Blues Strike the Trade Button

Dr.Sens(e)

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Feb 27, 2002
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(AP) St. Louis: With a succession of trades in the already ultra-competitive Central division, the St. Louis Blues joined the fray well in advance of the trade deadline this week, making a couple of much anticipated moves to load up for the playoffs and keep pace with their division rivals.

In the larger of two successive moves, the Blues acquired versatile scoring forward Jussi Jokinen, utility defenceman Chris Campoli, checking forward Jesse Winchester and the Carolina Hurricanes 2nd round pick in the 2012 draft. In exchange, the Blues sent young forward Andrew Cogliano, promising young d-man Sami Lepisto and prospect Kevin Hayes (Blues 2nd rounder, 2010), along with the Blues 3rd round pick in 2012, and their 6th round pick in this year’s draft to the Hurricanes.

When the dust settled on the deal, the Blues have the new top six forward in Jokinen they have been looking for. Still in the prime of his career, Jokinen will become a fixture with the Blues in the short and long-term. The fact he has an extremely reasonable contract ($2M x 2 years), can play all three forward positions and is outstanding in shootouts is a bonus.

The Blues have already engaged in 9 shootouts in only 37 games this season, and could use the help (5-4).

In Campoli, the Blues get a more proven defender than Lepisto, and in Winchester, a solid utility forward the Blues are high on in the longer term. The pick exchange for a 2nd rounder was in consideration of the long-term upside of both Hayes and Lepisto.

The Blues now have a 1st and three 2nd round picks in 2012 draft, along with two 1st round picks in the 2011 draft.

The second deal was a straight forward one. Left winger Marco Sturm for prospect Dennis Persson, veteran depth forward Peter Schaefer, and cash ($1M).

The end result is a major boost to the Blues depth on the wing, with a slight improvement to the top six, but a more substantial upgrade on their third line. To many surprise, Jokinen started out his first practice on the wing of the Blues third line alongside center David Bolland and Dustin Byfuglien.

The team still has several million in cap room that may or may not be utilized in the coming weeks for further upgrades as the trade frenzy heats up. The Blues currently sit in 2nd place in the Western conference, trailing the red-hot Calgary Flames by 6 points, with two games in hand.

The initial line-up for the Blues at practice on Wednesday

Sturm –Thornton – Guerin
Latendresse –Carter –Alfredsson
J Jokinen – Bolland – Byfuglien
Paille – Chipchura – Ruutu
X: Winchester, Tikhonov

Staal – Pronger
Schneider – Chara
Klesla – Campoli
X: Carkner

Howard
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HFNHL Commish

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Feb 28, 2002
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Interesting package going Carolina's way.

I've always been fairly high on Lepisto, but he has yet to really put up numbers at the NHL level. Kevin Hayes, if he can put all of his physical tools together, has the raw potential to be one of the better players out of the 2010 draft. As for Cogliano, given that he's played most of the season with Paajarvi, I've followed his struggles closely. If he has a future as a 20g-30a-50p type guy, I think he's going to need to play on the wing.

All in all, a good trade for both teams.
 

Dr.Sens(e)

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Interesting package going Carolina's way.

I've always been fairly high on Lepisto, but he has yet to really put up numbers at the NHL level. Kevin Hayes, if he can put all of his physical tools together, has the raw potential to be one of the better players out of the 2010 draft. As for Cogliano, given that he's played most of the season with Paajarvi, I've followed his struggles closely. If he has a future as a 20g-30a-50p type guy, I think he's going to need to play on the wing.

All in all, a good trade for both teams.

Yeah, was reluctant to include Lepisto given he has a fresh start in Columbus and might see more PP time there. He was playing a defensive role in Phoenix and doing it quite well. Could be a great two-way d-man in a couple of years though. Cogs is a solid versatile guy getting a bit of a second chance on the top 6 and ice time of late. Not huge upside, but not a big downside either. Could defeinitely average 20-20 and become a good pk guy in the years ahead. Modern day Marchant maybe. Hayes is a wild card, and I may regret letting him go. Gotta give to get though.
 

Ohio Jones

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Feb 28, 2002
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... and here's me thinking you walked all over Carolina with that deal. :dunno:

Interesting to see Jokinen's road, since he was the return for the Canes in their move of Steen to the Kings. Not sure what this indicates for their future plans, but I guess Jon found that JJ wasn't gelling with any of his lines...
 

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