The trade deadline is turning into some kind of holiday around here in St. Louis.
Fans are already asking who the Blues will likely be moving at the trade deadline.
It’s way too early to say but there are some pretty good candidates including Manny Legace, Keith Tkachuk, Dan Hinote and Andy McDonald.
In the case of Keith Tkachuk it will be interesting, there will be several teams interested but he does have the sometimes powerful no movement clause.
As we’ve seen before, at the end of the day if a team wants to trade a player there are way to get them to waive their no trade/movement clauses.
Although if you remember the first year after the lockout Tkachuk was adamant about not waiving his no-trade and the Blues didn’t move him.
The situation was slightly different a year later when Tkachuk in reality did the Blues a huge favor by waiving his no-trade and agreeing to a trade with Atlanta.
After the Blues received a first, second, and third round picks plus a player in exchange for Tkachuk the Blues ended up signing him back a few months later.
I don’t expect things to be that easy this go around.
This is obviously assuming the Blues are out of the playoffs by the way.
I’m far from suggesting Tkachuk will make things difficult for the Blues, but let’s face it, why would he accept a trade to a team who squeezes into the playoffs.
In my opinion if Tkachuk were to accept a trade it will be only to a team he feels has a really strong chance to win the Stanley Cup.
What I’m getting at is I believe Tkachuk will be a lot more selective with his approach. This won’t be just about doing the Blues a favor.
As for McDonald, this will be the most interesting story to follow.
The Blues have said they will try to re-sign McDonald, recently McDonald’s agent told the Blues that the 31 year old center would like to stay in St. Louis.
I agree McDonald would like to stay here, but keep in mind that this is a much different type of “I’d like to stay” as opposed to the Doug Weight’s and Tkachuk’s of the world whose lives are completely entrenched in the city.
I don’t think McDonald is nearly as passionate about his desire to remain a Blue.
Don’t take that to mean he doesn’t like the organization because he does, it’s just not to the level of the other guys I mentioned.
Will the Blues try to re-sign McDonald before the deadline?
Would they choose to not trade him, risking not getting a deal done and therefore losing McDonald for nothing on July first?
Obviously trading him would prevent the Blues from negotiating before free agency unless they pulled a Tkachuk.
I don’t see re-signing McDonald being an easy task.
It’s not only important that the Blues surround their youth with veteran players but identifying the right ones is a critical task in order for this organization to get to where they want to be.
The Blues must utilize free agency this summer to address a veteran or two to help steer the young players in the right direction. Players with a history of winning in this league should be players the Blues target..
It’s fair to say, whether it be because of injury or inconsistent play, the Blues haven’t exactly gotten the bang for their buck from several players they’ve made long –term commitments to.
When you’re a team dealing with firm internal budgets you can ill afford to have too many of these guys to fail to live up to the contracts.
Now, I absolutely believe McDonald is the type of veteran player the Blues should want to compliment the youth already in place with several more on the way. He’s an experienced guy who’s won, plus he’s a pro on and off the ice.
With that being said he pretty good and won’t come cheap.
You have to factor McDonald will want at least what Brad Boyes (4 yr. $16 mil) is making and probably more. He’s already making nearly $3.5 million as we sit today, if this guy plays the second half the way he started the season he’ll be in position to name a decent price.
Let’s not forget Paul Kariya makes $6 million a year. In reality Andy McDonald plays more like Kariya than Kariya does!
Now on the flipside it’s fair to ask how much money should the Blues realistically commit to McDonald knowing it won’t be long before the Blues are dealing with the expired contracts of Erik Johnson, David Perron, Patrik Berglund, and T.J. Oshie?
With the salary cap likely coming down the Blues will probably hope McDonald takes that into consideration. The nature of the CBA definitely protects the team under it’s current structure with the players getting no more 56% of the revenues.
Regardless the Blues see McDonald as a valuable player within the team structure and would love to keep him, but the price has to be right. The right price for the Blues will undoubtedly be less than he could potentially earn in free agency. The Blues could be stuck with an interesting decision come deadline day.
It’s safe to say as we sit today there is a very little chance if any at all the Blues bring Legace back next season. I would expect some interest from a team looking to solidify the position or dealing with injuries.
