There were plenty of Central Division questions for the mailbag so we’ll give that division the focus here. The rest of the questions will be split into two more segments to run between now and next weekend.
Gmm8811: Thoughts on Doug Armstrong being a buyer or seller before the trade deadline? I don’t think he really has anything to offer that would be of interest to other teams. Scandella, Vrana, and Kapanen could probably be had for a minimal return. I’m also not opposed to Perunovich or Saad being moved. Any type of minor league assets or reserve list players would be acceptable. I don’t think the Blues will make the playoffs this year, so maybe a few tweaks to increase the depth might be useful for next year.
St. Louis is right in the think of the Wild Card race and unless they lose every game between now and the deadline, they’ll probably be right in the race on deadline day. Having said that, this is not a team that anyone is going to call a contender so going big on adding doesn’t make sense. And while they might want to sell, they don’t have much when it comes to rental players to move.
Marco Scandella might get a late-round pick with max retention. Kasperi Kapanen might as well since he can kill penalties which gives him some fourth-line utility in the playoffs. I’m not sure there’s a market for Jakub Vrana though. One rental you didn’t mention was Sammy Blais. I know he’s having a rough year but he’s a fourth liner who can hold his own at five-on-five and provide a lot of physicality. Teams will be looking to add that and at $1MM, he’s on a contract most teams can afford. Of the pending UFAs, he might have the most value. I don’t think the return for Scott Perunovich would be high enough to justify moving him so I think he stays put.
Brandon Saad might be a tough sell with two more years left at $4.5MM. He’s not on a bad contract but that’s a tough one for teams to fit in and St. Louis isn’t going to want to retain on him. Unless it’s a player-for-player move, I suspect he stays put. Pavel Buchnevich will be the big fish if Armstrong decides to sell and aim for missing the playoffs next year. At $5.8MM, he’s pricey but he’s the type of impact top-six addition that is in short supply and high demand.
Money will be tight for St. Louis once Justin Faulk comes off LTIR so they’re in a spot where if they want to add, they also need to subtract. It wouldn’t shock me if they…
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