3 St. Louis Blues that could potentially be traded this offseason
The St. Louis Blues could be quite busy this offseason, especially if they want to keep their captain Alex Pietrangelo. Which players should they trade?
The St. Louis Blues are the reigning Stanley Cup champions. Their first objective right now is to try to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. But obviously, they might not get a chance to do it. If the Blues don’t, they’ll have to enter the offseason with some salary cap questions.
While CapFriendly projects the Blues to have over $4 million of cap space with 20 players signed, that’s assuming the salary cap ceiling rises to $84 million. There’s a very good chance it won’t, especially if the NHL doesn’t have a postseason.
If it remains stagnant at $81.5 million (which seems likely), suddenly the Blues would only have a shade over $2 million of cap space to re-sign RFA defenseman Vince Dunn around and upgrade the rest of their roster. Now, nobody signs anyone to offer sheets, but Dunn would be mighty tempting for a lot of GMs. At the very least, a rival GM could force the Blues’ hand rather easily.
Unless there are compliance buyouts, which might happen if the cap decreases, the Blues are going to have to make some moves this offseason if they want cap space. Why would they want cap space? First, to re-sign Dunn, ideally to a long-term deal. Second, to do what they can to keep team captain Alex Pietrangelo, who will be a UFA at the start of free agency, around.
Let’s take a look at some players who could be traded by the Blues this offseason.
Honorable Mention
Let’s get Alexander Steen out of the way. Yes, the Blues would probably like to trade him. Steen is a great leader in the locker room, but his value is quickly decreasing and he’s simply overpaid at $5.75 million per year.
Unfortunately, trading him could be next to impossible, if not impossible, because he has a full no-trade clause that doesn’t expire until Feb. 1, 2021. Steen’s not going anywhere unless the Blues buy him out, which would be costly after next season, or he wants to go somewhere else.
3. Jake Allen
Contract: 1 year left, $4.35 million cap hit, $4 million salary
The case for trading him: Jake Allen is the Blues backup goalie, though he’s more of a 1b type. Jordan Binnington is clearly the starter. Finding another backup goalie wouldn’t be easy, but it might be easier than finding another skater. Allen is having a strong 2019-20 campaign, so they likely wouldn’t have much trouble trading him.
Why they shouldn’t trade him: Allen’s role is to be Binnington’s security blanket. What if Binnington gets tired? Allen can be there to give him a rest. And, as I said earlier, he did have an impressive 2019-20 campaign. Spending over $8 million on your goalies certainly isn’t ideal, but when you have a tandem like Binnington and Allen, who combined to have the ninth-best save percentage in the league, it’s not terrible.
Verdict: Considering Allen outperformed Binnington this season, keeping Allen around is probably a good idea.
2. Oskar Sundqvist
Contract: 3 years left, $2.75 million cap hit
Why trading him makes sense: Oskar Sundqvist is a perfectly capable bottom-six forward who is better at penalty killing than he gets credit for. He’s good for 20+ points a year and he’s made an impressive transition from being a skilled player into being a strong defensive forward.
So why would the Blues trade him? Because they can likely find someone who can fill his role at a cheaper price. $2.75 million is a tad bit pricey for someone in Sundqvist’s role. Plus, they already have 14 forwards signed for next season, so they’d probably like to move a forward. Sundqvist might be the odd man out.
The case against trading him: Trading Sundqvist would give the Blues a bit of breathing room. However, if they want to re-sign Pietrangelo, it’s not really going to help by itself. The Blues would have to trade someone else making more significant money to keep their captain around.
Also, the Blues clearly value what Sundqvist brings to the table. His teammates speak glowingly of him. Sundqvist, as I said earlier, is a critical bottom six forward and penalty killer for them. He’s the kind of guy who might even be able to jump into a top-six role with the right line mates. Getting rid of him would be a tough move, but as they say, you’ve got to be willing to make tough moves to get anywhere.
1.Tyler Bozak
Contract: 1 year left, $5 million cap hit, $4.25 million salary
Why they should trade him: Tyler Bozak is the most logical trade chip the St. Louis Blues have for several reasons. First of all, he’ll be a UFA after next season. The same can be said for Jaden Schwartz, but Schwartz is significantly more important to the Blues than Bozak.
Secondly, as I said earlier, the Blues have a bit of a logjam at forward. That’s not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination, but it is making it hard for the Blues to give their younger forwards like Jordan Kyrou and Klim Kostin more playing time. The Blues have guys who could replace what Bozak brings to the table.
Next. 3 Reasons The Blues Can Repeat. dark
Thirdly, Bozak’s $5 million cap hit isn’t ideal for the Blues. If they can get rid of his cap hit and someone else’s, they might have a shot at keeping their captain around at a hometown discount. For the record, anything below $8 million a year for Pietrangelo would be a pretty huge hometown discount.