The St. Louis Blues are sitting in a tricky spot through 19 games, and that kind of middle-ground start usually leads to one thing: trade chatter. At 9-8-2 with 20 points, they’re seventh in the Central Division, close enough to the playoff picture to keep hope alive, but not exactly playing like a team ready to surge forward.
That’s why the conversation around the March deadline is already starting to point in one direction. The most obvious Blues trade candidate is Jordan Binnington.
The 33-year-old goaltender has already checked off the biggest boxes a player can want in the NHL. A Stanley Cup ring sits at the top of that list, and his appearance in the Winter Olympics last year belongs in the same conversation.
But since the start of last season, his game has slipped. He’s also in the final year of a $6-million AAV contract that includes a 10-team No-Trade Clause, which makes it pretty easy to imagine another team making a move for him before the season is over.
There’s a reason that possibility has real traction. Even with his recent dip, Binnington still carries the reputation of a goalie built for pressure.
Around the league, he’s still viewed as a “big game” netminder, the kind of veteran a contender might chase when it feels like the window is closing. And with Joel Hofer now established as the Blues’ unequivocal starting goalie, Binnington’s path in St.
Louis looks less certain. Pending unrestricted free agents tend to become deadline currency, and Binnington may end up being the best goaltender available all season.
There are other names worth watching, though none quite carry the same weight. Dalibor Dvorsky has stalled a bit and appears to be on the outs with the coaching staff.
He has five points in 18 games and is logging just 11:48 per night. He’s only 21, so there’s still time for growth, but the Blues could decide he’s better used as a trade chip if they want help that can impact the lineup sooner.
Among the team’s restricted free agents, Dvorsky looks like the most likely to move, while Logan Mailloux, Jimmy Snuggerud and Jake Neighbours matter more to the roster. Jonatan Berggren and Justin Barron, meanwhile, don’t have the same pull around the league.
St. Louis could also choose to move one of its pending UFAs before ever getting to Binnington.
Brandon Carlo looks like a likely one-and-done addition, and Pius Suter has continued to show he can be a useful middle-six piece. Still, neither has the résumé or the high-end peaks Binnington has built over his career.
If either one gets dealt, it would probably happen closer to the deadline, when a contender gets desperate and starts paying up.
For now, the Blues’ record leaves the door open to just about anything. If the slide continues, the roster could be in play for the right price. But the first domino, the one that makes the most sense, still looks like Binnington.
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Consistency has been the missing ingredient, and so has a steadier attack. St. Louis knows it needs better scoring to turn close games into points and keep its playoff hopes from slipping into a chase it can no longer control. The next stretch will say plenty about whether this group can build on the Utah result or whether it remains stuck trying to catch up. [Read more 🡒]