St. Louis Blues were reportedly close to trading multiple stars
According to The Athletic, the St. Louis Blues nearly traded a number of their players before their season turned around.
The St. Louis Blues came into this season under a lot of pressure. They were coming off a meltdown at the end of the 2017-18 season and invested a lot of assets and money into improving during the offseason. That’s why it took everyone by surprise when they started slow. Not only did the Blues fire then-head coach Mike Yeo, they nearly traded some of their best players.
This report comes from Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic.
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The Blues, however, showed faith and confidence in their group by not making any huge moves. It was a risky move by general manager Doug Armstrong, but it has paid off. Since the start of 2019, the Blues are tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the most points in the league with 60 (though the Blues have played two more games than the Bolts).
Had St. Louis not turned their season around, Armstrong said he would have altered his trade deadline strategy. This likely means he would have moved someone like Schenn or Pietrangelo. Maybe even Tarasenko.
Even listening to trade offers for Tarasenko shows you how close the Blues were to altering their roster. Since they turned their season around in January, he leads the team with 40 points and 20 goals. Meanwhile, Schenn ranks third with 28 points and Pietrangelo ranks fourth with 25 points.
Goaltender Jordan Binnington has played a huge role in their turnaround. He’s given them great goaltending, which is something they didn’t get consistently enough from their incumbent starter Jake Allen. Since Binnington grabbed the starting role, he has a record of 22-5-1 with a league-low 1.85 goals against average.
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There’s a saying – sometimes, the best trades a general manager makes are the ones he doesn’t do. This is certainly true with the Blues. It just goes to show you how unpredictable and weird hockey is. In December, the Blues were ready to clean house. Four months later, they have a good shot at winning the Central Division.