The St. Louis Blues were one of the teams that was projected to be a seller at this year’s trade deadline, but they ended up making no moves. Instead, the Blues stuck with the status quo and will move forward in their far-fetched playoff push.
After the deadline passed, Blues general manager Doug Armstrong released a statement on why he chose not to switch things up at all at the deadline, according to a post from the team on social media.
“We were in contact with some teams on some hockey trades,” Armstrong said, via the team on X. “At the end of the day, we ended up moving forward with the team that is playing excellent hockey right now.”
In Armstrong’s defense, the Blues are playing some of their best hockey at the moment. Entering Friday’s tilt with the Anaheim Ducks, the Blues are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games and are contending for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. St. Louis is neck-and-neck with the Vancouver Canucks, the Calgary Flames and the Utah Hockey Club for that spot, so the competition will be fierce over the final month of the season.
Many of the Blues’ high-profile names had been linked to possible trades. Goalie Jordan Binnington, who has had his ups and downs but was excellent in Team Canada’s win over Team USA in the 4 Nations championship game, was linked to the Edmonton Oilers before the deadline.
Star center Brayden Schenn was also rumored to be on the block, but the Blues didn’t end up doing anything with either of them.
The conservative approach to the deadline was puzzling to some because, even if the Blues make the playoffs, it’s unclear what their ceiling will be when they get there. If St. Louis snags the second Wild Card spot, it would be a massive underdog in a presumed matchup against the Winnipeg Jets. However, Armstrong is clearly confident in this group that it can get the job done as currently constructed.
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