He may still be on Injured Reserve, but Robert Thomas's name is still generating buzz. In the fifth iteration of The Athletic's trade board, Thomas is the highest of an player on the St. Louis Blues; he's all the way up at number five this time around, just behind the Seattle Kraken's Shane Wright and one ahead of known playoff performer Blake Coleman.
While the writers do acknowledge it would take a hell of a package to pry Thomas out of St. Louis (and, of course, would require Thomas to waive his no-trade protections), the fact that his name's still floating around is significant. GM Doug Armstrong has said nothing is off the table, but trading Thomas would signal a rebuild was on the way.
Elsewhere on this latest update of the trade board are the same four players as an earlier version. What's changed, though, are their placements: after Thomas, the next Blue is Jordan Kyrou, all the way down at number 21. The biggest faller is Justin Faulk, who follows Kyrou at number 23.
It is a bit strange that Faulk's lost so much ground on the trade boards. Now that Rasmus Andersson's been dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights, Faulk is one of the better defensemen that could be available at this year's deadline. Dougie Hamilton's availability has likely had an influence.
Next up, at 31, is Jordan Binnington. His drop makes sense because, since the last trade board, he's just gotten worse. Maybe a big showing at the Olympics in a couple weeks could boost his trade value but, for now, that doesn't seem to be in the cards. Plus, as a representative at the Olympics, there's a risk of injury for him in Milan--other teams probably won't be trying to make a deal for Binnington until after the Olympics.
Finally, at number 35, is the captain: Brayden Schenn. Schenn remains a valued veteran around the league with some power play utility, but his age, contract and production--though he's now tied for the team lead in goals--are serious red flags. The return for Schenn, as he's playing right now, would probably be underwhelming.
We're just over a week away from the Olympic trade freeze, then the March trade deadline is upon us. After yet another miserable loss, the Blues should absolutely be in sell mode--it's now just a question of "when" rather than "if."