No selling at the deadline should mean buying in the offseason
Clearly, none of the aforementioned trades happened, but three would-be contenders missed out big by either overlooking the Blues, or not offering them enough in compensation to acquire a trade candidate to help them facilitate a serious deep playoff run.
With a lineup full of players like Buchnevich, who will at least be in town through next season, Parayko, and Krug, both of whom are locked into long-term deals, and with three players on seven-figure cap-hits as pending unrestricted free agents, then it’s time to buy.
Clearly, Armstrong, if given the right deal, could have facilitated a mini-rebuild and collected even more draft picks and prospects. But the NHL trade deadline passed, and the team remains intact.
St. Louis, despite their meager season in 2022-23 and the fact they are not currently a playoff contender, still has more than enough talent in the organization to make another run next season. That said, Armstrong needs to buy in the offseason, make a halfway decent team great, and buy again at the 2025 trade deadline.
Let’s see what the Blues make of their current situation for the final month of the 2023-24 season and see if Armstrong adds one or two more pieces in what should be a pivotal offseason.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference, trade information provided by Cap Friendly)