Blues Trade Proposals Part XXXIV

[Mike Liut]

Just need to ride this out and not doing anything irrationally. I’m not trading Thomas, Kyrou, TT, Kostin or Walman for a rental.

 

[simon IC]

Would a Lowery (Wpg) or Sutter (Van) be worth pursuing? Both 3rd line types. I'm done with the Jaskin/Parvo trial.

I am a big fan of Adam Lowry, and have advocated trading for him for years! (He was born in St. Louis, btw, his father Dave played for the Blues). However, with Winnipeg doing well, why would they trade him, especially to a divisional rival? Sutter gets ripped by Vancouver fans mercilessly, and while I don't think he is as bad as they say, he is paid an awful lot to be a 3rd, or even 4th line C, which is probably what he'd be here.

 

[Celtic Note]

No thanks to Sutter or Lowry. I don’t think they do much to solve our problems.

 

[The Note]

If Simmonds becomes available I’d like to see the Blues go hard after him. Even if he doesn’t re-sign they can get 2 postseasons out of him. The only problem would be the cap this year. Most Philly fans seemed on board for TT+ which would be a good deal IMO.

 

[carter333167]

Just need to ride this out and not doing anything irrationally. I’m not trading Thomas, Kyrou, TT, Kostin or Walman for a rental.

Agreed.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Sutter has a 4.375mil cap hit and is on a 21pt pace compared to Jaskin's 28pt pace this season. Berglund is a much better player and makes half a million less. I'm not touching that contract

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

Would a Lowery (Wpg) or Sutter (Van) be worth pursuing? Both 3rd line types. I'm done with the Jaskin/Parvo trial.

Lowry would be a good add, I advocated for us signing him in the offseason as a long-term eventual Brodziak replacement. I doubt WIN trades him in-division, mid-season, a few months after signing him to a new contract, while they’re still clearly in the mix for the central.

Sutter is the kind of player VAN would have to pay us to take, he and his contract are so bad. That would kneecap us for a few years unnecessarily. We aren’t a team that’s ever been or is ever going to be in the business of buying out players, and his contract will have to be dealt with in that way at some point (say hello to Arizona or Vegas, Brandon).

If VAN wanted to move on from Virtanen I’d take a flyer there for the right price, but Friedman had an article last week saying that they have “long-term plans” for him, I.e. they aren’t ready to move on for the right price.

I think Kapanen is still probably our best move, but I doubt TOR is ready to part with him for anything we’d have to offer. Unfortunately, until the Calvary arrives, I think we’re just stuck in injury hell.

 

[Oberyn]

Lowry would be a good add, I advocated for us signing him in the offseason as a long-term eventual Brodziak replacement. I doubt WIN trades him in-division, mid-season, a few months after signing him to a new contract, while they’re still clearly in the mix for the central.

Sutter is the kind of player VAN would have to pay us to take, he and his contract are so bad. That would kneecap us for a few years unnecessarily. We aren’t a team that’s ever been or is ever going to be in the business of buying out players, and his contract will have to be dealt with in that way at some point (say hello to Arizona or Vegas, Brandon).

If VAN wanted to move on from Virtanen I’d take a flyer there for the right price, but Friedman had an article last week saying that they have “long-term plans” for him, I.e. they aren’t ready to move on for the right price.

I think Kapanen is still probably our best move, but I doubt TOR is ready to part with him for anything we’d have to offer. Unfortunately, until the Calvary arrives, I think we’re just stuck in injury hell.

Lowry signed his new contract last offseason, not the most recent one, and is still an RFA at the end of it so not sure when the Blues had an opportunity to sign him.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Would a Lowery (Wpg) or Sutter (Van) be worth pursuing? Both 3rd line types. I'm done with the Jaskin/Parvo trial.

What's wrong with Jaskin? He's on pace for around 30 points this season and is playing really well. I'd agree if you said he's better off with Ups and Brodz, but, he's been holding his own and looking like a legit NHLer all preseason and regular season.

 

[Vincenzo Arelliti]

What about Rick Nash on 2RW? He can do zone entries, net-front, PP, goal-score, and could even be resigned to a short deal as an option for the next two years at a reasonable cap hit. The only thing Nash doesn't do is have a RHS (and we don't need a RHS RW anyway, imo). DA has been linked to him in the past, and DA seems to get his targets EVENTUALLY (Schenn). NYR would have to retain, and they'd have to be okay with moving him while pushing for the playoffs, but they need solid dmen and a middle 6 C for same playoff push. Doubtful, I know, but he was in the conversation last season while still making a push.

