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Deadline Primer: St. Louis Blues

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With the trade deadline now just weeks away, we’re going to start taking a closer look at each team.  Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs?

After earning a berth in the 2015-16 Western Conference Final, the St. Louis Blues were again expected to be among the top teams in the conference and to perhaps make it as far as the Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately the Blues have underachieved on the season, ultimatley leading management to dismiss veteran bench boss Ken Hitchcock. More changes could be on the horizon as the team currently finds itself fighting for their playoff lives.

Record

27-22-5, 54 points, fourth in Central Division

Deadline Status

Buyer and perhaps seller

Draft Picks

2017: STL 1st, STL 2nd, STL 4th, BUF 5th, STL 6th, STL 7th

2018: STL 1st, STL 2nd, STL 3rd, CGY 3rd*, STL 4th, STL 5th, STL 6th, STL 7th

*Pick is conditional on whether Brian Elliot re-signs with Calgary

Trade Chips

It would be understandable if Blues GM Doug Armstrong doesn’t view this year’s edition of the team as a viable Stanley Cup contender and was therefore reluctant to part with either prospect or draft pick capital for rental players at the deadline. St. Louis boasts a shallow prospect pool after years of earning draft selections outside of the top-10. The team does possess their own first and second-round picks in each of the next two seasons and perhaps in the right deal they would be willing to include those assets but it would have to be a trade the brought back a young, controllable top-six forward.

Kevin Shattenkirk might represent both the team’s most valuable asset as well as the one most likely to be dealt. Stung by losing veterans David Backes and Troy Brouwer for nothing as free agents last summer, Armstrong might be motivated to cash in the puck-moving defenseman in order to avoid a similar fate in July. As a skilled, right-shot defenseman, Shattenkirk is a tremendously valuable commodity on the open market, especially if he agrees to an extension with an interested club prior to the deal being made, and could return multiple pieces to improve the team moving forward.

Team Needs

  1. A Starting Goaltender – The Blues took a risk in the offseason by splitting up the effective netminding duo of Brian Elliot and Jake Allen, moving the former to Calgary at the draft in exchange for picks. Allen was viewed as the goalie of the future but has struggled to stop the puck with any consistency this season. His backup, Carter Hutton, simply isn’t a starting-caliber backstop in this league. If the Blues decide to go for it this year, it would behoove them to look at the starting goalie market where one of Marc-Andre Fleury or Ben Bishop would easily solve their need.
  2. A Top-Line Center – Paul Stastny is a nice, #2 pivot but he’s miscast in St. Louis as their top option due to the absence of any other competent scoring line options. Patrik Berglund (20 points in 54 games) and Jori Lehtera (16 points in 49 games) simply haven’t gotten the job done. The team chose to let Backes go in free agency and it’s looking more and more like a mistake that they didn’t either bite the bullet and re-sign him or replace him in the offseason. If the Blues could find a top-line center under long-term control, they’d have to take a look at it.

 

Central Notes: Landeskog, Lehtera, Stars

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Colorado left winger Gabriel Landeskog has seen his name pop up in trade rumors over the past few weeks.  Despite that and the continued struggles that the team is having, he made it very clear to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post that he’s hoping to stick around:

“I want to be an Avalanche, to stay an Avalanche and be in Denver for a long, long time.”

It’s certainly easy to see the appeal that Landeskog would have league-wide.  He’s just 24 years of age, at one point was the youngest team captain in NHL history, and already has four seasons of 50 points or more under his belt.

However, this year hasn’t gone particularly well, something that can pretty much be said for just about every Colorado player.  Through 31 games this year, he has just eight goals and six assists, production that is comparable to the worst year of his career back in 2012-13.

Young power forwards with top six upside (or in this case, proven production) are hard to come by so GM Joe Sakic’s asking price has been quite high despite Landeskog’s struggles.  Including this season, he has five years left on his contract with a cap hit of $5.57MM, an amount that may be difficult to fit in on another team given that many teams are in cap trouble.  Accordingly, some have wondered if the better time to make a move with him would be the offseason when there could be more teams with the cap space to fit him in.

