With the St. Louis Blues struggling to keep up with the rest of the pack in the Western Conference, general manager Doug Armstrong might start looking at offloading some assets and start looking toward the future.
While some names seem pretty obvious, including veteran center Brayden Schenn, a name that’s quietly picking up steam in some conversations is forward Robert Thomas. Even on a bumbling team, the former London Knight remains one of the Blues’ top scorers, leading the team in assists (22) and points (33). With the experience of winning a Stanley Cup under his belt, he knows what it takes to reach the ultimate goal, and he also has the skill to bolster any lineup.
However, even if the Blues decide to go on a retool or rebuild route, they might want to keep a couple of skilled players around, with Thomas certainly in that category, to keep the team somewhat competitive.
It might also be tough to move Thomas, as he has a no-trade clause, with a cap hit of $8.125 million through the 2030-31 season.
On Friday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton discuss who might be interested in acquiring Thomas before the deadline.
Tyler Yaremchuk: It would cost an absolute haul for St. Louis to give up on this guy. But is there a team out there that you think would be willing or should be willing, I should say, to give up that haul for him?
Carter Hutton: This would be the guy that maybe I see going to Detroit, if they can make the numbers work, because now you get them for the future. A 26-year-old centerman, who’s a very good player, can sit in there and help your team all around. Maybe that’s something Steve Yzerman kicks the tires on. The other team, for me, would be Buffalo. Just because now you’re trying to have a show of confidence and maybe build it the right way, where you’re getting a player that isn’t just a rental.
I think that is the concern, I think, when you think about Detroit and Buffalo, is trying to get some guys where you can build toward the future and have them in your group. Because they don’t make sense right now, in my personal opinion, as like Stanley Cup teams that are in that window.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…