While it might not be enough value to get it done:

Barbashev
Gunnarsson

FOR

Nash @ 5M

would be meeting needs of both parties.

 

[kimzey59]

Am I the only one who doesn’t think much of Vrbata?

He's a limited player for sure, but IMO he fits what we need.
RW
RH shot
more finisher than playmaker(he literally shoots from anywhere, whether he has a clear lane or not)
decent on the PP
should cost next to nothing given his age, rental status and injuries this year

I know he isn't going to turn the season around, but he can fill one of our more glaring holes until our prospects are ready to fill it. I'm not expecting him to come in and be a world beater, but I do think he could be a decent rental in the Stephan Richer/Brian Savage/Val Bure mold. As long as we know what we're getting and we don't put any unwarranted expectations on him, I think we'd be fairly happy with Vrbata as a rental(provided he really does come as cheap as I think he will).

 

[kimzey59]

That's 34 points over 82 games. What use is it to waste assets on a third line scoring winger who isn't anything special defensively and will literally be here for what's left of this season?

Adding Vrbata isn't going to fix any scoring woes. We need a guy who can create offense, who can be the driver on a line.

If you wanna find a support player who will produce on the PP, call up TT and simply play him with Stastny and Steen/Sobotka. We don't need to waste assets on Vrbata. The reason TT didn't produce is because he can't drive the play himself and Yeo put him with the elite offensive talents of Sundqvist and Paajarvi.

Strongly disagree.
What we need is a guy who can actually put the puck in the net when he gets the chance.
IMO we're creating plenty of chances but too often the guys whiff on shots, put the puck wide on an open net(see Sobi), get too pass happy and give their D time to get back in position or try some "fancy" play that we don't have the skill to actually pull off.

Vrbata is a shooter. There is nothing unexpected in his game; when the puck comes to him, it's going on net. He literally shoots from anywhere and he's shown over the course of his career that he knows how to finish.

IMO that is exactly what we need. We need a guy who isn't going to "try to make a play" or try to cycle the puck around for no reason; we need somebody who will be decisive and get the puck on net. We need to stop this "slow down the offense" nonsense that we have going on right now and learn how to be decisive with the puck.

Vrbata is far from a complete player and has several known flaws to his game; but you better believe he is decisive once he gets that puck. There is no playing around and no second guessing what he's going to do; if he has the puck, he's shooting it and it doesn't matter where he is on the ice or how many defenders are between him and the net. I think this team needs more of that mindset.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

I'm with Kimzey on Vrbata. He's not a world beater but as far as a short term rental, he makes a good amount of sense to me. And he should be pretty cheap to acquire. If we're looking to add a right winger to finish the year out, he's someone we should be calling on.

 

[TruBlu]

I'd rather stay put with what is currently available on the market. This team is capable of a cup run if healthy going into March. If someone who fits the club comes available, then we can talk about it, but I feel like a trade just for the sake of a trade is a waste of our up and coming youth.

 

[The Note]

I'd rather stay put with what is currently available on the market. This team is capable of a cup run if healthy going into March. If someone who fits the club comes available, then we can talk about it, but I feel like a trade just for the sake of a trade is a waste of our up and coming youth.

It wouldn't be a trade for the sake of making a trade. The team has a noticeable hole at RW after Tarasenko and trading for a rental or 2 year stop gap wouldn't be a waste, it would be addressing a need based on what we've seen this year. The Bennett/Jaskin/Blais/Thompson/warm body experiment hasn't worked and it drags the whole team down when only 1 line can produce offense.

 

[TruBlu]

I just haven't seen anyone mentioned that seems like a good fit. Keep in mind we don't have a first this year, so payment will have to come entirely from prospects and later round draft picks. Are we willing to give up an A prospect in return for 2 months worth of work from guys that are merely being looked at from a points perspective?

 

[The Note]

Are we willing to give up an A prospect

Well, I suppose it depends on what you consider an "A" prospect. The only prospect I wouldn't trade is Thomas unless he's in a package to bring a top line center in. I'd be very hesitant to trade Kyrou or Kostin also and wouldn't trade one of them for a UFA unless we think there's a legitimate chance to re-sign them. I am not as high on Thompson and would build a deal around him to bring in a guy signed through next year also. I'm not saying give up Kyrou for Vrbata, but if it'll cost Schmaltz/Walman/Barbashev/Blais to bring in someone to help this year I'm all for it. And like I said if Simmonds were to become available I have no problem with the Blues building a package around Thompson to bring him in.

