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The St. Louis Blues honor their history and those that have made significant impacts on the team, on and off the ice, with the Blues Hall of Fame.
Such a quiet off-season. So, what are the hopes and actual realistic goals we can aim for during this next season?
theathletic.com
NHL free agency is less than 24 hours away, slated to open at noon ET on Saturday. Who'll be shopping for what when the bell rings? Jeremy Rutherford says none, because the Blues can't fill any needs through free agency 🤷🏻♂️.
www.stltoday.com
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong believes the Blues can work back into the playoff chase sooner than later. He sent that message while acquiring veteran forward Kevin Hayes from the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday for a sixth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, with the Flyers retaining half of Hayes’ $7.143 million salary cap hit for the next three seasons. Hayes, 31, didn’t fit Armstrong’s description of what he wanted in the trade market. The Blues have been targeting younger veterans, like 27-year-old Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim, who could slot into the younger nucleus around Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. Armstrong had been willing to spend one of his three first-round picks to swap out 32-year-old defenseman Torey Krug (and his $6.5 million salary cap hit) for Sanheim and Hayes. That would have required taking on Sanheim’s $50 million for the next eight years. The Blues would have paid that price to get a younger D-man with more defensive zone utility. Spending the pick and allocating the cap space for Sanheim would have made sense. But Krug invoked his no-trade protection to remain with the team — for now. So Armstrong made the less ambitious move of acquiring Hayes for a bag of pucks. He couldn’t pass up on that bargain. Hayes will count less than $3.6 million against the Blues’ cap for the next three seasons, assuming that Armstrong doesn’t flip him to another team at some point. Hayes is a big forward (6-foot-5, 216 pounds) who can check, win board battles, and funnel pucks to the net. He checks important boxes for Blues coach Craig Berube. Armstrong will continue exploring trade possibilities as he and his colleagues assemble their roster and solve their salary cap puzzle. All along, Armstrong has aimed for a near-term retooling instead of a long-haul rebuild. But circumstances in the Central Division create an opportunity to move even more quickly than expected. The Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars are still the teams to beat in this quarter of the NHL. Both will be loaded again this season. Otherwise, though, the division looks wide open. With Barry Trotz running the Nashville Predators, that Blues rival is embarking on a years-long rebuild. Sending center Ryan Johansen to the Colorado Avalanche in a straight contract dump was just another indicator of that — and you can expect further restructuring. The Winnipeg Jets are trying to avoid a total rebuild, but general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has had to take bids on four core players with expiring contracts: goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, centers Pierre-Luc Dubois and Mark Scheifele, and winger Blake Wheeler. Dubois was the first to go, in a sign-and-trade deal with the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday for Alex Iafallo, Gabe Vilardi, Rasmus Kupari and a second-round 2024 pick. Cheveldayoff wants near-term assets in exchange for those four players, who are a year removed from unrestricted free agency. But it’s hard to imagine the Jets coming out of this roster churn with a division title contender. The Minnesota Wild will spend two more years in Salary Cap Hell as the full impact of the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts is felt. That will restrict GM Bill Guerin’s ability to add needed offensive depth. The Arizona Coyotes remain stuck in an undersized interim arena while trying to secure a new venue. For at least one more year, they will keep losing money despite operating on the cheap with younger players. Then there are the Chicago Blackhawks, who will land destined superstar Connor Bedard with the first overall pick Wednesday. But even with the addition of wingers Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno, the Blackhawks could be a year or two away from making the postseason bracket. By adding forwards Jakub Vrana, Kasperi Kapanen and Sammy Blais last season to partially offset the sell-off of forwards Ryan O’Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ivan Barbashev and Noel Acciari, Armstrong got started on the quick rebound. Armstrong won’t secure instant help in the draft, even if he hangs on to the 10th overall pick to select a future top-six forward or top-four defenseman. And he could hang on to all of his premium picks and load more prospects into the pipeline. But that’s his Plan B. We’ve already seen his Plan A with the addition of Hayes and the bid for Sanheim. Krug could remain in play, despite his no-trade protection. Now that the media spotlight is illuminating Armstrong’s desire to move him, Krug may become willing to start anew elsewhere. Like Krug, Justin Faulk, 31, has four years left on his contract with a $6.5 million cap hit and no-trade protection. But he is the team’s best all-around defenseman, so Armstrong shouldn’t be too eager to move him. Colton Parayko, 30, is under contract until 2030 at that $6.5 million number with no-trade protection. Since he logs the toughest minutes (penalty killing, defensive zone starts, top line matchups), he would be the toughest defenseman to replace. Armstrong doesn’t have much room to work. As history tells us, though, he can pull off big surprises. So stay tuned.