In the meantime, Landeskog is trying his best to not let the speculation get to him:

“Whether my name is floating around or not, I’m still approaching the game the same way. And that is to spread energy, be a good teammate, work hard and try to get better every day. Me being in trade rumors, that’s nothing I can control.”

More from the Central:

  • When it comes to the surprising lack of production of Blues center Jori Lehtera, count GM Doug Armstrong among those that can’t quite put a finger on it, writes Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Lehtera has spent the bulk of the season alongside winger Vladimir Tarasenko.  The Russian winger sits sixth in league scoring with 44 points in as many games yet Lehtera has just 13 points on the season in 39 outings.  Armstrong isn’t focusing on the negative when it comes to Lehtera’s play, however: “All I know is Tarasenko is in the top three or four in scoring and Jori is the centerman. So there’s something happening positive with Jori and Vlad. Obviously the point total is the point total, but when he’s not producing points, he doesn’t hurt you defensively and that’s something I don’t think maybe a lot of people focus on. But we try and focus on that.”
  • The penalty kill for the Stars has dropped drastically in recent weeks, notes Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News. After killing just one of three power plays last night against the Sabres (the fifth time in their last eight games that they’ve allowed multiple goals on the penalty kill), they’ve now dropped to dead last in the league in success rate at just 74.4%.  While speculation is starting to heat up about who GM Jim Nill may consider dealing, it’s quite likely that he’ll be on the lookout for some help defensively, either on the back end or up front.  Dallas is just four points out of the last Wild Card spot and shoring up their penalty kill would go a long way towards trying to help close that gap.

Central Notes: Iginla, Predators, Lehtera

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As we noted earlier today, Avalanche right winger Jarome Iginla will play in his 1,500th career game tonight as Colorado takes on Montreal.  At the age of 39 and his contract up at the end of the season, many are wondering if this is his final year but speaking with ESPN’s Joe MacDonald, Iginla isn’t sure if he wants to retire yet or keep playing:

“Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. I know this is my last year of my contract, I’ve got three kids and they enjoy it, though. It’s probably more of my wife wouldn’t mind a little bit more help around the house, but the kids enjoy watching it and all that, so there are a lot of things to consider. It’s still fun and it’s great winning. It’s still fun winning and competing. It’s truly a decision I’ll make at the end of the year and see how it goes. I’m just trying to enjoy it right now.”

With his diminishing role (he has been in the bottom six a lot this season) and expiring contract, many have speculated that he could be a rental candidate towards the trade deadline.  Last season, he indicated that he was not willing to waive his no-move clause but, assuming Colorado remains out of a playoff spot, he might be willing to reconsider that stance if he wants a shot at a Stanley Cup, something that has eluded him throughout his 20 year career.  However, with a cap hit of $5.33MM, the number of potential suitors would likely be limited.

More from the Central:

  • If the Predators want to improve their seeding in the West (they sit one point out of a Wild Card spot heading into today’s action), they’ll need to improve their play on the road, notes Adam Vingan of The Tennessean. On home ice, Nashville has picked up points in 11 of 13 games, including nine victories while outscoring their opponents by 20.  However, on the road, they’ve lost all but three of 13 games while getting outscored by 15 in those contests.  Fortunately for the Preds, following tonight’s game in Arizona, six of their remaining nine games this month are at home.
  • Blues center Jori Lehtera says he’s “fighting with myself” as he continues his early season struggles, writes Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. His third NHL campaign has yet to go as he or the team hoped as he has just three goals and five assists through 23 games, hardly what St. Louis expected from a forward with a $4.7MM cap hit.  Head coach Ken Hitchcock made Lehtera a healthy scratch last week and told the 28 year old that he wants to see him “play through the competition”  and that it wasn’t his lack of production that led to the benching.

