Blues Reunion with O’Reilly Makes Perfect Sense

For many teams in the NHL, it’s far too soon to look ahead to the offseason. Unfortunately, the St. Louis Blues are not one of those teams. A paltry start to the season made them sellers at the deadline, leading them to trade longtime franchise centerpieces. Vladimir Tarasenko moved to the New York Rangers. The Blues shipped Ivan Barbashev to the Vegas Golden Knights. And for many fans, the biggest blow came when team captain Ryan O’Reilly moved on to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

With the teardown complete, the Blues have little to do but look forward to the Draft Lottery on May 8th and plan the ancillary moves they’ll have to make in the offseason. While general manager Doug Armstrong has suggested the rebuild process will take some time, there is one move the Blues will clearly have to make in the summer: adding a middle-six center. And while there could be many options to fit that role, one makes almost too much sense: a reunion with their recently departed leader.

Blues Need Help Down the Middle

Armstrong insists he won’t rush the rebuild, but he also has suggested that he expects the team to be “competitive” next season. While context dictates that he doesn’t intend to build a Stanley Cup contender, it is clear that he wants to field a legitimate NHL roster and not go into a full scorched-earth rebuild like many teams. To do that, he has to add another weapon at center. By trading Barbashev and O’Reilly, he gutted his team’s depth at the critical position. Now, the Blues have only Robert Thomas and Brayden Schenn, the latter of whom will be a better fit at the wing as he ages.

Therefore, the Blues clearly need another option at center, either a second-line option that can play ahead of Schenn or a cheaper alternative that can play behind him. In either case, Armstrong probably won’t want to make a long-term commitment. Center is an integral position for a franchise, and he’ll want to eventually find a younger, higher-skilled option to play behind Thomas — whether that is a young player elsewhere in the NHL, a prospect already in-house like Zachary Bolduc, or perhaps even the player they select with their first-round pick this season. And the Blues might be looking for a veteran presence to help train younger players as they join the NHL roster.

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