3 blockbuster trades the St. Louis Blues could have made at the NHL trade deadline

Colton Parayko would have brought in high-end prospects and draft picks

Before we go any further, these potential trades are not what could have been for Armstrong, as you can argue he also did the right thing in keeping players like Buchnevich and Parayko around. Instead, we’re merely talking about how much value these players would have given the Blues in compensation had Armstrong received the right offer, and what these other organizations missed out on. 

Colton Parayko was another player in the rumor mill, but once again, Armstrong held onto one of his better blueliners. One team that could have made a move for Parayko was the Toronto Maple Leafs, who instead acquired a pair of underwhelming defensemen in Ilya Lyubushkin and Joel Edmundson, much to the dismay of Leafs fans.

Sure, Toronto was strapped for cash at the trade deadline, but that’s why three-team trades exist, something we saw plenty of last week. Toronto didn’t have the same assets as Detroit in their prospects pool or in the form of draft picks. But they had enough to make a trade for Parayko to work out, and Leafs fans would have probably cut general manager Brad Treliving more slack had he snagged the reliable blueliner as opposed to rentals like Lyubushkin and Edmundson. 

Toronto desperately needs to make a deep playoff run, so they would have had no problem giving up a first-round pick, Nick Robertson (who was also in the rumor mill), plus high-end AHL prospects like Topi Niemela and Roni Hirvonen.