Paul Stastny’s time with the St. Louis Blues ended when he was traded away to the Winnipeg Jets prior to the 2018 NHL Trade Deadline. At the time, the move signaled the Blues’ intent to sell one of their more valuable pieces who had an expiring contract in an effort to stock up on some future assets.
So, with Stastny set to become an unrestricted free agent, where will he head next?
One possible destination is back to St. Louis.
You don’t need to do much research to see the Blues need help at center. That’s an area they’ve been needing to address for years, but that help won’t come without paying a steep price. Unfortunately, the Blues aren’t really in a spot to pay that price. A player such as John Tavares will fetch a contract that could exceed an annual cap hit of $10 million. The Blues could theoretically stretch to sign Tavares, but it’d make managing the salary cap extremely difficult in future seasons.
The Blues may need to evaluate the market, assess what they can afford and make a decision on what they can do to bridge the gap until a player like Robert Thomas is able to make the jump. That means adding a player like Tavares probably isn’t going to happen.
Stastny should be a player the Blues could afford who would be able to help at center. He’s not the top center the Blues need (and have needed), but he’s an option on the second line. There’s also the possibility that the 32-year-old Stastny would consider a slightly more affordable contract in order to finish out his career for his hometown team, but that’s just speculation.
Summarized, the Blues ideally need to find more talent and more offensive punch. Though bringing back old players isn’t an ideal solution when it comes to changing a team’s offensive identity, Stastny may be the best option the team can actually afford.
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