On the St. Louis Blues …
Jeremy Rutherford: Blues GM Doug Armstrong and the agent for Paul Stastny, Matt Keator, said that there have been no contract extension talks. Not saying that he will or won’t be re-signed, but neither side is in a rush. They’ve agreed to let the season play out.
Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic: The Blues will have to decide at some point if they want to bring Paul Stastny back. Some think he won’t be back.
The Blues would like to find a No. 1 center, but what No. 1 center is available? A 1-2 combo of Brayden Schenn and Stastny might make the most sense.
John Tavares could hit the open market and will be looking for between $10-$12 million. The Blues are projected to have $13.5 million in cap space. Sources are saying that if Tavares tests free agency, the Blue would be interested.
Other pending UFA options include Joe Thornton, Henrik Sedin, Tomas Plekanec, Valtteri Filppula, Mikhail Grabovski, Tyler Bozak and Mikael Backlund.
Stastny could be looking at $4-$5 million on his next deal.
“We’re still five months away from free agency, so there’s no rush on either side, we’ve got plenty of time,” Keator said. “Paul’s focus right now is just on the season. I’m sure at some point we’ll talk, but there’s just been no rush on it at all. Both sides know when the appropriate time is, and we’ll talk and get a feel for each other. There’s a strong relationship all across the boards. So we’ll deal with it in time.”
Greg Wyshynski of ESPN: The Blues will have $2.5 million in salary cap space at the deadline. Their biggest need is a scoring winger. They don’t have a 2018 first-round pick but do have their remaining 2018 picks, as well as all picks in 2019. They also have prospects like Tage Thompson, Klim Kostin, and Jordan Kyrou.
They’ve already been linked to Rick Nash, Michael Grabner, Evander Kane, Mike Hoffman, and Max Pacioretty. Oilers Patrick Maroon may be the best fit for the Blues. Maroon is from St. Louis, and the Blues have previously tried to acquire him.
