Just curious of what people think of trading Walman + Gunny + WPG 1st for Jeff Skinner? Would that be too much in the terms of value? It would leave the LHD short so then sign a free agent LHD especially depending on when Bouw would be back. While still having Mikkola, Butler, Lindbolm (resigned), and Sergeev in San Antonio.
Blues Trade Proposals Part XXXV
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WeWentBlues
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Don't think Carolina would do that. Their blue line is stacked and deep. Maybe Walman and 1st are of interest. We would need to add something else.
Daley Tarasenkshow
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I would do that in a heartbeat, but I don't think Carolina would. Walman has potential and finished strong last season but had trouble finding ice time earlier in the season. I don't think Gunnarsson would be of much interest to anyone at this point.
WeWentBlues
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Would love Skinner but I don't see Army moving any assets for a player with 1 year of term either, based on what he's said in interviews, etc.
True. But with players that have a year left, you can have an extension that the player can verbally agree to prior to the trade, so we could trade for Skinner and have more than one year term if he agrees to an extension
BleedBlue14
UrGeNcY
Doesn't anyone else feel like Army will make a run at JT and if it doesn't work out make a run at Suomela? Sorry if I spelled it wrong. Seems like a St Louis move to try and fly under the radar with a UFA who isn't a huge name and a bit of a question mark
I doubt the two will be at all connected. Also, we aren't really flying under the radar when Brodeur has spoken about him publicly.
I am pretty sure that he can't officially sign anywhere until July 1. Given that he will be signing an ELC, there is a decent chance that whoever he is signing with already has an agreement in place and it'll be announced on July 1. The WC's is when a lot of this stuff happens with everyone in Europe.
That deal is an easy yes from a value standpoint, but we are loaded up on LW'ers. Schwartz, Steen, Fabbri, Berglund and Sobotka are all top-9 players who are best on LW. We'd need to be including one of the latter 3 in any deal for Skinner.
Itsnotatrap
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Skinner has no move protection, so that makes these conversations more complicated. He’d have to want to come here, and Carolina may not make out of a deal with full value. I agree we aren’t likely looking for 1 year of term, but Skinner has some unique dynamics around his situation.
Ah I looked at their lineup too quick and didn't realize all their defense is pretty young and actually good. Maybe keep Walman in it and take out Gunny for Blais, Stevens, or Foley?
wannabebluesplayer
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How do you know the locker room is a joke? Character, I'll agree with, but locker room issues and cliques (not clicks)? Don't believe everything you read from 1 writer. I don't recall Lou Korac or any other person close to the Blues outside or Rutherford reporting locker room issues. Yes, Tarasenko's 3 probably best friends are gone off the team, but that doesn't give him free reign for his game to go in the toilet (It didn't by the way, but he had an uncharacteristically low shooting %). Armstrong can't make decisions based on what makes an individual player feel better. Reaves can make Tarasenko feel better, sure, but it does it help the Blues win games? I doubt it. I don't see Thorburn and Reaves being on this team at the same time, either. Also, Reaves is going to cost at least 300,000 to 400,000 more than Thorburn, again, no thanks. You can fix the locker room by winning too. Winning is a pretty good cure all. You didn't hear about character or locker room issues when the team was the best in hockey from when Yeo took over until their slump last season. Not a peep. Shocker right?
I think you're honestly over thinking the effect that a couple of "character guys" can have. A 4th or 3rd line cheap "character" guy won't turn this team magically back into a contending team. There's a lack of scoring. There are fundamental flaws with the power play. There's shoddy goal-tending from the #1 net-minder at least 2 months out of the season. There is a lack of push back but is that a character or leadership problem? Is Yeo part of the issue? There are too many comfortable players here as well. Honestly, there needs to be some subtraction before we talk about "character guy" additions. Guys like Berglund and Sobotka who basically disappeared for half the season. Guys like Bouwmeester and Gunnarsson who've essentially become high priced 3rd pairing defensemen, although I do think Bouw, if healthy, could bounce back this season. Sundqvist or Paajarvi who were black holes offensively.
I forgot to ask if it could be Armstrong's problem. I don't deny that he made a mistake in keeping Steen and not Backes. Backes should still be a Blue while Steen should have gone. He made a mistake in trading Oshie (at least to me) instead of Steen or another player after the Wild series. He also hung on to Hitch too long. Even after 2016, I still think Hitch should have gone after that Wild series.
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warrior67
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Jeremy Rutherford on 101 espn just said that Tavares is likely to leave after the events today with the Isles and that the Blues are going to make a big push. He still said that getting Tavares is still unlikely but hey things are looking up!
warrior67
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wannabebluesplayer
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JR also had a pretty lengthy discussion with Stalter about Oshie. He said after the Wild series and Oshie's comments that is was apparent the Blues had Oshie on the top of the list for player changes. He also said he could see backlash and understand that fans, now, would want Oshie back instead of how it went down, but they both asked the question, do the Blues get to the WCF with Oshie instead of Troy Brouwer? I think they would have made the WCF without Brouwer and with a different coach, honestly. Plus, it's convenient that he's leaving out the contributions of Fabbri, Parayko, and Edmundson the next year. Brouwer wasn't the reason they made it to the WCF. Yes, I know, he scored the goal against the Hawks, but still, he wasn't the reason. In fact, I think Oshie, Stastny, and Fabbri would have been a VERY exciting line to watch.