Central Division Snapshots: Lehtera, Parise, Avalanche

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In his latest chat feature appearing in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jeremy Rutherford tackles an array of reader questions yesterday. A popular topic for Blues fans are the ongoing struggles of center Jori Lehtera, who St. Louis made a healthy scratch for this evening’s game against Winnipeg.

Lehtera posted a strong rookie campaign in 2014-15, finishing with 14 goals and 44 points in 75 games. He followed that up with a 34-point campaign last season, a noticeable drop off in output but still enough to convince the Blues to ink the 28-year-old Finnish pivot to a three-year deal with an AAV of $4.7MM. As Rutherford noted, the Blues might have been better off waiting another year to prove himself but the team decided to get that deal done so as to allow themselves to focus on re-signing David Backes and Jaden Schwartz. With just seven points in 20 games this season it’s looking like that extension may have indeed been premature.

Rutherford also believes it’s more likely now that the team will leave Lehtera unprotected and available to be taken by the Vegas Golden Knights in next June’s expansion draft. He projects the Blues will choose to protect 10 skaters – seven forwards and three blue liners – but has Lehtera and Ty Rattie as two the team will leave unprotected.

Elsewhere in the Central Division:

  •  Mike Russo of the Star Tribune reports that Zach Parise is indeed healthy, according to the team’s bench boss, Bruce Boudreau. There was concern after the veteran winger blocked a shot in the first period of Minnesota’s recent loss to Calgary. Boudreau described Parise’s skating as “sluggish” and “methodical,” in post-game remarks, which led to the questions pertaining to Parise’s health status. The long-time NHL coach did sit down with Parise along with winger Charlie Coyle, and plans to do the same with center Eric Staal to discuss the line’s recent struggles. As Russo notes, the line is pointless in its last two contests and the trio combined for just two even-strength shots in the Calgary game.
  • Lastly, Colorado GM Joe Sakic is sticking by the team’s core group despite a rough start to the 2016-17 campaign, writes Terry Frei of The Denver Post. The Avalanche are currently tied with Arizona for last place in the Western Conference and are seven points out of a playoff berth. With their season on the verge of slipping away, Sakic still expresses faith in his core – Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, Semyon Varlamov, Tyson Barrie, Erik Johnson and Nathan MacKinnon – and feels the team needs to play with more urgency in order to get their season back on track: “I have faith in them. But to me, the start is not a core thing; it’s a team thing. I think you see we’re trying to hold people accountable. We know we have certain guys who can give more, and those guys know they can give more, but it’s not like it’s a whole thing. We’re not as consistent as we need to be. We didn’t win two straight Cups and have that leeway. We have to play with that urgency every night on a consistent basis to be successful.” Sakic’s reluctance to break up the team’s core played at least some part in the division between the GM and former head coach Patrick Roy. Unless the Avalanche can turn things around relatively quickly, it’s going to look like Roy, and not Sakic, was correct in his assessment.

Jori Lehtera To Be Healthy Scratched

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Jori Lehtera will be watching tonight’s game from the press box.

The skilled center will be a healthy scratch on Saturday night when St. Louis host the Winnipeg Jets, according to Lou Korac, who covers the Blues for NHL.com. It appears that Nail Yakupov will take his spot in the lineup.

Lehtera has seven points (3-4-7) in 20 games, and was demoted to the third line during last game. Earlier this season, coach Ken Hitchcock scratched Robby Fabbri to get him motivated, and now he’s doing it again with another of the Blues top-nine forwards.

Yakupov will play on the third line with Patrik Berglund and Dmitrij Jaskin. The former first-overall pick of the Edmonton Oilers has five points (2-3-5) in 16 games this season. He’s been healthy-scratched eight times so far this season, since being acquired in October for ECHL forward Zach Pochiro and a conditional draft pick.

According to Korac, Hitchcock said he’s liked Yakupov’s effort in the last three practices. His last game was November 23.

