This weekend was quite busy for the St. Louis Blues, as they traded away three players in two different deals. First Eric Brewer, the team's captain and senior Defenseman, was sent to Tampa Bay for a burger and fries... I mean, for a third round draft pick (the burger) and a prospect I had never heard of before (the fries). That being said, I can understand this deal. Barring a major miracle, the Blues won't make the playoffs. This is going to cost the team money, as management was so convinced the team would make the playoffs that they sold a bunch of season tickets for 50% up front, 50% when the team clinches the playoffs. Oops! So trading Brewer for an unsigned prospect and a pick will save ~$1.5 million, which will help off-set the lost ticket revenue. And Brewer was a free agent at the end of the season, and the Blues probably weren't going to sign him. And Brewer had a no-trade clause, so any trade had to be with a team that he pre-approved, which limits choices. All told, a depressing but probably fair trade.
Erik Johnson and Jay McClement getting traded, though, that one came pretty much out of nowhere. Granted, Erik's name had started to get batted around in trade rumors because it was becoming increasingly obvious that he wasn't progressing as well as you would expect an overall #1 pick to develop. While he will probably turn into a super stud in Colorado and make team management look like a bunch of morons, getting Chris Stewart in return is actually quite a nice swap. Stewart is a very energetic power forward who has tons of potential, and the Blues had absolutely no offensive depth before the trade, while they have defensive depth, so I can kind of see it. Still, this is the kind of trade that in three years will make Doug Armstrong look like either a genius or a flaming moron, depending on how well each player continues to develop. I don't really know much about Kevin Shottenkirk, the other player the Blues acquired, but he was a 1st round pick a few years back and is an offensive Defenseman, which the Blues don't have a lot of in the system. The kids over at The Hockey News are panning this one pretty heavily, but it really does look like a value for value trade, at least at this point.
3 comments:
I just want to clear up a little something with the ticket promotion. It is actually guaranteed with either a company that sponsored it, or from an insurance company. I saw that on Puck Daddy. Either way, the Blues don't lose money on that.
I think they were all good trades. We obviously needed something to shake up the locker room, and trading a C and an A was one way to do it. We have great depth at defense, and need scoring like nobody's business. I think we will look back and say Army did a good job on these deals.
MY two cents.
Ah, OK, that does make sense. And I agree about the need for a shake-up; I guess Pietrangelo's emergence made Johnson more expendable than I had originally thought.
i have no idea what you're talking about
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