The Blues-Wild purported blockbuster trade that never happened

There was a purported blockbuster trade involving the St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota Wild. If you guessed such a deal involved Robert Thomas, you would be right.

On Friday, insights from Wild insider Michael Russo revealed that the Blues and Wild had a massive deal on the table at this year’s NHL trade deadline. The deal indeed involved Thomas going to Minnesota, while Danila Yurov and Jesper Wallstedt were believed to be the way back to St. Louis.

Holy schnikes!

While losing Thomas would have certainly not been easy, the Blues would have landed the Wild’s best center prospect. It’s worth noting that Minnesota had essentially traded its number-one pivot, Marco Rossi, in the Quinn Hughes trade.

Thomas would have filled that void. Instead, the Wild rolled with Ryan Hartman as the top-line center for much of the postseason. Yurov, meanwhile, slid down the depth chart, settling in as the 3C during the playoffs.

Then, there’s Wallstedt. The rookie netminder is considered among the top, if not the top, goaltending prospect in the NHL. He carried the Wild past the Dallas Stars in the first round, and pretty much held up his own against the Colorado Avalanche in the second round. Except for the eight goals he surrendered in Game 1 against Colorado, Wallstedt was good.

However, the trade never happened. According to Russo, the Blues passed on the deal. Why they passed likely boils down to the Wild not having good enough pieces. Yurov is a good young center, but hardly a replacement for Thomas.

Adding Wallstedt would have essentially forced the Blues to do something about Jordan Binnington. Since the Blues couldn’t carry three goalies (Binnington, Wallstedt, and Joel Hofer), there would have been a logjam in the crease.

Perhaps the Wild revisit this deal this offseason. But they’ll have to up the ante if they’re going to get even a sniff at Thomas.

What would have been the ramifications of this Blues-Wild trade?

So, what would the ramifications of this trade have been? It’s tough to speculate. But without Thomas, one of Pius Suter or Dalibor Dvorsky would have become the #1 center. Yurov would have taken over, likely in the middle six. The Blues would have wanted to see what they had in Yurov before committing to him playing higher in the lineup.

Yurov would likely have gotten the chance to prove he’s a top-six center. But that’s something that likely would have happened next season.

As for Wallstedt, the Blues would have likely sent him down to the AHL while they figured out what to do about Binnington or Hofer. It’s worth noting that Wallstedt is waivers exempt. So, that would have bought the Blues some time to sort things out.

Perhaps St. Louis would have run out the year with Wallstedt in Springfield, while the club sorted out a deal for Binnington in the offseason.

However, and this is my best guesstimate, is that the Blues didn’t want to bring in Wallstedt unless they had a firm deal in place for Binnington. Since it didn’t seem like anyone was biting on the veteran netminder, the Blues got cold feet.

If the Blues had a solid offer for Binnington, they would have pulled off one deal, and then the other.

It’s also worth noting that the Blues would have wanted something else. Most likely a first-round pick, and potentially another prospect. That much we can’t know for sure. But just guessing from the two known pieces, the price tag for Thomas was insanely high.

We can only imagine what a goaltending tandem of Wallstedt and Hofer would have looked like for the Blues moving forward.

Again, there’s a chance the Wild circle back to this move at some point this offseason. I wouldn’t bet on it, but Minnesota loses nothing by trying.

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