Blues fans hoping the club will make drastic changes this summer will be interested in the latest report from Pierre LeBrun. According to LeBrun’s report seen over on ESPN, the Blues are open to moving David Backes, T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund or a different veteran.
LeBrun:
But if there’s a deal out there that makes sense, word from rival executives is that the Blues are more open-minded than ever to move one of their long-standing core guys, whether that’s David Backes, T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund or other veterans.
It’s a delicate proposition in the sense that the Blues, by bringing back head coach Ken Hitchcock for one more season, are signaling that they’re taking another run at it and why oddsmakers have listed them as a top-five contender for next season. But in in a perfect world, the Blues would like to return with a new face or two among their core.
Technically, every team is open to trading any player if the right offer is on the table. For the Blues, adjusting the core would require a significant move, but it’d still take something special for the team to move their captain or another veteran. The worst case scenario, as LeBrun outlines, is when a team makes a trade simply to make a trade.
What the Blues won’t do, in my opinion, is force a trade just for the sake of appeasing their fans who want change because of the disappointing playoffs. GM Doug Armstrong is a shrewd hockey man. I think he’s seen teams in this position — so desperate to get over the hump — make their worst trades.
One could make a pretty strong argument that the Blues have forced moves in the past and could again in the future. The Ryan Miller deal – especially in hindsight – looked like a trade which was made to address a need which didn’t exist. The Blues are again under a ton of pressure – as they were prior to the Miller trade – and could make the same mistake.
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