Blues Waive Paajarvi

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Former first-round draft pick Magnus Paajarvi has been waived by the St. Louis Blues, according to Elliotte Friedman. The move was necessary with the team activating Jori Lehtera from IR. Lehtera is practicing today and is going to play tonight, tweets Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Paajarvi had seen action in three games so far this season and had tallied one goal and no assists while averaging 9:16 of ice time. Since joining St. Louis in 2013, Paajarvi has 10 goals and 23 points in 116 contests while posting a -17 plus-minus rating.

Originally drafted by Edmonton with the 10th overall selection in 2009, Paajarvi was shipped to the Blues with a second-round pick in exchange for F David Perron and a 2015 third-round choice. For his career, the Swedish winger has recorded 36 goals and 81 points in 279 regular season games.

It’s possible a team in need of size on the wing could take a flier on Paajarvi. He’s making just $700K this season and will be a RFA next summer.

Injury Updates: Penguins, Bruins, Stars, Blues, Kings

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Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby returned to practice for the first time on Monday since sustaining a concussion just prior to the start of the regular season, notes Sam Kasan of the team’s official website.  He also wasn’t wearing a non-contact jersey which is a sign that he should be nearing a return to the lineup in the near future.  Crosby skated on the top line in practice along with wingers Patric Hornqvist and Scott Wilson.  There remains no firm timetable for his return, but head coach Mike Sullivan wouldn’t rule out a possible return this week.

Still with the Penguins, Kris Letang (upper body) and Conor Sheary (eye) did not practice today, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (via Twitter).  Both players are currently listed as day-to-day.

Other injury updates from around the league:

  • With Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask still unavailable to practice, the team announced that they’ve recalled prospect Malcolm Subban on an emergency basis. On top of that, Anton Khudobin left practice early with an upper body injury, adds Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe.  Rask remains day-to-day while there’s no word yet on the severity of Khudobin’s injury.
  • After returning to the lineup on Saturday from a groin injury, Dallas right winger Ales Hemsky is once again on the shelf with a groin injury and won’t play tomorrow, notes Mike Heika of the Dallas News. Additionally, center Jason Spezza tweaked something and is listed as questionable.  Jiri Hudler (flu) is skating and is nearing a return to the lineup but is not expected to play on Tuesday night.  The team announced that Hemsky has been placed on IR while center Justin Dowling has been recalled from Texas of the AHL.
  • St. Louis center Jori Lehtera skated on his own today as he continues to recover from an upper body injury, reports Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). In a follow-up tweet, Timmermann adds that right winger Dmitrij Jaskin is day-to-day with a back issue.
  • Kings goaltender Jeff Zatkoff is expected to miss around a week with his groin injury, head coach Darryl Sutter told reporters including Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider. Zatkoff was expected to be the backup to Jonathan Quick this season but was thrust into the starting role with Quick expected to miss the next three months.  In the meantime, Los Angeles will continue to go with Peter Budaj as their starter while speculation continues that the team will eventually have to add some help via the trade route.

Lehtera Placed On Injured Reserve

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After Jori Lehtera was pulled from the St. Louis Blues game on Saturday night, did not return, and has not played since with little word about his injury, it was only a matter of time before he landed on IR. Suffering from an undisclosed “upper body injury”, Lehtera will join line mate Jaden Schwartz on the injured reserve and it could be a while before he’s back on the ice. An exact time frame for his return is still unknown.

Lehtera left the game against the New York Rangers in the first period on Saturday, though it is unclear when the injury specifically occurred. He did not return, and was later joined in the locker room by defenseman Carl Gunnarsson and grinder Kyle Brodziak, both of whom went down with injuries as well. While Gunnarsson and Brodziak joined the Blues on the team’s western Canada road trip, Lehtera stayed home, presumably because the team planned to place him on IR.

The Blues now find themselves thin down the middle with Lehtera and Brodziak on the shelf. The losses have forced wingers Alex Steen and Dmitrij Jaskin to move to center, but a long-term absence for Lehtera may cause further roster shake-ups. Look for Patrik Berglund to step up, as well as a call-up for free agent addition Landon Ferraro. St. Louis is off to a strong 3-0-1 start, and they will look to beat the injury bug with continued success in the absence of Lehtera and others.

 

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