As per Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong said his team is going to be active this offseason. Whether the team looks at Jack Eichel, players out of Calgary like Johnny Gaudreau or Sean Monahan, or Seth Jones out of Columbus, the Blues will kick tires on a number of possible trade pieces. They have players like Vladimir Tarasenko, Vince Dunn, Zach Sanford, Ivan Barbashev, Robert Thomas, Jake Walman, Scott Perunovich and Klim Kostin, as well as draft picks to make available in the right deal.
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Rutherford notes:
“This will be an active year, not only in St. Louis but around the league. Any time you have expansion you have teams do what’s best for them, whether it’s not exposing players to Seattle or making trades where they feel they’re in a better spot than just giving Seattle a list of players.”
While the trade market for Tarasenko might be limited due to his injury history, salary cap hit and slight decline in production, the Blues are reportedly looking to see what he’s worth on the trade market. According to Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic, Armstrong still try to move the final two years remaining on his current contract ($7.5 million per season) and see if the team can do anything with the cap space. Tarasenko is a highly-skilled player, but the Blues are seeking to go a different direction.
Rutherford writes that there’s a chance Tarasenko is better when he gets in more games following his third shoulder surgery, but because the Blues have a “desire to suit up a blue-collar, hardworking lineup — the Blues may feel the need to go in a different direction, and Tarasenko may want that, too.”
What About Tarasenko’s Trade Value?
Despite his salary and production level making him a less attractive option on the open market, the Blues might trade Tarasenko anyways, assuming there’s a taker. This could be more about cap space than it is getting an incredible return in any future deal.
Rutherford adds:
As far as his declining value, it is what it is. I don’t know that Tarasenko is going to score 35 goals next year and reraise his stock. So at this point, with Armstrong saying the championship window is still open, he has to decide “Can Tarasenko help this team?” And if the GM doesn’t think he can, then he needs to find a “hockey trade” because the Blues would benefit tremendously from player(s) at $7.5 million in cap space who can either score or play within the system. Tarasenko does have a no-trade clause, so he has some control.
Will there be teams out there that see the winger as a good fit for the next two seasons, whereas the Blues don’t? He’s still young at just 29 years old, but he only played 24 games this season and 10 last season. That said, he’s scored 33 or more goals in the four seasons prior.
Blues Getting Calls on Vince Dunn
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet also indicated that the Blues are getting calls on Vince Dunn. Friedman noted during the Saturday Headlines report that the team was asking for a first-round pick in previous discussions with teams. It’s not clear if that’s still the asking price. Friedman notes: “I’m hearing some chatter around him right now, we’ll see what his future is.”
Next: Flyers’ Nolan Patrick to Request Trade Out of Philadelphia
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