St. Louis Blues Make No Moves on Deadline Day

The St. Louis Blues didn’t make any moves as Wednesday’s NHL trade deadline passed.

The St. Louis Blues made plenty of news on Monday night, trading defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk to the Washington Capitals for center Zach Sanford and draft assets. As Wednesday’s NHL trade deadline passed, however, the Blues didn’t make any more moves, opting to stick with their current group as they battle for a seventh straight playoff berth and their 10th in 11 years.

With center Patrik Berglund having signed a five-year extension with the team last week, there wasn’t much of an expectation that the Blues would trade anyone else. There were suggestions over the past couple days that fourth-line forward Scottie Upshall could become a tradeable asset since he’s a veteran with playoff experience and an expiring contract, but ultimately Upshall stuck with the Blues as the deadline passed.

Speculation was also going around that former Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak could be a trade candidate, seeing as he’s a goalie with plenty of NHL experience who’s currently playing in the AHL. TSN’s Darren Dreger suggested on Twitter that the Blues might be interested in a reunion with Halak–a move that would have been odd considering that they already have two experienced NHL goaltenders and are trying to develop two prospects in the AHL. Halak ended up staying in the New York Islanders organization and likely will remain in the AHL for the remainder of the season.

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TSN’s Bob McKenzie suggested on Twitter that the Blues might also be interested in trading the rights to forward Vladimir Sobotka, who has spent the past three seasons in KHL but still owes the Blues one year of service if and when he returns to North America. Since Sobotka is now approaching 30 years old, has made no commitment to returning to the NHL and isn’t that productive of a player anyway, though, he apparently wasn’t that attractive of an asset to other teams.