The NHL trade deadline is a little over a month away now – March 3 to be exact. Some dread that day because the St. Louis Blues players they’ve grown to love, have bought jerseys of and spent years cheering for might be gone by that day.
Unfortunately, the Blues have put the front office in a position where they almost have to sell up to and including at the trade deadline. It’s not the situation any of us envisioned for this team.
Many, including myself, thought this was still a championship contender. They were not the favorites, by any stretch, but this was essentially the same team that would have gone to the Stanley Cup Final if their goaltender had not been crashed into and injured in the 2022 playoffs.
What has made the difference is anyone’s guess. Some blame coaching, while others point at individual players.
Frankly, the issues that have affected the Blues in 2022-23 are so widespread that it’s not as simple as saying if you remove this guy or change that guy it would all be different. I refuse to believe that removing one player from a locker room would change things in the manner so many want to believe.
Nevertheless, many fans think some big name, or names, will be gone from the Blues come March 3. I’m not going to say that has no chance of happening because Doug Armstrong is in a position where he can’t do nothing at all.
Even so, there are reasons it’s not as simple as picking up the phone and asking any certain team if they’d like to trade for the names we’re usually talking about – mainly Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly.