3 pending free agents in the Western Conference the St. Louis Blues must stay away from
There are quite a few players in NHL free agency who will help the St. Louis Blues, but there is also a strong contingent of them to keep away from.
The St. Louis Blues will have quite the selection of free agents to choose from in the Western Conference (and Eastern Conference), but many will come with the ‘buyer beware’ tag. Even if a contingent of players enjoyed productive seasons elsewhere, there are a few reasons why they wouldn’t be a good fit for the Blues, and general manager Doug Armstrong would do himself a favor to refrain from bringing them into town.
This doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be productive players in Gateway City or that they would end up on those infamous “Free Agent Busts” lists. But given the current situation the Blues find themselves in, the following three unrestricted free agents from the Western Conference wouldn’t make the Blues any better off long-term.
Matt Roy, D/Los Angeles Kings
Matt Roy has been one of the league’s more solid players for some time. And while he hasn’t excelled in the scoring realm, he’s still more than capable of logging top-four minutes, and he would add more physical play to the Blues.
St. Louis should also be losing Marco Scandella this summer, and they must also bring back restricted free agent Scott Perunovich. But they would be better off going the younger route if they decided to roll with a blueliner this year. Or, if they wanted a middle-aged (as in the case of Roy) or an older player, they would ideally sign them to a shorter-term deal.
One reason is that they don’t need to sign anyone else so close to age 30 long-term, as they already have Justin Faulk (32), Torey Krug (33), Colton Parayko (30), and Nick Leddy (33) already in the lineup. More youth is needed, and Roy, 29, doesn’t quite fit that mold.
He’s a good hockey player, but Roy and other players like him wouldn’t give the Blues much value. A new name or two should be coming to the blue line this summer, and someone with the potential to play sound in Gateway City for the next five-to-seven seasons makes for a more ideal signing. If not, then they can sign a more established talent to a much shorter contract length.
Jonathan Marchessault, C/Vegas Golden Knights
Jonathan Marchessault is someone you can call the first face of the Vegas Golden Knights franchise, and he’s been there since the team started play. That said, the likeliest course of action for the Knights to take is to re-sign Marchessault, especially following the former journeyman’s 42-game season in his age-33 year.
The keyword, however, is “age-33,” as the Blues are a team finally getting younger, dropping to 17th in the NHL this past season from 13th in 2022-23, per Elite Prospects. If in the event the Golden Knights don’t keep Marchessault around, it still would make little sense for a Blues team to take interest in him.
Despite his age, Marchessault may demand a higher and longer salary, especially when you factor in this past season ended with his second-highest points total. Doug Armstrong has a plan, and that plan should be to keep getting younger, something Marchessault contradicts.
This doesn’t mean Armstrong shouldn’t seek to sign a player who is 33 and older, as they could make a good short-term solution at the right price. For example, I listed Adam Henrique in a previous piece as one forward the Blues should pursue. Plus, I also mentioned Vladimir Tarasenko and David Perron in another piece.
The difference between Tarasenko, Perron, and Henrique and Marchessault is that the former should come in at a much cheaper cost than the latter and for a shorter number of years. Armstrong needs to sign stopgaps, and Marchessault doesn’t look like he’s one of those players, judging from this season’s production.
Jason Zucker, W/Nashville Predators
Jason Zucker could be a good fit on the surface for the Blues as he would be a viable replacement for someone like Sammy Blais. Zucker played in 69 contests this past season with the Arizona Coyotes and, more recently, the Nashville Predators, but right now, if the Blues want to be a better hockey team, they need two types of players: Better scorers and players who consistently aren’t afraid to land body checks.
Zucker can be a physical player, something we saw in 2022-23 when he was with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He landed 197 hits that year and stole the puck 35 times, so it’s not like he’s not a physical, defensive-oriented forward.
The major issue here is the fact Zucker isn’t consistent enough. He’s a player the Blues can bring in and insert onto their lower lines, and he might give him a physical outing. Or he might just be one of those guys who lands about four body checks every few games but also disappears for stretches.
The upside is that Zucker would be a player to sign a short, one-to-two-year deal with the Blues, but even that carries risk. Instead, they would be better off bringing in a player known for their constant physicality year after year, even if it’s for the same timeframe of one-to-two seasons.
feed
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)