3 youngsters the St. Louis Blues must seriously consider trading for now

The St. Louis Blues hit a home run so far with Philip Broberg, and Dylan Holloway is also looking like a win. While things can always change, early returns have once again shown us that general manager Doug Armstrong more than knows what he’s doing when he scours the league for young talent. 

While the Blues have a great pipeline from which to derive homegrown assets, why not look to hit another home run (or two) for some players who could still be traded at some point in 2024-25? We’re looking for young players who are either established talents or are in the process of establishing themselves as legitimate. And, fortunately, there are quite a few on some big boards that Lyle Richardson of Bleacher Report recently concocted. 

Why young players? For one, the Blues are still in the retooling phase, even if they’ve played better than we expected through their first handful of contests. And for another, acquiring younger talent will further allow this team to grow together. 

Kaapo Kakko, NY Rangers

When scanning Richardson’s list, I wasn’t just looking for young players, but youngsters who appeared to be all but finished with their respective organizations. Kaapo Kakko is one of those players and we see just how often the NY Rangers are utilizing him these days. 

He has just 13:36 of average total ice time this season, and it comes following a year that saw him snag 13:17, so it’s no longer a question of where he fits with the Blueshirts. Kakko does, however, have two assists and a plus-5 rating, but on a team with literally zero moderate spots, let alone weak position groups, what else would we expect? 

Peyton Krebs, Buffalo Sabres

There hasn’t been a single player on the Buffalo Sabres with a potential trade label attached to their name more than Peyton Krebs, dating back to before he re-signed with the team. Overall, Krebs hasn’t impressed anyone in Buffalo since he joined the Sabres and that trend is continuing again, as he’s logged just two assists in six games. 

Even if Krebs isn’t built to be a big-time scorer in this league, he’s still one to provide value for all who care to take a deeper dive into the numbers. Krebs has a 61.1 faceoff win percentage in six games this season, and over two-thirds of those draws have come in the defensive zone. 

He’s also a career plus-50 percent in Corsi For at even strength and is never afraid to not just land body checks but drop gloves with opponents. If Doug Armstrong thinks he needs to add another scrappy player, and a young one, to the team, Krebs is it.

Trevor Zegras, Anaheim Ducks

This one would be a tough fit, considering Trevor Zegras’ cap hit, but does it make any sense to think Doug Armstrong can’t pull off a magnificent trade and, somehow, find a way to place them into the lineup? Zegras is the most farfetched player on this list at the moment, but hey, something tells me we’d see a Philip Broberg type of experience if Zegras came over to Gateway City. 

He wouldn’t come cheap, but following a start to the season that saw him score just one goal and accumulate two points in his first five games to go with three giveaways, maybe a change of scenery would work in Zegras’s favor? It’d be a blockbuster in the making if Armstrong brought him to the Lou, just as it was when Broberg and Holloway came over, so if there’s one move I’d fully endorse, it’s this one. 

Overall, this isn’t one of those articles in which we’d see all three players come to St. Louis. That would be outrageous, but just one of these youngsters could thrive in a new city and in head coach Drew Bannister’s system.