JR did acknowledge that there are still players here from that team that could have been traded instead. I think he was referring to Steen and Berglund specifically with that comment. I texted in saying that Armstrong made the choice to protect his coach more than anything. He traded Oshie to show the players that they weren't going to get Hitch fired, which was exactly what they did a year and a half later. To this day, I will argue that Oshie wasn't who should have left from that team. We all thought Hitch was going to get fired after that, coupled with a few personnel moves. I'll admit, I was fine and didn't mind the trade when it was announced it was Oshie, but I still would have rather seen Steen, Berglund, or even Backes gone at that point. I was fed up with much of the old "core".
I don't know, but I found that conversation slightly interesting. I don't know that Oshie ever reaches his full potential here, but I do think with a player like Fabbri on his wing and Stastny as his full time center instead of Backes, he probably puts similar numbers. I also believe that he'd been a perfect RW for Schwartz and Schenn. It's really funny how things work out. I'm not an Armstrong hater, but man, the Oshie trade, especially because of the back story behind it, still stings.
The Oshie trade wasn't good but like somebody else said, would you want to give him the contract the Capitals gave him? 5.7 mil isn't a terrible price but it will be in a few years. Paying him that until he's 38 won't be pretty.
Oshie had 47 points this year. He had a career year last year because of an unsustainable shooting percentage. I understand he's been good for them in the playoffs but I still don't believe Oshie is really what this team needs to put them over the top... He was barely a 20-goal guy.
I think he was a prime guy to move at the time. Steen had just come off the 2 best seasons of his career. It's easy to look back and say we should have sold high on him, but I don't recall anyone wanting that at the time. From what I remember, it was pretty unanimous that Oshie was the guy to move. As for Berglund... well I have no idea how he's stayed here this long, but he wouldn't bring that much back in a trade so it doesn't really matter.
Oshie had 47 points this year. He had a career year last year because of an unsustainable shooting percentage. I understand he's been good for them in the playoffs but I still don't believe Oshie is really what this team needs to put them over the top... He was barely a 20-goal guy.
I think he was a prime guy to move at the time. Steen had just come off the 2 best seasons of his career. It's easy to look back and say we should have sold high on him, but I don't recall anyone wanting that at the time. From what I remember, it was pretty unanimous that Oshie was the guy to move. As for Berglund... well I have no idea how he's stayed here this long, but he wouldn't bring that much back in a trade so it doesn't really matter.
CaliforniaBlues310
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EastonBlues22
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It certainly might have been the majority opinion, as I do remember an awful lot of support for that opinion, but I know for a fact that it wasn't unanimous.
I don't think those long contracts are as bad for a guy like Oshie as it is for a Backes type. Teams can get creative by frontloading the bigger payouts towards the beginning of the contract so that a guy is easier to move late in his career should his production fall off. I was not a fan of Oshie going. It stings even more since they moved Hitch out shortly after. I'm not hating on Hitch, and he did a lot for this club, but every coach in the league, even the great ones, eventually grows stale with the club. Oshie's criticism of Hitch seemed to be spot on with the offense. He's now moved to a team where his strengths are being utilized. It also helps to be surrounded by the level of talent he has on that team.
Louie the Blue
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From what I recall, the majority of people were fine with the return and moving Oshie while some were skeptical about the return. I don't remember many people arguing against moving Oshie. And those that argued against moving him were opposed to the return, IIRC.
For whatever reason, a change of scenery was needed. I don't think Oshie would have reached his potential in St. Louis and his disappearing act got old in the playoffs(granted, he's turned that around in DC and there are other players who you could argue about their performances, or lack there of, in the postseason who could have been moved). I also don't think the Blues reach the WCF without Brouwer for the sole reason I don't think Oshie would have performed the way he has in the postseason in St. Louis.
EastonBlues22
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Well, I say I know that for a fact because I never wanted him moved. I thought that he was being misused by Hitchcock, that his playoff/locker room "issues" were overblown, and that he was generally being unfairly scapegoated by some fans.
Oshie's clearly a better player than Brouwer (and always was), so I don't buy the notion that the Blues couldn't have succeeded with him instead of Brouwer. If that was truly an impossibility, it's because of failings within the coaching staff, not because of Oshie himself.
There were lots of rumors that Oshie was going to be traded after the 2015 season. The Blues got bounced by Minnesota and once Hitchcock was signed for another year the writing was on the wall. I didn’t necessarily care if Oshie was traded but the return will always be a head scratcher. The Blues were definitely in win now mode. If the best roster player return was Brouwer the smarter move was probably for futures. Rumors swirled around Florida willing to part with the 11th overall pick. It would be interesting to know what Bill Armstrong could have done with that pick. The current Blues roster would look a lot better with a Barzal or Boeser.
I understand the dynamics of being a GM has to be numerous. The issue is most GM’s look at their franchise as either contenders or building, more so than winning now. It appears Army had tunnel vision on getting a roster player for Oshie to stay on the win now train.
This is why I would argue there’s no better GM currently than Yzerman. He has one of the best teams in the league but it seems he’s always stocking the cupboard.
Celtic Note
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Army ruined our chances with that core because he stubbornly held onto his friend. That much should be seem as a give IMO.
Dbrownss
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Idk, too hard to predict what could have been. The team did make it's best push under Hitch. I just would have liked the leaders on the team to tell Oshie to keep his head down and wait out Hitch. He should have retired after the WCF run.
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