3 supposedly unreasonable offseason moves that would actually make sense for the St. Louis Blues
Sometimes, making counterintuitive organizational transactions could pay dividends, and that’s the case with these five moves for the St. Louis Blues.
The St. Louis Blues have a lineup full of players with no-trade clauses, and few of those clauses are of the modified variety. Although what general manager Doug Armstrong is doing makes sense in trying to make the lineup younger, he’s got one goaltender, four blueliners, and another four forwards on at least modified no-trade clauses.
And since the Blues weren’t necessarily a bad hockey team in 2023-24, there are only so many teams he can move these players to, which limits his options. Ideally, he would keep making the Blues as young as possible, but that may not be the best decision in 2024-25, so why not take the group that he has and win now?
Personally, I’d like to see Armstrong shed as much of the team as he can and keep making the Blues younger for head coach Drew Bannister, but considering the circumstances, it wouldn’t be the most feasible of moves. So instead, let’s get rather counterintuitive and propose three offseason transactions that may not make a ton of sense at the moment but, in actuality, wouldn’t be such bad deals.
Trade for Frank Vatrano
While it would be ideal to bring in the younger talent in Trevor Zegras, the older, more established Frank Vatrano would bring more upside to the Blues. Vatrano scored 37 goals last season, and that occurred with the lowly Anaheim Ducks, so imagine what he’d accomplish in a place with a halfway decent team like the one residing in Gateway City.
Sure, his successful year was an outlier from what he’d done in previous stops that included stints in Boston, Florida, and with the New York Rangers. But we must also remember Vatrano logged primarily middle and even bottom-six minutes until he came to Anaheim.
And it’s hard to truly call his successful 37-goal campaign too much of an outlier, as he also scored 22 in 2022-23. Throughout his time with the Ducks, that equals 59 goals in 163 games and 101 points, good for between 50 and 51 per season. Plus, 29 of those points also came on the power play, further justifying a potential trade for Vatrano.
Extend Pavel Buchnevich
I would neither be surprised nor disappointed if the Blues traded Pavel Buchnevich, but again, we’re looking at the circumstance St. Louis is in. Had the Blues finished the season with 81 or fewer points again this year, trading players with full no-trade clauses like the blueliners wouldn’t be tough, and Doug Armstrong would get a lot of sound compensation in return.
But that’s not the reality, so perhaps instead of trying to trade even those on modified no-trade clauses like Buchnevich and potentially failing to work out deals to send a blueliner or two elsewhere, why not extend the proven winger and continue to improve the roster that’s already there? The Blues can do this without blocking their up-and-comers like Zachary Bolduc and Zach Dean, so an extension would make sense.
Now, if Armstrong wanted to move Buchnevich in an effort to keep making the roster younger, it would also work. I’m just pointing out that there are multiple moves he could make regarding Buchnevich that would result in the ‘right answer.’
Like Vatrano, Buchnevich is a solid scorer and one who can play top-six and top-line minutes, deliver 26-plus goals per season, and even put up serviceable defensive performances. Extending Buchnevich in a situation where the Blues trade for a player like Frank Vatrano adds not just firepower offensively, but security, especially if Armstrong acquired and extended the latter.
But acquiring one avid scorer and extending another still wouldn’t be enough, considering the Blues scoring struggles last season. In a counterintuitive but reasonable scenario like this one, St. Louis would need one more sound forward to turn them back into legitimate playoff contenders.
Sign a veteran center
Finally, signing a veteran center, preferably one who can play solid hockey in all three zones, would complete the Blues in 2024-25. Not all of the free agent centers are worth signing, but if the Blues wanted, they could even find a way to ink someone like Steven Stamkos to a deal, even if it’s for just three seasons.
Stamkos is most likely returning to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but while he still has the ‘UFA’ label next to his name, anything is possible. Now that he’s 34, Stamkos wouldn’t demand an ultra-high salary, so he would fit well into the Blues budget, and he would immediately turn them into favorites to at least land a wild card spot.
Players like Elias Lindholm and Adam Henrique should also come at reasonable rates, though there is a possibility the former may demand more compensation, given his age and recent uptick in performance during the Vancouver Canucks playoff run.
I’m not a huge fan of adding a player like Jonathan Marchessault, thanks to most of his success coming with the Vegas Golden Knights following an up-and-down career. But the signing would still make sense if it were to occur, especially if Doug Armstrong takes the ‘win-now’ route with new head coach Drew Bannister leading the way.
Overall, I wouldn’t be a huge fan of any of the three moves listed above, so I’m making it clear once again that these aren’t endorsements. But if Doug Armstrong made such transactions, I could more than see where he’s coming from, and why he would be interested in trading for a veteran forward, extending another, and signing yet another.
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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)