Offseason Checklist: St. Louis Blues

With the offseason in full swing, it’s time to examine what each squad will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at the Blues.

2021-22 was a decent season for St. Louis.  While they finished in third in a very tight Central Division, they got past Minnesota in the first round and then took the eventual Cup-winning Avalanche to six games.  GM Doug Armstrong can afford to keep most of the core together but there will still be a lot of work to do over the coming weeks.

Decide Tarasenko’s Future

Last summer, Vladimir Tarasenko wanted a trade but coming off another season that saw him miss extended time due to a shoulder issue and a $7.5MM cap hit, there were no takers.  Seattle had an opportunity to take him in expansion and passed.  The end result was somewhat of an awkward return to St. Louis.

It’s safe to say it worked out well for both sides.  Tarasenko was able to show that he’s fully recovered from his shoulder surgeries, getting back to the 30-goal mark while eclipsing 80 points for the first time in his career.  That was good enough for him to lead the Blues in scoring, giving them a much deeper offensive group in the process.

Now Armstrong has a decision to make.  The trade request hasn’t been rescinded and there should be a much better trade market for Tarasenko’s services this time around although it’s worth noting that Tarasenko has a full no-trade clause which could come into play as well.  The fact that the commitment is only for one year will help his value in a cap environment where it’s difficult to move pricey multi-year contracts.  Moving him would almost certainly yield some cap savings which could come in handy this summer.

But trading Tarasenko away now would also create a big opening to fill on the Blues as teams rarely get better after trading their top scorer.  While there’s definitely a risk in potentially losing him for nothing in free agency, that has to be weighed against their current situation where they’re a team with an eye on contending next season.  The next couple of weeks is when trade activity is at its peak so if Armstrong is pondering a trade, it may need to happen sooner than later.

Re-Sign Or Replace Husso

Coming into the season, Jordan Binnington was expected to be the starter for the Blues with Ville Husso, who had a quiet rookie year, serving as the backup.  That changed in the second half of the year when Binnington struggled and Husso stepped up with a…