St. Louis Blues’ Incredible Trade Deadline Brings Questions

The St. Louis Blues had arguably the best trade deadline amongst all teams in the league this season. They made a series of moves to trade off nearly every UFA on their team, get strong returns, and bring in some other players to help contribute for cheap. With a lot of cap space to work with in the summer and roster spots to fill, the question is if the Blues are going for the quick turnaround and looking to compete for the playoffs next season, or if they are going to take 2-3 years to get back to the top.

What the Blues Added at the Trade Deadline

The Blues dealt five upcoming UFAs before the trade deadline, but didn’t exactly get returns that would immediately impact their NHL roster. That being said, they did acquire lots of assets that could be flipped if they so choose. Before we go any further, let’s take a look at every asset that was shipped off and every asset that was brought in.

Out:

• Vladimir Tarasenko
• Ryan O’Reilly
• Ivan Barbashev
• Noel Acciari
• Niko Mikkola
• Dylan McLaughlin
• 2025 7th Round Pick

In:

• Jakub Vrana
• Samuel Blais
• Zach Dean
• Adam Gaudette
• Mikhail Abramov
• Hunter Skinner
• Two 2023 1st Round Picks
• 2023 3rd Round Pick
• 2024 2nd Round & 4th Round Picks

Waiver – Kasperi Kapanen

When Can We Expect the Blues to Be Competitive Again?

General manager Doug Armstrong made it clear that he doesn’t want a long rebuild. He wants his team to be battling for a playoff spot again very soon, similar to how long it took the Los Angeles Kings to turn things around. The Kings got very good drafting and loaded up a lot of talent in their system. This made it easier to acquire key pieces through trades such as Kevin Fiala and slowly fill the roster with young players.

By trading a fair amount of players off the active roster, the Blues opened up spots for some of their prospects to get playing time in the NHL, further acclimating them to the speed of the game. Not every player who has been recalled and has been playing since the trades were made are going to be on the team after training camp in 2023-24, but they will all get good experience.

Related: Red Wings Set Stage for Massive Offseason Trade for Defenceman

The Blues have the opportunity to jump right back into the fire and form a strong team to compete as soon as next season with the cap space and high picks. A good argument against doing that though is the fact that the Blues have a number of players under contract for a lot of years that aren’t ideal. They may be able to move out some money and a player or two, but it won’t be for a great return. Instead, they can let their prospects develop while Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas step into leadership roles and have a culmination of a few years of effort pay off down the road.

The Blues have the core to be able to be a competitive team, but need 1-2 more impact players and depth to build around. The best and likeliest course of action is to expect the Blues back in the playoffs in 2-3 years, better than ever.