With the Trade Deadline looming, the question of whether or not the St. Louis Blues will be buyers or sellers is still unclear. It is also unclear who exactly is on the Blues trade block, or if they are willing to deal away any of their draft stock, which is unlikely.
So who exactly is untouchable? Which Blues players are completely off the board at the Trade deadline?
The Untouchables
This is a tricky question because this team, at the moment, is not nearly ready for a playoff run. They don’t even really deserve to be there in the first place. But, they have time and money to make a move at the Deadline and then again in the offseason.
The undeniably untouchable players are Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Colton Parayko, Dylan Holloway, Zach Bolduc, Pavel Buchnevich, and Cam Fowler. You can even throw Alexandre Texier and Tyler Tucker in there as well.
These players are the future of the Blues organization. They are the core and nucleus of this roster and will be an integral part of their future success.
Everyone else, with varying amounts of confidence in their retainment after the Deadline, is up for sale. No matter how much they have contributed this season, they should be considered expendable.
That includes captain Brayden Schenn and franchise goaltender Jordan Binnington. These two, who have both been on a bit of an underwhelming season, are at the top of the trade block. If I were a betting man, I would argue that one of the two will not be making it past March 7 on the Blues roster. That being, the much-discussed Schenn.
Will any moves get done?
That is the question really. Will the Blues pull the trigger on getting better pieces for this team?
It is all a matter of timing, and whether or not the Blues want to go for it all this season, or wait until the future. With some promising prospects coming up the ladder, and 90% of the point production on this roster being considered untouchable, it doesn't make any sense to buy now and suffer later.
The next few weeks leading up to March 7 will be very interesting. The next few games will dictate how the rest of the season, as well as the future, goes.