{"id":462515,"date":"2025-02-16T15:26:43","date_gmt":"2025-02-16T20:26:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=462515"},"modified":"2025-02-16T15:26:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-16T20:26:43","slug":"nhl-rumours-st-louis-blues-shopping-two-forwards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/02\/16\/nhl-rumours-st-louis-blues-shopping-two-forwards\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: St. Louis Blues Shopping Two Forwards?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to a Sunday edition of NHL Rumours! The NHL is under a roster freeze as the 4 Nations Face-Off continues. While we will not see any trades for a few more days, that does not mean that rumours cannot surface. Indeed, a rumour has surfaced. This one involves the St. Louis Blues, who may be shopping two of their forwards.<\/span><\/p>\n

All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.<\/span><\/p>\n

NHL Rumours<\/span><\/h2>\n

St. Louis Blues May Be Shopping Two Forwards<\/span><\/h3>\n

Rumour: David Pagnotta of the <\/span>Fourth Period<\/span><\/a> has discussed the Blues <\/span>listening to offers<\/span><\/a> for captain Brayden Schenn<\/a>. Pagnotta says that if the Blues are interested in trading Schenn, they may listen to offers for Pavel Buchnevich<\/a> and Jordan Kyrou<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Analysis<\/span><\/em>: When the Blues extended <\/span>Buchnevich’s contract<\/span><\/a> last summer, they locked up a forward core that included Kyrou, Robert Thomas<\/a>, and Jake Neighbours<\/a>. At the time, the Blues were looking to build around that core as they continued their retooling.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Pagnotta believes the team may be looking to unload some salary. NHL insider Nick Kypreos<\/a> furthers this belief by mentioning that Blues general manager Doug Armstrong wants<\/span> to shed $8 million from the team’s salary<\/span><\/a>. Trading Kyrou and\/or Buchnevich, alongside Schenn, would help to accomplish that.<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, it would be easy to trade Kyrou and\/or Buchnevich. Kyrou currently does not have a no-trade clause. The Blues would be able to trade him without needing his approval. Likewise, Buchnevich does not have one either. The Blues have been handcuffed by no-trade clauses before, most notably when defenceman Torey Krug<\/a> rejected a trade that would have sent him to the <\/span>Philadelphia Flyers<\/span><\/a> in the summer of 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, both Kyrou and Buchnevich will be receiving no-traded clauses soon. Both will have one starting next season. If the Blues are interested in moving one or both, doing it would be beneficial.<\/span><\/p>\n

What It Means<\/span><\/h3>\n

Armstrong thinks the Blues should try to shake up the roster in a big way. Armstrong may feel the current core is insufficient for the Blues to move the needle. Due to this belief, we have seen Armstrong trade core players in the past. The Blues traded T.J. Oshie<\/a> in the summer of 2015 to shake up an under-performing roster. Likewise, Kevin Shattenkirk<\/a> was traded in <\/span>2017<\/span><\/a>, as it seemed the Blues were not ready to make a Stanley Cup run. As a result, it would not be a surprise if Armstrong did it again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Should Armstrong Do It?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Kyrou, Thomas, Neighbours, and Colton Parayko<\/a> should be considered untouchable. Kyrou, despite <\/span>fan frustrations<\/span><\/a>, is key to the team’s future. Furthermore, he is one of their best players at the moment. He leads the team with 23 goals and 44 points in 55 games. Trading Kyrou would be a significant mistake.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trading Buchnevich, on the other hand, would not be. Before the Blues extended him, there were rumours that the team was <\/span>listening to trade offers<\/span><\/a>. While they decided to expand him, they could still trade him. This is something Armstrong has also done in the past. One season after signing a <\/span>five-year extension<\/span><\/a>, Patrik Berglund<\/a> was traded as part of the Ryan O’Reilly<\/a> <\/span>trade<\/span><\/a>. In 53 games this season, Buchnevich has 11 goals and 33 points. This follows 27 goals and 63 points in 80 games last season. Buchnevich’s top-six status is likely attractive to buyers. The Blues would likely get a sizable haul in exchange due to Buchnevich being under contract for the next six seasons.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While Kyrou would get a more significant return, hanging on to him is the right move. Trading Buchnevich would still get the Blues a decent return while opening up a roster spot for young forwards.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The trade deadline is just under a month away. Armstrong has time to listen to offers and decide what would be best for the team’s future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo: Jeff Curry- Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to a Sunday edition of NHL Rumours! The NHL is under a roster freeze as the 4 Nations Face-Off continues. While we will not see any trades for a few more days, that does not mean that rumours cannot surface. Indeed, a rumour has surfaced. This one involves the St. Louis Blues, who may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3464,"featured_media":462517,"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":[4321,4547,4548,32],"tags":[2344,5746,2366],"class_list":["post-462515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rumours","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-blues","tag-jordan-kyrou","tag-nhl-trade","tag-pavel-buchnevich"],"modified_by":"Andrew Willis","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462515","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\/3464"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":462518,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462515\/revisions\/462518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}