{"id":438113,"date":"2024-02-28T08:00:33","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T13:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=438113"},"modified":"2024-02-27T18:58:28","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T23:58:28","slug":"nhl-rumours-washington-capitals-and-st-louis-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/02\/28\/nhl-rumours-washington-capitals-and-st-louis-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: Washington Capitals and St Louis Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s time for another edition of NHL rumours as we close in on the March 8 trade deadline. Some teams know their roles of being a buyer or a seller. However, there are a number of teams in the proverbial &#8220;No Man&#8217;s Land&#8221; when it comes to their deadline fate. There are a few clubs that are on the borderline of a Stanley Cup Playoff spot. However, they&#8217;re currently on the outside, looking in on a post-season spot. Do these teams push all their chips in or do they retool? Today&#8217;s NHL rumours look at two such teams. We focus on the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/02\/25\/washington-capitals-weekly-update-february-18-24\/\" target=\"_self\">Washington Capitals<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/01\/23\/nhl-rumours-blues-jets\/\" target=\"_self\">St Louis Blues<\/a> in this round.<\/p>\n<p>All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.<\/p>\n<h2>NHL Rumours<\/h2>\n<h3>Washington Capitals<\/h3>\n<p><em>Rumour: Sammi Silber <a href=\"https:\/\/thehockeynews.com\/nhl\/washington-capitals\/takes\/washington-capitals-17-things-decisions-two-weeks-injuries-trade-deadline-oshie\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">took a look at possible trade candidates<\/a> for the Capitals at the upcoming deadline. We focus in on defenceman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/e\/edmunjo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joel Edmundson<\/a> in this edition.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8NEW 17 THINGS\ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n<p>The next two weeks are critical for the Capitals as big decisions loom, injuries mount as the team awaits word on T.J. Oshie, plus more on the team&#39;s trade deadline possibilities, call-ups and unsung heroes amid the playoff push:<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/h27rcgFCtJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/h27rcgFCtJ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Sammi Silber \ud83c\udfd2 (@sammisilber) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sammisilber\/status\/1761918832547885517?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 26, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis:<\/em> Playoff contenders need depth defencemen and the veteran fits the bill. Edmundson could be a fit for a team in need of a third-pairing defender. The 30-year-old is in the final year of a contract that sees him <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/capitals-trade-canadiens-joel-edmundson-d9460dbb23fd6c1f8acc09944229bd6d\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">make<\/a> $1.75 million. He&#8217;ll become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2023-24 season.<\/p>\n<p>The Brandon, Manitoba native is reliable and experienced. Edmundson doesn&#8217;t fill up the scoresheet, but he can be useful to a contending team should general manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/maclebr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brian MacLellan<\/a> decide to continue to retool the Capitals roster.<\/p>\n<p>Washington decided to retool on the fly last season after they fell out of contention for a playoff spot. New head coach Spencer Carbery has made some strides with this team. However, trading some pending UFAs like Edmundson, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/manthan01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Mantha<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/p\/pacioma01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Max Pacioretty<\/a> could give the team some much-needed draft capital.<\/p>\n<p>The Caps are four points off the second wild card spot as of Tuesday. Washington is not completely out of it, but a decision needs to be made sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n<h3>St Louis Blues<\/h3>\n<p><em>Rumour: The Athletic&#8217;s Jeremy Rutherford made a<a href=\"https:\/\/theathletic.com\/5295422\/2024\/02\/26\/blues-nhl-trade-deadline-tiers\/?source=emp_shared_article\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> trade tier list<\/a> of players on the Blues roster for the pending deadline.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Blues trade tiers: Who might be dealt? Who\u2019s immovable? Who\u2019s untouchable? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/stlblues?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#stlblues<\/a>  <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uHwXbYHrhg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/uHwXbYHrhg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jprutherford\/status\/1762100730289176863?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 26, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis:<\/em> St Louis is in the same situation as Washington is being four points off the second Wild Card spot out West. The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/02\/27\/nhl-rumours-edmonton-oilers-and-new-jersey-devils\/\" target=\"_self\">Nashville Predators<\/a> currently hold the final spot in the Western Conference, but the Blues have two games in hand to try and catch up.<\/p>\n<p>Rutherford listed his tiers from untouchable assets like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/p\/parayco01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Colton Parayko<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/binnijo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jordan Binnington<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/n\/neighja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jake Neighbours<\/a>. The next tier down was &#8220;Have to think about it,&#8221; which listed the oft-rumoured <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/buchnpa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pavel Buchnevich<\/a>. However, a surprising name that was on the list was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kyroujo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jordan Kyrou<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Toronto native has been a divisive figure amongst the Blues fan base. Kyrou is very talented and has a lengthy and expensive contract. He is signed through the 2030-31 season with an $8.125 million cap hit per year for the duration. That massive contract is likely to scare off a number of teams. However, some club could be adventurous and roll the dice.<\/p>\n<p>The 25-year-old has shown flashes of brilliance, but there have been problems with consistency in his scoring. He&#8217;s still young enough to where he can put it together and be a consistent goal-scoring threat. However, other teams may stay away without the continued goal-scoring.<\/p>\n<p>Kyrou netted a career-high 37 goals last season after inking that large contract in September 2022. He and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/t\/thomaro01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Robert Thomas<\/a> seemed to be the future cornerstones of the Blues franchise. However, doubt has seemingly crept into a portion of the Blues fanbase.<\/p>\n<p>Time is still on Kyrou&#8217;s side with his age. However, he&#8217;s not the sure thing that he once was a couple of seasons ago.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main photo by: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s time for another edition of NHL rumours as we close in on the March 8 trade deadline. Some teams know their roles of being a buyer or a seller. However, there are a number of teams in the proverbial &#8220;No Man&#8217;s Land&#8221; when it comes to their deadline fate. There are a few clubs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":438114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4321,2,4547,4548,32,15],"tags":[750,2344,6482,6727],"class_list":["post-438113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rumours","category-featured","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-blues","category-capitals","tag-joel-edmundson","tag-jordan-kyrou","tag-st-louis-blues-rumours","tag-washington-capitals-rumours"],"modified_by":"Alec Roberson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}