Three most likely St. Louis Blues to be selected by Seattle right now
The St. Louis Blues have big decisions to make with who to expose in the Seattle expansion draft. They also have the problem of availability.
So, the Blues have interesting choices in front of them as to who might get exposed when the expansion draft rolls around. There are always names thrown around in social media, but many of those are unlikely.
If you really think about it, why would Justin Faulk or Torey Krug be exposed/taken? If they are as bad as fans make out, both have no value to Seattle and are overpaid.
If they live up to the contracts, the Blues have no reason to leave them unprotected. They would be losing a top-four defenseman. It’s just not likely to happen.
There are names that the Blues are likelier to pick from, however. They might be players that fans would rather hold on to, but the bottom line is that the Blues are guaranteed to lose someone.
Maybe they work out a deal to where it’s a lesser-known prospect. That’s probably going to cost you a draft choice in a trade and the Blues can’t continue dealing off their picks.
Let us look at the three most likely names for the Blues to expose.
Clifford
No offense to Kyle Clifford, who actually played quite well, compared to expectations, in the 2021 season and scored more goals than we thought possible, but it made little sense for the Blues to sign him to a two-year deal. St. Louis has prospects that could have used that spot, even if they do not provide the same toughness.
While the likeliest answer is that Clifford would not come without a two-year deal, there is the possibility that the Blues signed him to that contract specifically to give them an easy name to expose. Nobody would ever admit to that, but given the odd nature of the build ups to expansion drafts, nothing is really out of the realm of possibility
Depending on what kind of team Seattle is looking to build, Clifford might not be that high on their list. However, the NHL has likely learned from the mistakes they made with Vegas.
Too many teams exposed guys that were mainly middle-six forwards because they wanted to keep their top lines and their prospects. What happened was Vegas grabbed all those, nurtured the right guys and had depth most long-tenured franchises hadn’t seen in years.
This time around, teams might be much more willing to part with high-character guys, but ones that are not as skilled. So, if Seattle is looking to get some experience and sand paper right away, Clifford might be their man.
If he was taken, it’s not the biggest loss in the world. He was a valuable asset in 2021, but St. Louis can find a replacement if needed.
The Blues have enough depth to absorb a fourth-line player being taken or they can look outside for help. If Clifford did not get taken, the Blues still have a reliable player, with plenty of grit, who understands his role.
Sammy Blais
It was a little shocking when Sammy Blais did not really make the regular team roster to start 2021. You can argue he did, but if Mike Hoffman‘s visa had gone through, Blais would have been on the taxi squad.
Nevertheless, Blais has proven to be a solid NHL player. He’s kind of a jack-of-all-trades.
Despite coming into the pro ranks with offensive promise, he’ll never score 30 goals at the NHL level – he may never score 20 for that matter – but he provides offensive possibility, which is still attractive. Even if you consider someone a third or fourth line player, if they have the ability to score, that’s checking a box that was not the case in days past.
You don’t expect Blais to score 15 or more goals, but you feel like he could if he got hot. You never thought someone like Kelly Chase, Tony Twist, Bob Bassen or even Ryan Reaves would score that many, even in their best year (Bassen did have 16 one season, but I digress).
Blais has enough talent, mixed with defensive ability, that he’s played as high as the second line. He just needs more consistent playing time.
Would the Blues be better off without Blais? Absolutely not.
He’s the kind of glue player that you want on your team. He’ll nab you important goals, proven by being one of the few to score against the Colorado Avalanche in the 2021 playoffs. He’ll also crush his opponents.
Blais has had 90 or more hits the last three seasons, despite never playing more than 40 games. He also added three points and 70 hits in 15 playoff games during the Stanley Cup year.
However, he’s not irreplaceable. Someone like Klim Kostin has just as much offensive potential and perhaps more. A guy like Ivan Barbashev is just as willing to put people into the wall, just with a little less force perhaps.
The Blues would free up $1.5 million in cap space if Blais was taken. His departure would also open a spot for someone like Kostin or even Jake Neighbors, if either are ready in 2021-22.
Sundqvist
It’s funny how time, even a brief amount, can completely change your opinion. If you had said an expansion team would claim Oskar Sundqvist a few seasons ago, most fans would not have batted an eye and some might have rushed him out of town.
Sundqvist was an afterthought inclusion in the trade that sent Ryan Reaves to Pittsburgh. He showed absolutely nothing in half a season with the Blues in 2017-18. One goal and five points did not even seem worthy of a fourth line role.
Then, he had a breakout season in 2018-19. 14 goals and 31 points were only half the story as Sundqvist managed to become a physical player and a very good defensive player as well.
He was on the path to another personal best in 2019-20, prior to the pandemic. He had 12 goals in 57 games.
While the numbers were not astounding, perhaps his absence after an injury, and then a season-ending injury shortly after that, proved how valuable he was to the Blues. The team’s depth was severely challenged and it felt like there were far too many players in roster spots they were not meant for, mainly due to Sundqvist not filling that void.
So, why would the Blues want to get rid of him? They would not. But, he is still a player you could likely afford to lose more than your true core players.
Fans cannot think of exposing a player as wanting them gone off your roster. It’s easy for social media or talk radio to just throw the current unpopular name out there, but the truth is the Blues don’t want to lose any of their players for nothing.
Out of the three listed, Sundqvist would probably hurt the most. He can play center or wing and can play anywhere on the second, third or fourth line and fit in just fine.
He is a proven playoff performer now as well. He had four goals and nine points, many of them in the clutch, during the 2019 playoffs.
If he was taken, the Blues would free up $2.5 million. Given how close they are to the cap already, plus needing room for raises for guys like Robert Thomas or Jordan Kyrou, every penny will count from a bookkeeping standpoint.
Overview
Some fans are going to wonder why other options were not listed here. The main reason is it’s not likely or wouldn’t make much sense for Seattle.
There are other options for the Blues, but they might be more complicated. St. Louis has enough defensive depth that they could move on from Vince Dunn, but that would involve signing him simply to let him be selected in the expansion draft.
The same is true for someone like Zach Sanford. The Blues don’t appear interested in losing Sanford, but even if they were, it would involve backdoor discussions with Seattle about what that contract would be so that Sanford could be signed prior to the draft.
If you’re going to expose a name as big as Jaden Schwartz, it would also require some sort of handshake on someone’s part that he would sign with the Kraken afterward. Teams are under no obligation to sign their pending free agents prior to the expansion draft, and some might say it would be smart not to.
However, you do still risk the Kraken taking their own chance and drafting someone’s free agent rights just to have an exclusive negotiating window. The team that tries that also risks alienating the player.
For example, if the Blues don’t sign Schwartz and expose him, but Seattle does not take him, why would he want to give the Blues any benefit of the doubt? He was clearly a pawn in that situation and might say the team did not have the confidence in him to sign him and protect him. It’s risky no matter what.
Maybe the Blues come completely out of left field and put a bigger name on the exposed list. There’s lots of Facebook chatter about exposing Vladimir Tarasenko, but that makes zero sense.
Even if he is not what he once was, there really isn’t that type of scorer in this year’s free agent class. Overall, these three names make the most sense.
They have term left on their contracts. They are players the Blues would want to keep, but would not be completely lost without.
Next. The real reason Blues shouldn't attempt Eichel trade. dark
Each of them are making $1 million or more, so you would gain a little cap relief in the process too. It all boils down to what the Seattle Kraken are looking for.