The NHL trade deadline is February 26th, which is close enough to say that it’s rapidly approaching. Considering how much the Blues offense dropped off when Schwartz went down with injury, it would suffice to say, if there is some offensive power on the block and for the right price, that the Blues should pursue it. The following is a list of players rumored to be on the Blues front office list of interest. This list isn’t necessarily in any particular order, as I am not privy to the dealings of the Blues front office. However, I’ll start with the rumor that I’ve heard the most recent rumblings over.
Patrick Maroon, 29 LW 6-3 225 lbs (Edmonton Oilers):
The 29 year old big bodied left winger sits at 6 feet 3 inches, 225 pounds. He isn’t a playmaker, but he will go to the dirty areas, and has shown patches of brilliance when paired with talented line mates. In his last three seasons with Edmonton he has played 145 games, has 48 goals, 34 assists, and 82 points. Over that same time span he is a +/- 26, with a Corsi for of 54.2% and a Corsi relative of 4.9%.
Nothing majorly special, but he does hold an average of 0.57 points per game over the past three seasons, and he is a jumbo forward (something the Blues could use). Easily a top six forward who could slot with Stastny and Tarasenko in place of Barbashev.
Maroon has voiced to media that while he is aware of his position on the trade block, he likes the Oilers organization and the city. However, he is a St. Louis native. If any team has a true chance of landing him as anything more than a rental, St. Louis is a safe bet. Also notable, Maroon’s cap hit for this year is only 1.5 million.
Rumor has it, the Oilers are on the verge of yet another fire sale. Who knows what they’ll want in return, but my guess would be youth or draft picks.
Mike Hoffman, 28 LW 6-0 181 lbs (Ottawa Senators):
Since the 2014-15 season 28 year old Calder trophy winner has had quite a bit of offensive success. His 14-15 season stats are 27 goals, 21 assists, and 48 points; his 15-16 season stats are 29 goals, 30 assists, and 59 points; his 16-17 stats are 26 goals, 35 assists, and 61 points; through 49 games this season he has 12 goals, 20 assists , and 32 points. His career Corsi stats sit at a 51.4% CF% and a 3.6% CF% rel. Almost needless to say, he is in his prime at 28 years of age, has positive career possession metrics, and is nearly a perennial 60 point getter. The Blues could definitely use this man.
Rumor has it, Ottawa is looking for youth skaters and/or draft picks.
Max Pacioretty, 29 LW 6-2 206 lbs (Montreal Canadiens):
This is a big one, Montreal is probably shopping Pacioretty for top value trade options. Rightfully so, as Max has at least 60 points in his past four seasons, with at least 30 goals in each of those seasons. He has hit 39 and 37 goals in two of those four, and through 51 games this season, he sits at 16 goals, 15 assists, and 31 points. He is on track for a fifth consecutive 30 goal, 60 point season. Perennial 30 goal and 60 point getters are rare in the NHL.
However, it’s not all roses and sunshine in this part of town. There has been speculation that Pacioretty has a habit of playing through injury, which, athletically speaking, makes his age a little concerning. Nagging injury prone players, who play through their nagging injuries don’t usually have the longest of careers.
His numbers are fantastic, but with his injury issues and Montreal holding the price high, I’m not a fan of this possible trade.
John Tavares, 27 C 6-1 208 lbs (New York Islanders):
The only reason Tavares is not in neon lights at the top of this list is, the Isles’ front office would likely be asking the farm and then some for him as a pending free agent, rental player. Tavares is an Elite Center in every aspect, averaging 0.93 points per game throughout his entire career, which has been spent solely with the Islanders. He has eclipsed 80 points in two of his past eight NHL seasons and collected at least 60 points in four of the other six seasons. This season he is starring at another 80 point season, collecting 57 points through 52 games. The guy is gold.
I’m not a fan of throwing the barn away for a rental player, and the TJ Oshie trade for Brouwer still holds a sour taste in my mouth. However, if Tavares makes it to the free agent market this summer, the Blues front office better do everything possible to make signing him happen. Stastny can kick rocks with his free agency and his too big for his britches contract. Possibly even dump Berglund and his also too big for his britches contract to some poor sap like Philly (insert Jori Lehtera joke). Seriously dump anything that needs to be dumped to get Tavares! Lining him up with Vladimir Tarasenko would be like a second coming of Brett Hull and Adam Oates (What I want, you’ve got, and it might be hard to handle… sorry, anytime I see or hear Hullie and Oatesie’s names together, Daryl Hall and John Oates – You Make My Dreams immediately goes off in my head).
(Not so) Honorable mentions:
Rick Nash, 33 and Michael Grabner, 30 (New York Rangers):
Rick Nash is aging and has had a significant drop off on the score sheet. Michael Grabner, on the other hand, is aging, yet finding the score sheet more frequently. However, he is barely a 20 goal scorer and doesn’t really pass the puck enough for me to even mention his assist numbers. Getting either of these two guys would be par for the “went out and got a crafty veteran” course. How many times has that happened and not worked out? Please, PLEASE, don’t trade anything for either of those two guys.