Dan Hinote is likely in his final year with the Blues as well. Here's a guy with winning experience who could have some value to a team looking to add strength to their penalty kill as well as leadership in the dressing room.
One player no one is talking about is my choice for Blues rookie of the year Roman Polak who has played some real solid hockey for the Blues.
Polak’s will be a restricted free agent after this year and could be in position to sign an extension and receive a nice little bump in salary. The Blues still have his rights and Polak has no arbitration eligibility. The Blues will probably look to do something beyond signing the rookie D-man to his qualifying offer price. Look for this to happen sometime this summer.
Once again look for next seasons cap number to impact how teams act contractually.
Rink Rats!
The NHLPA is in the process of visiting all 30 teams to survey players on extending the current CBA agreement. After the PA has visited all 30 clubs a conference call will take place with the executive board who will vote to either extend the deal, allow the current deal to run its course, or to re-open the deal.
There is 0% chance the players elect to open the deal back up and are almost certainly guaranteed to extend the deal to six years.
Some of the issues being discussed include continuing the Olympics as well as the World Cup.
It won’t be long before the NHLPA notifies the league of their decision.
Usually around this time teams begin to know whether or not they’re a playoff team. This is when teams start getting frustrated and the finger pointing begins. Word is the players in Atlanta are upset and the frustration is beginning to boil over. I’m also told the same thing is going on in Ottawa.
If there is one thing I will say about the Blues it’s that they don’t point fingers behind the scenes. From management on down to the players, rarely if ever do I hear someone complaining or tossing blame at another person in the organization.
Islanders winger Doug Weight does not have a no-trade clause. Weight will receive some decent interest from clubs looking to improve their power play and don’t be surprised if he gets traded prior to the deadline. People close to the organization have raved about Weight who has taken advantage of a great opportunity on the Island.
The Americans went downhill at the recent WJC when they began taunting the Canadian bench. How do you go around taunting a team you basically beat once every 20 years? Head Coach Ron Rolston could have taken control of the situation and shown some real leadership by benching the players ( for at least a period) taunting Canada as well as the player who put his stick in the face of a Canadian following a Canada goal.
There are a lot of things that need to change before the Americans begin to fully reach their potential when it comes to the World Junior Championships. USA hockey does deserve credit because we’ve come a long way, but the expectations need to be raised.
Can they at least get goaltender Thomas McCollum a USA helmet? Was he playing for Guelph or USA? Sometimes it’s the little things that make a team play like a team which is something USA has struggled with.
Years ago Ken Drydren held a hockey summit including a collection of some of Canada’s brightest hockey minds after the country struggled a few years at the WJC.
Doesn’t sound like a bad idea for the Americans does it?
How predictable is it that Pat Quinn will be mentioned now as the hot candidate to coach in the NHL? He was 5 seconds away from being a goat before being crowned a national hero.
Blues Clues!
Congrats to Keith Tkachuk on being named to his fifth NHL All-Star team. His kids may be more excited than he is as they are just as big a part of it for Tkachuk. The 37 year old is most excited about the game being held in Montreal.
Peoria D-man Jonas Junland has been named an AHL star.
T.J. Oshie recently purchased brand new practice jerseys and socks for his high school team in Warroad, Minnesota.
David Perron revealed on my hockey show live at Johnny Mac’s that he would like to wear his infamous white skates once again in the near future.
Dave Checketts will be in town next Thursday when the Blues host Colorado, the same day the MLS will conduct their entry draft. This years draft will be held in St. Louis, Checketts also owns Real Salt Lake of the MLS.
Don’t expect Mcdonald to play until Sunday at the earliest. His return will undoubtedly help Brad Boyes who benefits from playing with guys that think, pass, and see the game the way he does.
Jay McKee will play this Friday in Vancouver.
St. Louis will take seven D-men with them to Western Canada.
The Blues will hold their annual mid-term meetings in St. Louis later this month.
Congrats to St. Louis product David Makowski who has accepted a full ice hockey scholarship to Denver University beginning in 2010. Makowski, who went through the AAA Blues program, is currently playing under Jon Cooper with Green Bay in the USHL.
More to come,
Andy Strickland
[email protected] 
St Louis Blues Blogger •1380 ESPN • 
Join the Discussion:
»