The St. Louis Blues have had a relatively successful offseason upgrading where they needed, but it was not the kind of offseason fans were hoping for.
Doug Armstrong chose the path of caution rather than overpaying for questionable talent at free agency. It was not the all-in moves fans were hoping for, but it may have been the prudent choice to set up Alex Steen for success.
However, Army does have one last chance to make an impact and upgrade this team at this coming season's trade deadline. Could he be saving his chips to go all-in at the trade deadline?
Playing the long game
Doug Armstrong has a lot more patience than he gets credit for, and it often leads to the right decision. He only acquires a player if the deal is truly perfect for the Blues and doesn't reach too far to overpay if he feels it's wrong. Furthermore, he never reaches on draft picks, always choosing the guys in the best pool of talent, whether or not they're at a position of need; take the selection of Carbonneau, for example.
Doug Armstrong is no stranger to the long game and is willing to wait for the market to bend to his whim, rather than the other way around. This offseason has been notably very slow and uneventful, meaning teams are less willing to part with talent to acquire it, exactly the kind of market conducive to overpaying.
Army noticed this trend and set his sights on the future, adapting to the trends of the league and getting ahead of them before he could get burned. This is why I estimate he has his sights set on the trade deadline.
The trade deadline, by its nature, is a very limited and frantic time, because it is a deadline. In this sense, teams should be more willing to part with future assets to win right now or vice versa because of the limited nature of what is available. Doug Armstrong knows this and knows it's not his chance to strike.
Who could he target?
This trade deadline should have some intriguing names on the table this coming season, with some big impending UFAs.
The two names at the top of the list are highly unlikely to be moved and will likely sign extensions with their current teams: Jack Eichel (VGK) and Connor McDavid (EDM). Both are superstars on teams looking to win now, so a trade away to recoup assets would not make sense from either team's perspective.
Beyond those two, there are some star or even superstar talents on the board that could be effective rentals for the Blues. The big name is Artemi Panarin (NYR), who is an impending UFA on a New York Rangers team that is not set to be very competitive this coming season. Panarin would be an all-in, win-now move for the Blues to firmly supplant themselves into the Stanley Cup conversation.
Three players on contending teams who would make more sense to move are Kyle Connor (WPG), Adrian Kempe (LAK), and Martin Necas (COL).
Winnipeg is in a desperate cap situation, and they might look to earn back any value they can get on their star winger, who they would not be able to sign. For Kempe, the Kings' current core has not been working with four straight losses to the Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs, and a Kempe trade could be the shakeup they need. And for Colorado, they are not afraid to wheel and deal and continue to make trades when they know they cannot resign a player such as Necas.
There are more names on the board, such as Rasmus Andersson (CAL), Shane Pinto (OTT), and Erik Karlsson (PIT). All would be effective upgrades for the Blues, depending on how the season goes and what holes they need to fill this coming March.
Doug Armstrong has set the Blues up for a very promising trade deadline, in a season where a lot of big names should be on the table. Whether he wants to go big game hunting or continue to add on the margins, he will have plenty of options to look wherever he'd like to upgrade the team.
The relatively quiet offseason means the pendulum must swing back the other way, and I expect with Doug Armstrong's clock ticking, he will make one more mark before his time runs out.