St. Louis Blues: Three Chicago Blackhawks Free Agents To Consider
While it may not get the recognition it deserves nationally, the fans in St. Louis and Chicago know all about the rivalry between their hockey teams. Whether it’s the St. Patrick’s Day Massacre or the sweep that sent Ed Belfour to momentary insanity or some of the best first-round playoff series you’re likely to see, the history is deep between the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks.
Due to this hatred, the list of players that have worn both jerseys is not that long. Even in the modern day where players trade teams the way kids used to trade cards, there have not been a ton of guys that made the move north from St. Louis or south from Chicago.
Despite this fact, that doesn’t mean there are not players on both sides that could make an impact on the other. A fellow FanSided site, Da Windy City, discussed just this idea.
Vincent Parise looked into the three pending Blues free agents that could bolster the Hawks’ roster. The names St. Louis has to offer are a little higher quality, so let’s hope none fly the coop in favor of the feathered head. I do suggest giving it a quick read though.
Regardless, turnabout is fair play. So, why not see which of their free agents might give the Blues a boost?
So, here are the three Chicago Blackhawks free agents that the Blues should at least kick the tires on. If you treat free agency like a draft, St. Louis should at least have these names on the white board.
If nothing else, a player swapping sides would bring some extra spice to a rivalry we didn’t get to experience in 2020-21.
Zack Smith
Some fans might see the name Zack Smith, scratch their head and wonder “who?”. However, name value is not all it is cracked up to be when your team is up against the salary cap.
Smith does not have stats that will wow anyone. His signing would not move the needle on sports talk radio or on social media.
That does not mean it would be a bad signing. In fact, if things elsewhere go the way some have suggested, Smith would be a decent alternative.
Interestingly, the man Smith could potentially replace was a name listed in the free agents the Hawks could look at. Most Blues fans would love to keep Tyler Bozak as a person and a player, but the finances seem unlikely to work out.
Couple the money with Bozak being 35 and it’s reason to let him walk. While he would not provide as much upside, Smith could be a valuable replacement.
Smith brings a similar body. He’s listed at 6’2, 208 lbs compared to Bozak being 6’1 and 199 lbs.
Like Bozak, Smith is pretty good in the faceoff circle. Smith’s percentage is not as good as Bozak, but he’s a high-volume faceoff taker and still usually wins close to 50% of the draws.
Smith isn’t quite as offensively gifted as Bozak, but he’s put up decent numbers at his peak. He would likely be brought in as a fourth-line center or to fill in on the third line anyway, so you’re not requiring quite as much as Bozak.
Additionally, Smith is four years younger and his 2021 contract was almost $2 million cheaper. That’s not to say he’d be that much cheaper in 2021-22, but every dollar will count going forward.
Alexander Nylander
The next couple players we’ll look at are potentially more talented, but much less likely to escape the Windy City. That’s because they’re both restricted free agents.
For the Blues to pry one of these names away, it would cost them a draft pick of some sort as compensation. That’s why you don’t see a lot of restricted free agents sign elsewhere unless the contract standoff reaches a point where a trade is reached.
Still, Alexander Nylander would be an interesting prospect for the Blues to look into. Age wise, Nylander may have passed the prospect stage, but he hasn’t had a full chance to show his worth at the NHL level yet.
Nylander showed plenty of promise for the Blackhawks in 2019-20. He scored 10 goals and 26 points in 64 games. That is not a ton of production, but not that bad for a guy that was 21 at the time. For comparison, Jordan Kyrou had 14 goals and 35 points in 55 games in his first “full” season and he is a more pure scorer.
Additionally, Nylander won’t shy away from physicality. He’s not a physical player, but he won’t avoid it either, which would fit in with the Blues.
Even if he became available, the problem with Nylander is he’s coming off an entire missed season due to a knee injury. Following the 2019-20 season, he had a torn meniscus and tried rehabbing it. Like recent Blues who have tried the same with other injuries, eventually surgery was the option and he was not brought back at the end of the season.
With a year of development lost, would Nylander be able to produce? Unknown.
What is known is that Nylander wouldn’t cost a lot. His 2021 contract paid him $863,333. There’s almost no way he could demand much more than $1 million this season and cost-controlled assets with potential might be a good look as the Blues retool.
Nikita Zadorov
Speaking of retooling, while I contend that St. Louis absolutely must address a lack of goals, there is a large contingent of fans wanting them to get bigger, stronger and nastier on the back end. Look no further than Nikita Zadorov for that.
Like Nylander, Zadorov is a restricted free agent even though he’s 26. You can thank a lack of games, lengthy entry level contract and several shorter bridge contracts afterward for that.
Nevertheless, if available, Zadorov would provide the Blues a lot of what they need on the back end. He checks in at 6’6 and 235 lbs, so the big Russian defender is not going to get pushed around.
While it would be extremely unlikely they play together, just imagine a twin-tower blue line of Zadorov and Colton Parayko. As long as they didn’t screen their own goalie, they’d take up so much room with height and reach that it wouldn’t be funny.
Zadorov doesn’t provide much scoring, with his career high being seven goals and 20 points. However, that’s not what you’re looking for if you bring him in.
He replaces some of the pure defense lost with Carl Gunnarsson‘s likely exit and also the defensive reach lost when Jay Bouwmeester was lost. Additionally, Zadorov will punish those that take him on.
Justin Faulk led the 2021 Blues in hits with 128. Only two other guys had over 100 hits and both were forwards.
Zadorov has not had fewer than 153 hits since 2015-16. That was because he only played 22 games.
He’s had over 200 hits twice in his career and almost surely would have eclipsed that number in 2020-21, had a full season been played.
He would not come overly cheap. His last contract paid him $3.2 million.
The only reason the Blackhawks might let him loose is due to their own cap concerns. With players coming off LTIR, Chicago might have no choice but to let the Russian test the waters.
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If so, St. Louis has to take a look at this guy. The Blues have enough defensive offensive firepower on their roster or coming through the system. If you can add a guy with nastiness and size to help guard your blue line, you’d be foolish to not kick the tires.