Targeting A Top Four Defenseman For The St. Louis Blues
from Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
On Thursday, a possible upgrade will be in St. Louis, while wearing the other team’s sweater (and the other team’s “C”). Seattle Kraken captain Mark Giordano is on the last year of his contract, and the former Flame surely has one in his belly to win a Cup. He does make a bunch of money ($6.75 million), and the Blues would have to get crazy-creative with salary-cap space, likely moving Marco Scandella and, say, Klim Kostin and even more to make it work....
The trade deadline (March 21) is more than two months away. A lot could happen before then. One thing that’ll likely happen? Colorado asserts itself as a top-three team in the division. The Avs team that started 4-5-1 was a mirage. And Nashville (St. Louis’ opponent on Monday) has lost only three games since November ended. The Blues are good enough to make the playoffs. But are they good enough to make a playoff run? You could make an argument for that right now — but an added defenseman makes making that argument quite easier.
Another name that’s naturally floating around the cyberspace is Jakob Chychrun, because the Coyotes are rebuilding and he’s too good for a rebuilding team. Like Giordano, Chychrun is a lefty, which would pair with Parayko. Chychrun ($4.6 million) makes less per year than Giordano does, but Chychrun has three more years on his contract. Coyotes boss Bill Armstrong previously worked for Blues boss Doug Armstrong, so Bill knows the trade pieces and his potential trading partner.
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