Now that the St. Louis Blues seem to be entrenched as moderate buyers at the trade deadline, they might see a new face or two heading to Arch City by Friday afternoon. And there was one player who was young enough to fit into the core and physical enough to provide an edge who is no longer in the discussion.
The player in question? Jordan Greenway, who we found out on Wednesday will return to the Sabres on a two-year, $8 million extension. Greenway looked like he was on his way out of Buffalo, having been an addition thanks to his ties with former head coach, Don Granato.
With Lindy Ruff back in town, there was a chance some of Granato’s guys wouldn’t be sticking around much longer. But that was not the case with the hard-hitting Greenway, a player I listed as a potential rental, if not more, for the Blues.
St. Louis Blues could have used a hard-hitting winger like Jordan Greenway
While the Blues are a moderately physical team with 24.4 hits per game, adding someone like Greenway down the stretch would have served a few purposes. For one, Greenway has landed 80 body checks this season across 26 games, and his presence would have given the Blues an additional edge against some of those ultra-talented Western Conference teams.
Greenway has also been a middle-six player with the Sabres, and he even logged top-six minutes last season. But when you look at his numbers - 28 points in 2023-24 and eight points this season, it’s clear that Greenway’s forte in the NHL is something closer to 13-14 minutes per game.
As a member of a contender’s bottom six, Greenway would have brought even more of an edge than he already does. The only real problem with Greenway is, because of his physical nature, he’s often an injury risk and hasn’t appeared in over 67 games in a single season since the NHL started rolling with a full schedule again in 2021-22.
Greenway’s the type of player that could win championships
While I had Greenway listed as a rental because he was playing on an expiring contract, I was also convinced he’d have been someone Doug Armstrong would’ve re-signed had the longtime exec acquired him. With his upcoming contract with the Sabres, Greenway wouldn’t have come at a high cost, and in his age-27 season, he’s well in his prime.
With Greenway going off the board yesterday, there are still some hard-hitting options out there, both at forward and defense as of Thursday afternoon. Luke Schenn (name sound familiar?) is one of them, along with Ryan Donato, and Mario Ferraro. Still, Greenway was, considering he’s played just a limited number of games this season, among the hardest-hitting, most imposing players out there.
We’ll see if Armstrong looks to add another hard-hitter to the lineup, and one that will come at a cheap price. If he does, the Blues will evolve from a moderately physical team to one opponents will despise playing against. Bringing such an edge is required reading after the trade deadline, but as far as Greenway goes, he’ll be part of yet another reclamation project in Buffalo.