenseman, they are not likely to have that kind of money to spend. That means they would trade away one of their most promising prospects in quite some time for a rental.

How exactly is Kreider worth that? He has 18 goals and 35 points at this moment.

18 goals would put him third on the team. 35 points would only put him sixth on the team. Plus, he’ll be gone once the season is done.

I don’t care what the team thinks he is not accomplishing at this moment, Kyrou is going to be a goal scorer. Maybe he’ll have his ups and downs like David Perron has, but there’s too much potential there.

Kostin has been slow to catch on to the North American game, but he showed lots of good signs in his brief stint in the NHL. He is also doing fairly well in the AHL.

On top of all that, the Blues are fully capable of making a run without Kreider. Why upset the cart at this point?

The Blues showed trust in their team prior to the last trade deadline and they paid that back with one of the best playoff runs in team history. It might be too much pressure to put on Tarasenko if he can even come back, but why not show the team the same trust?

The Blues have built themselves for now and have the depth to stay a contender for years. They did that by not giving out the big contracts like Chicago or making constant deals like Los Angeles.

Why change that by throwing tons of money at Alex Pietrangelo or trading away guys that should have a bright NHL future? Surprisingly, or perhaps not, there are many fans asking (sometimes yelling) for the team to do just that.

St. Louis has achieved success by sticking to a plan and making deals that make sense. This deal would not make sense and the Blues should stay away.