The St. Louis Blues are hitting their stride at the most important time of the year. They finally hit their ever-alluding three-game win streak and took down the two best teams in hockey this week after being on break for nearly two weeks.
With that said, the Trade Deadline is rapidly approaching on March 7, putting the Blues in a peculiar situation. What do they do with their roster, do they try and bolster it by buying some additional help, or do they give the rest of their season a chance with what they have and tie off loose ends by selling?
Here is one trade they should make and one trade they desperately need to avoid.
One Trade To Make
No matter if the Blues are buying or selling at the deadline, it is time to ship captain Brayden Schenn off to another team and get the "mammoth" return that will help this franchise win for a long time. With a surplus of young stars in the minors, the log jam at center-ice needs to be cleared away. Not to mention, this is going to be the last chance for the Blues to get the best kind of return for him.
Even though we all got to witness an incredible achievement with Schenn hitting 1000 career games the other night, these should be his last few games rocking the Blues uniform. It isn't personal; it's just business.
Schenn's trade will help this team achieve long-term success. The future is bright, and even though the Blues are nearly at the ultimate goal of making the playoffs, they cannot get caught up in making the playoffs this year and having an early exit be their lasting memory over the next couple of seasons.
One Trade They Need To Avoid
The Blues cannot, I repeat, cannot buy on these aging players at the deadline. For instance, Boston's Brad Marchand is likely on his way out, as well as Brent Burns in Carolina and Claude Giroux in Ottowa seem to be moving around March 7.
The Blues cannot take the bait, as they have aging contracts of their own that are nearly sinking this ship. Nick Leddy, Ryan Suter, Justin Faulk, and the aforementioned Brayden Schenn are players coming out of their prime and into the late stages of their careers. Their experience is influential to a younger team, but it isn't everything, and the Blues need much more than that.
It seems to me that this team is doing quite alright at the moment, just the way they are. Beating two of the best teams in hockey over a week should bode a good sign for the rest of this campaign. Why take on a new headache, when you can just ride it out and hope for the best?
What have they got to lose?