trade to the Minnesota Wild<\/a> as an example \u2014 he\u2019s being realistic.<\/p>\n\u201cOur job is to prepare for anything on any given day, but our job is to also understand the natural flow of the NHL and when things happen,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just going on the actuary table, but there are situations that could just take one phone call for something.\u201d<\/p>\n
So if the Blues are open for shop, who would they be willing to send packing?<\/p>\n
A few of the names rumored to be trade options \u2014 Brayden Schenn, Justin Faulk and Jordan Binnington \u2014 are players the Blues may have an incentive to move because they\u2019re in their early-to-mid 30s with term left on their contracts.<\/p>\n
Schenn, 34, has two more seasons left on his deal ($6.5 million average annual value) and generated trade interest last season. Faulk, 33, has one more season on his deal ($6.5 million AAV) and has played better than in recent years. Binnington, 32, has one more season left ($6 million AAV), and while he\u2019s had a dismal season, he\u2019s still considered one of the most competitive netminders in the league and someone who plays well in big games and can get on a roll in the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Armstrong said he\u2019d be willing to have discussions with those players, knowing that Schenn and Faulk each have 15-team no-trade lists and Binnington has a 14-team list.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve done that in the past,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cYou want a shared vision. I hope it doesn\u2019t get to that. But I\u2019m hoping they hope I don\u2019t call them and say, \u2018This is what we want. Are you OK with it?\u2019 I would want to do what\u2019s right for them, by them, because whatever success I\u2019ve had, big or small, it\u2019s off their backs.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I also want to make sure everyone is aware, too, that my loyalty is to the St. Louis Blues more than anything else. It\u2019s to the organization. It\u2019s to the fanbase. More than the owners or anyone else, my loyalty is to the Blues. I\u2019m going to do whatever I think is right for Blues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regarding Binnington, the franchise leader in games played and wins for a goaltender, Armstrong said: \u201cIf he gets to a point where he\u2019s playing his best and we\u2019re not there and he comes to me, or we go to him, I understand. That\u2019s part of the business. I don\u2019t view Binnington any different than I view other guys that I\u2019ve worked with for a long time. Our job is to listen to how other people view us and view them, and respond to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the Blues were to move them, what would Armstrong be looking for?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would like to add into that group of players that are the (Jake) Neighbours, (Dylan) Holloways, (Philip) Brobergs, (Logan) Maillouxs, (Joel) Hofers,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not saying those are all core players, but there\u2019s an age group that you would like to add into. (But) to move anyone that could bring you a first-round pick, that\u2019s likely to a team that has playoff aspirations, and that\u2019s a pick (Nos.) 18 to 31, and historically that shows you those guys click in the league two to three to four years later.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, that doesn\u2019t do that group I\u2019m talking about a lot of good because then they\u2019ll be aged out. But that is an asset that you can use at a later date to get a player in that age group. So we have to be open to anything, meaning if it is the picks, then we\u2019ll take that pick and do something with it at the draft. Our goal would be, if we acquire things, they have a name attached to them now, not a (draft pick) number.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Blues, of course, have younger core players in Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Colton Parayko and Pavel Buchnevich. Parayko, Thomas and Kyrou, in particular, would generate significant trade interest. Moving them would significantly shake up the team\u2019s roster, which Armstrong may deem necessary if he doesn\u2019t believe the departure of the aging veterans will cure what ails the Blues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s really no untouchables \u2014 not (just) on the St. Louis Blues, (but) there\u2019s really few untouchables in the league,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of other guys that, when things aren\u2019t going well, I would say that (trade) list grows. Things aren\u2019t going well, so the list couldn\u2019t be, \u2018No, we could never ever consider that.’\u201d<\/p>\n
The issue is that all four are underperforming.<\/p>\n
Thomas has seven goals and 23 points in 30 games. Kyrou has eight goals and 16 points in 28 games and is currently out with a lower-body injury. Buchnevich has five goals and 17 points in 34 games. Parayko has no goals and 10 points in 34 games and a minus-10 rating.<\/p>\n
And while Thomas and Kyrou carry attractive AAVs ($8.125 million) for their potential production, they, along with Buchnevich ($8 million), all have five more years left on their contracts. If they\u2019re not part of the solution in St. Louis, that\u2019s a long time to keep them around.<\/p>\n
But Armstrong wanted to make one thing crystal clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not selling 50 cents on the dollar out of anger,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not considering trading players less than the value we think that they\u2019re worth.\u201d<\/p>\n
One thing that\u2019s also clear after hearing Armstrong speak Tuesday is that he\u2019s not trying to kid himself about the Blues\u2019 situation, and while it may take some time to play out, change appears inevitable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. LOUIS \u2014 Doug Armstrong has always been a realist. So while the St. Louis Blues\u2019 game Wednesday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99,1610],"class_list":{"0":"post-353945","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-st-louis-blues"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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