Philip Broberg
The young Swedish defenseman has been a major bright spot in an otherwise gloomy year. He has improved yet again from last season and is on track to become the franchise d-man for the St. Louis Blues for years to come. With the signing of a 6-year contract just days ago, the Blues have one of the best up-and-coming defensemen in the league at a price that will allow them to build around him and cultivate a real winning culture within the organization. Broberg has been a revelation since acquiring him from the Edmonton Oilers in the infamous offseason offersheet less than two years ago; the 24-year-old has passed both the eye test and under-the-hood statistical benchmarks to solidify himself as the Blues' best and most impactful player night in and night out.
Broberg has been a pillar this season, and Monty has leaned on him heavily in all situations - 5v5, PK, PP, and in 3v3 OT. He leads the team in time on ice this year, thus far, averaging just under 23 minutes a game while being pitted up against the toughest assignments in the world in players like McDavid and MacKinnon. Despite this, he is the only Blues skater to have a positive +/- with over 20 games played, sitting at +1 for the year as a whole. To put this into perspective, Cam Fowler has posted a -21 in the same timeframe. It's clear that Broberg is the future of the blue line here in St. Louis, and it would be foolish of Army to even entertain trade offers for a once-in-a-decade player like that.
Joel Hofer
Hofer started this year as the backup for Jordan Binnington- a situation he's very familiar with as he has been Binner's backup for the last three seasons. Despite high expectations, Hofer had an abysmal start to the season, posting a save percentage of just 0.790 and allowing an average of 4.25 goals a game. This was the worst fans of the Blues have ever seen Hofer play, and there were concerns about whether or not he would ever be able to be a reliable starting goaltender in the NHL. Thankfully, Joel has proven his skill and resilience over the last 3 months, even putting up some of the best goalie stats in the league since November 29th and effectively claiming the starting job for the Blues in that time.
With the struggles of Jordan Binnington continuing to mount, Hofer has taken on more and more responsibility for the team between the pipes, and he has shown up in a big way. He has ended any speculation on the future of goaltending in St. Louis, leaving only the question of who should be backing him up and whether or not Binnington should remain a Blue through the end of this season. When you have a goalie as special as we know Joel Hofer is, you don't move them, and Doug Armstrong knows this as well as anybody.
The Young Core
With the constant injuries and slumping play of what were the St. Louis Blues' "core" stars, younger players have had to step up and fill in those gaps. Players like Otto Stenberg, Dalibor Dvorsky, Jake Neighbours, and Jimmy Snuggerud simply should not be moved from this team. They are undeniably the future of hockey for this organization, and trading any of them feels like a strategically counterintuitive move for a team looking to adjust the roster for an expected Cup window a few years down the road.
If any big moves are made, expect Army to look at trades involving some of the aging but still capable players like Kyrou, Schenn, and Faulk. He will likely make these deals this season, and the expectation is that the return will help build a skilled squad around the young core players mentioned earlier. No one knows what these trades might look like, but it is safe to assume the next generation of Blues' star skaters will all remain in the Note while the organization tries to prepare the team for relevant and genuine Stanley Cup contention within the 2020s.