The St. Louis Blues were among the first teams pundits picked to hold a fire sale. The Blues lingered in the race long enough to delay said fire sale. But at this point, the Blues seem to be fading from the Western Conference playoff race.
So, is it time to sell off pieces?
Hold your horses. Now is not the best time for the Blues to hold a fire sale. The reason for that assertion lies in the Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers officially raising the white flag on the season. Both clubs have admitted their season is done and the retooling process begins. While the Rangers want to avoid admitting their rebuilding, the Canucks have pretty much embraced the thought of a full-on rebuild.
That situation means that there will now be a healthy supply of players on the trade market. And as the law of supply and demand goes, prices will go down.
While the Canucks and Rangers will want to hold out for the best possible returns, the fact is that the market will correct for the new supply of fresh faces on the trade market.
How does this affect the Blues? Well, the astronomical return predicted for Brayden Schenn will not come to fruition. The possibility of Elias Pettersson and Vincent Trocheck hitting the market could water down the price. Similarly, Justin Faulk could have recouped a first-round pick. Now, that could change with the Canucks and Rangers offering their blueliners on the market.
That said, if now is not the best time for the Blues to deal, then when would it be?
Blues are better off exercising patience
The Blues are better off exercising patience at this point. Teams looking to make a splash by going after, say, Trocheck, could circle back to Schenn. Similarly, Faulk or Jordan Kyrou could be in play after other options come off the board.
But there’s one interesting option that Doug Armstrong and Alex Steen must consider. The prices some teams pay for Rangers and Canucks players could dictate what the Blues could get for their pieces. For instance, a big haul for Trocheck could serve as a comp for Schenn. What if someone overpaid for a defenseman like Tyler Myers? The Blues could use that as a reference for someone like Faulk.
At this point, the Blues could do well to hang back and see what other clubs are up to. The time to clean house has passed for the time being. Perhaps the best time to make deals could be closer to the trade deadline, that is, after the Olympics. By then, there could be much more clarity regarding where the trade market could be after the initial frenzy that’s set to take place in the coming weeks.