Quote:
Originally Posted by kimzey59
The Blues have 8 top 6 caliber forwards on the roster right now, and that isn't including D'Agostini(more of a top 9 than a top 6 despite being capable of notching 20 goals a year), Tarasenko, Schwartz or any of our other prospects.
The Blues absolutely have the depth to move a top 6 caliber winger for a top 4 D man to pair up with Pietrangelo. That said; I don't make a deal from the prospects. I move D'Agostini, Steen, McDonald or Stewart before I deal Tarasenko or Schwartz. We're going to need some cost effective contracts to be able to lock up Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk this summer.
Having said that; the Blues are in "win now" mode. We aren't dealing anything for a prospect D man. We'd give the spot to Cole before going that route, he's earned that level of loyalty from us. If we make a deal, it will be for a proven D man who can make an immediate impact.
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I'm going to give a bit of a rebuttal to your stance, and say I have no interest at all in trading McDonald, our best offensive weapon, or Steen who is one fo the best and smartest two way players in the entire NHL. Losing either would be a huge loss for our immediate run at the Stanley Cup. D'Agostini's value isn't remotely high enough to get us someone who could be a true, long term answer to the Petro partner conundrum. And nobody the return for Stewart isn't going to be close to the value I'd be willing to trade him at.
And I have confidence in Despres being able to make an immediate impact, and trading for a defensemen to fill that role who'se extablished means we are going to have to give up either a piee more valuable then Schwartz or multiple pieces, but either way we hurt our current NHL roster a lot more then we would if we pulled the trigger on this trade. And why look for a short term fix when a potential solution to the problem for a long time is right here for a player who has no role for us right now?