St. Louis Blues GM Downplays Possibility of Deadline Deals

Mainly because of the fact that they’re a team in contention that’s going all-in on a Stanley Cup run, but also because they’ve struggled recently and lost three of their past four, the St. Louis Blues have been pegged as a probable trade deadline buyer by many observers. Perhaps it’s time to reduce any expectations of that happening, however, based on the latest statements from the team’s general manager, Doug Armstrong.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Blues beat writer Jeremy Rutherford tweeted out several interesting comments from a Thursday night discussion from Armstrong:

While the Blues could potentially use an impactful defenseman to fill the hole that Kevin Shattenkirk left with his injury, it’s likely that the team would have to give up a player on their current NHL roster in order to make that type of deal, and it doesn’t really make sense for the club to disrupt the balance of the group that has been one of the most consistent clubs in the NHL all season.

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To Armstrong’s credit, he clearly realized after last year’s late-season collapse and first-round playoff loss to the Chicago Blackhawks that the Blues didn’t have enough NHL-quality depth in their system to survive a multitude of injuries. Partly due to the development of young players like Petteri Lindbohm, Dmitrij Jaskin, and Ty Rattie, but also due to the addition of more substantial depth players such as Chris Butler and Joakim Lindstrom, the Blues have established much more extensive depth this year than they had in 2013-14.

Perhaps the most interesting thing to come out of Armstrong’s conversation with Rutherford was the specific mention of two players, Magnus Paajarvi and Joel Edmundson, who could join the club and contribute down the stretch.

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Many thought that Paajarvi’s chances of returning to the NHL with the Blues were slim when he was placed on waivers and assigned to AHL Chicago in late December. However, the 23-year-old appears to have found his stroke lately and now has scored five goals and notched eight assists in 17 games with the Wolves.  He seems to have issues with staying consistent when he’s out of the lineup for long stretches, but based on Armstrong’s comments, he’s a definite candidate for a call-up when rosters expand following Monday’s trade deadline.

If Edmundson, who was out of action until early February while recovering from an injury, ends up getting called up by the Blues, he’ll be making his NHL debut. Over eight games with the Wolves this year, the 21-year-old, Edmundson has a goal and an assist with a plus-minus rating of minus-3. He had a solid season in 2013-14, his first year as a pro, scoring four goals with four assists, a plus-minus rating of plus-14, and 108 penalty minutes over 64 games at Chicago.

A few guys that Rutherford did not mention as having been talked about in the conversation are Adam Cracknell, who was re-acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday after having contributed to the Blues’ playoff efforts over the past two seasons, and Ty Rattie and Colin Fraser, who have both seen brief action with the NHL club this season. Rattie seems more likely to end up contributing to the club again this season considering that he had some nice moments offensively and has solid scoring potential, although Fraser is a three-time Stanley Cup champion and might be nice to have around during the postseason.

Next: Blues Acquire Adam Cracknell from Columbus Blue Jackets