 

[Dbrownss]

It wouldn't be a trade for the sake of making a trade. The team has a noticeable hole at RW after Tarasenko and trading for a rental or 2 year stop gap wouldn't be a waste, it would be addressing a need based on what we've seen this year. The Bennett/Jaskin/Blais/Thompson/warm body experiment hasn't worked and it drags the whole team down when only 1 line can produce offense.

I don't think its fair to throw him in there. He had a cup a coffee with the Blues and his skillset should fit like a glove....if he can realize it at the NHL level.

I just haven't seen anyone mentioned that seems like a good fit. Keep in mind we don't have a first this year, so payment will have to come entirely from prospects and later round draft picks. Are we willing to give up an A prospect in return for 2 months worth of work from guys that are merely being looked at from a points perspective?

Vrbata is a good fit though for the Stastny line though. He's just as mobile as Stastny/Sobokta, so he can keep up. It would give those 2 muffins an actual shooter. Even if he doesnt score on the initial shot, Stastny is good around the net to clean up the garbage. As far as cost....Vrbata isn't exactly killing it in Florida... i doubt hell cost much.


If Thompson can find some success this time up, we could look at this for lines barring injuries

Schwartz Schenn Tarasenko
Sobokta Stastny Vrbata
Steen Berglund Thompson
Upshall Brodziak Jaskin

That would give both PPs a RHS forward to work with. Some may not see it as a necessity, but I do. You limit your options if everyone shoots left except for one of the dman. Tarasenko can open up those cross ice seams on the PP and put the puck right in their wheelhouse

Thorburn and collection of other scrubs

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

FWIW, Kapanen has one of the highest shot rates (like 13 shots/60 IIRC) this season, and his overall career suggests that’s his norm. If it’s a shooter we want, he’d be a good long-term non-rental solution. He might not ever blossom into a 60-point guy, and I’d be shocked if he became one this season especially, but I’d much rather add him than Vrbata.

 

[The Note]

I don't think its fair to throw him in there. He had a cup a coffee with the Blues and his skillset should fit like a glove....if he can realize it at the NHL level.

My point was more directed at people that suggest plugging him at 2RW this year. I don't think he offers anything more than the rest of those players right now and I certainly wouldn't want him getting top 6 minutes in the playoffs.

 

[STL fan in MN]

He's a limited player for sure, but IMO he fits what we need.
RW
RH shot
more finisher than playmaker(he literally shoots from anywhere, whether he has a clear lane or not)
decent on the PP
should cost next to nothing given his age, rental status and injuries this year

I know he isn't going to turn the season around, but he can fill one of our more glaring holes until our prospects are ready to fill it. I'm not expecting him to come in and be a world beater, but I do think he could be a decent rental in the Stephan Richer/Brian Savage/Val Bure mold. As long as we know what we're getting and we don't put any unwarranted expectations on him, I think we'd be fairly happy with Vrbata as a rental(provided he really does come as cheap as I think he will).

Precisely.

If the Blues don’t want to give up one of their top prospects or their 2019 1st, they’re not going to get a good longterm fit or one of the top rentals. But they don’t need to add someone of that level! All they need IMO is a solid right shooting middle-6 RW that can help fill a glaring hole and ideally help on the PP as well. Vrbata and a few other low hanging fruit would fit the bill. I agree that level of player shouldn’t cost too much at all.

 

[TheGoldenGod]

If were going to target somebody like Vrbata might as well just get Perron back.

Personally 'Id like to see if Buffalo was interested in moving Sam Rienhardt

 

[Dbrownss]

If were going to target somebody like Vrbata might as well just get Perron back.

Personally 'Id like to see if Buffalo was interested in moving Sam Rienhardt

They're nothing alike though..... we need to add a sniper, plus Im sure Perron wouldn't be cheap from Vegas.

 

[TruBlu]

I don't see DA giving up the first two years in a row, unless it is part of a package for a Tavares level guy.

 

[STL fan in MN]

If were going to target somebody like Vrbata might as well just get Perron back.

Personally 'Id like to see if Buffalo was interested in moving Sam Rienhardt

Perron was shoehorned into RW as that’s what the Blues desperately needed him to play. He’s much better at LW though. And he shoots lefty. The Blues desperately need a right shot, particularly on the PP. Having virtually all lefties really limits options.

I’m usually not so concerned about handedness among forwards but a righty is really needed on this team.