RWJC Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 How Will The Blues Manage Their No-Trade Clauses? June 8th, 2024 at 7:00pm CST • By Brennan McClain Even before the 2023-24 NHL season, the St. Louis Blues held slim hopes of cracking one of the top three spots in the NHL’s Central Division. The team was only a year removed from finishing 37-38-11, falling to sixth place in the division, and trading off the likes of Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly during that year’s trade deadline season. Aside from moving out veteran rentals, the General Manager of the organization, Doug Armstrong, became adamant about shaking up the team’s defensive core last summer. In one of the biggest trades to not happen, the Blues had a deal in place to send struggling defenseman Torey Krug and his bloated contract to the Philadelphia Flyers. As things would turn out, Krug ultimately used the no-trade protection given to him in his current deal to block his inclusion in the trade, leading to a much smaller deal of Kevin Hayes being acquired for a sixth-round draft selection. While largely bringing back the same defensive core into the 2023-24 season, the Blues performed much better but would end up on the outside looking in. As the best team to not make it into the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, St. Louis finished fifth in the Central Division with a 43-33-6 record. Although Jordan Binningtonput together a solid year, the Blues’ downfall would again be their defensive core and lackluster play. Heading into the summer, St. Louis will once again be looking to shake up their defensive core, which will require superb innovation from Armstrong. Krug, Justin Faulk, Colton Parayko, and Nick Leddy have full no-trade clauses built into their contracts until next summer, meaning Armstrong will need their full cooperation for any trade moving them out of the organization. However, even if Armstrong could convince one of the players to waive their protection, the return value would likely be subpar at best. If one is not moved this offseason, the quartet will account for just under 27% of the Blues’ total cap space next season. Armstrong could look to move one in a classic hockey trade to address other organizational needs, or strictly go the route of a cost-saving technique. Leddy should represent the most likely to move out of the four given that his contract will end after the 2025-26 NHL season with a manageable $4MM AAV for the remaining years. Approaching his 15th season in the NHL, Leddy just turned 33 years old and has continued to be a reliable puck-mover from the back end. Throughout the regular season, Leddy played in all 82 games for St. Louis and scored three goals while putting up 25 assists, 23 of which were at even strength. If Armstrong can convince the Eden Prairie, MN native to waive his no-trade protection this offseason, moving out Leddy would allow the Blues to save valuable cap space and open a spot for Scott Perunovich in the top four of the defensive core. https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2024/06/how-will-the-blues-manage-their-no-trade-clauses.html#ref=home 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post JeremyCuddles Posted June 9 Popular Post Share Posted June 9 Parayko for Mikheyev. Cause we gotta try trade Mikheyev for every player that hits the speculation/rumor mill. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJockitch Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 Parayko has had some down time but Krug is not Pieterangelo nor is he Hughes. If Hronek prices his way out he is an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 Players with NMCs can simply say no to any move. They can’t even be sent to the minors. Really the Blues can’t do anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 1 hour ago, Alflives said: Players with NMCs can simply say no to any move. They can’t even be sent to the minors. Really the Blues can’t do anything. We’ve seen these guy traded in the past the big thing about NMC is the player is consulted with anything that is considered, they are a part of the conversation Remember when Lindholm was traded he was on vacation and had to go home to pack a bag and be on his way, or when Fluery found out he was headed to Chicago through social media? Players hate this disruption and disrespect (in Fluerys case) NMC and NTC to a degree gives more control to the players They can be a pain in the ass but they are often worked around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 53 minutes ago, Johnny said: We’ve seen these guy traded in the past the big thing about NMC is the player is consulted with anything that is considered, they are a part of the conversation Remember when Lindholm was traded he was on vacation and had to go home to pack a bag and be on his way, or when Fluery found out he was headed to Chicago through social media? Players hate this disruption and disrespect (in Fluerys case) NMC and NTC to a degree gives more control to the players They can be a pain in the ass but they are often worked around Lots of factors involved. Term left for one. But ultimately the player decides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Provost Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 A year ago Parayko was an anchor contract that they would have needed to retain to get rid of. I would have happily taken him at 2.5 million retained. He had a resurgence year, but that is still an awful contract with complete albatross years at the end. A team just has to pray he medically retires but you are still stuck in LTIR with that as best case scenario. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 If St Louis is looking for a shake-up, I wonder if there might be a blockbuster move to be made. Something like Hronek + Garland for Buchnevich + Faulk could be really interesting. Obviously Faulk would need to wave his NTC but he becomes a great stop-gap until Willander is ready. Leddy would also be a solid option if we can't re-sign Zadorov. Parayko is signed for too long, I would only be interested in him if they were retaining a decent amount of salary. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWJC Posted June 10 Author Share Posted June 10 58 minutes ago, Diamonds said: If St Louis is looking for a shake-up, I wonder if there might be a blockbuster move to be made. Something like Hronek + Garland for Buchnevich + Faulk could be really interesting. Obviously Faulk would need to wave his NTC but he becomes a great stop-gap until Willander is ready. Leddy would also be a solid option if we can't re-sign Zadorov. Parayko is signed for too long, I would only be interested in him if they were retaining a decent amount of salary. Unfortunately, Faulk will not play for a Canadian team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Long Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 22 minutes ago, RWJC said: Unfortunately, Faulk will not play for a Canadian team. Well then he's a tit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnthonyG Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 1 hour ago, Bob Long said: Well then he's a tit. Woah woah woah… Dont compliment that idiot, tits are great 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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