Predictably, the Blues were quiet on deadline day. The day in itself was pretty uneventful, as contenders loaded up on talent in the days heading into the actual final day of trades. The Blues stood where they were, their lone trade involving Anders Nilsson occurring days earlier. If the Blues’ lack of action was frustrating, the quotes from GM Doug Armstrong after the deadline were infuriating.
Via the team’s official site:
In addition to being up against the salary cap, the Blues are currently playing without injured players Alexander Steen, Jori Lehtera, Steve Ott and Brian Elliott. Getting those players healthy, Armstrong has said, would be like adding players at the deadline.
That line of thinking is lunacy. Returning Alexander Steen and Brian Elliott is important, but the whole “it’s as good as a trade!” thinking is so out of touch that you really have to wonder how desperate the Blues are. Rival teams – specifically the Chicago Blackhawks – improved their roster by a solid amount heading into the deadline. Do you see them touting potential returns of Marian Hossa or Marcus Kruger as “adding players” at the deadline? No. They added actual parts which will help the current roster and only improve things once/if Hossa and Kruger can return. Besides, adding a player like Steve Ott at the deadline means you’re probably doing something wrong.
The big criticism against Armstrong is that he placed the Blues in a spot where they couldn’t get anything done. Injuries have put the Blues in a tough spot, but the team’s cap issues played a much larger role in why the team was inactive on trade day.
I asked Army about the belief of some fans that he was responsible for the Blues' cap issues, which handcuffed the club at the deadline …
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) February 29, 2016
Army: "My belief is you leave yourself between 5-7% of the cap for acquisitions and injuries. The problem is this year we got into LTI (1/3)
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) February 29, 2016
Army cont'd: "Then you add in just the day to day bumps and bruises of guys missing and you just get into a difficult spot. (2/3)
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) February 29, 2016
Army cont'd: "We're one of probably 20 teams that are in that situation too. Ours just happened because of the number of injuries we had."
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) February 29, 2016
Armstrong is right. Maybe 20 teams are in a similar situation as the Blues, but it’s worth noting that the teams around the Blues improved. The Blackhawks have a difficult cap situation too, but they were able to pull off a few impressive trades before the deadline.
Regardless, the Blues have made their bed and now they must sleep in it. Armstrong handed out the contracts and he decided to keep quiet on draft day. Ken Hitchcock, despite his long list of criticisms, is still the coach. Whatever happens in the playoffs this year is on the duo of Armstrong and Hitchcock as they’ve had ample time to change things but they’ve chosen to keep things as they are.
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