The St. Louis Blues have been one of the bigger disappointments through the first two months of the NHL season. St. Louis Blues, stlouisblues.com and stlblues.com are trademarks of the St Louis Blues Hockey Club.
With a record of 11-13-7, the Blues are seventh in the Central Division and have five teams separating them from the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. The St. Louis Blues are no strangers to trade speculation, but this season feels different.
After an underwhelming start and inconsistent results, the Blues have quietly positioned themselves as one of the NHL’s more intriguing “open for business” teams - with an important caveat: they are not rushing into anything. It’s not a foregone conclusion that the St. Louis Blues will be major sellers leading up to this year’s trade deadline, though it’s certainly shaping up that way.
The updates come only a few days after General Manager Doug Armstrong declared that there were no untouchables on the Blues’ roster. Armstrong has the opportunity to collect multiple prospects, as well as draft capital, to set St. Louis up for the future.
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Potential Trade Targets
Schenn, 34, isn’t a stranger to seeing his name in trade conversations. The former 5th overall pick of the 2009 NHL Draft has already been traded twice in his career, though he’s spent the last nine years with the Blues.
Schenn was included in trade negotiations last season, though the captain publicly expressed his desire to remain in St. Louis. He’s become more movable as his full no-trade protection transitioned to a 15-team no-trade clause this year. Still, unless there’s a significant increase in offensive production, the Blues may have missed their best opportunity to maximize Schenn’s perceived trade value.
Furthermore, outside of his faceoff percentage, which is at an elite rate this season, Schenn’s possession metrics and defensive metrics have also declined this year. Still, because the premium put on the center position, and other team’s desperation, St. Louis has the opportunity to take advantage of a sellers market. Additionally, the Blues could market Schenn’s playoff experience as another selling point.
Especially for a young center-needy team like the Montreal Canadiens, Schenn’s postseason past, particularly helping St. Louis win the Stanley Cup, could be attractive. Meanwhile, the idea of moving Buchnevich may be mostly pie in the sky thinking, and the Blues simply doing their due dilligence. Furthermore, like Schenn and multiple other players on the roster, Buchnevich’s trade value has fallen this season.
Still, before this year, Buchnevich was a fairly consistent offensive presence for St. Louis. In 292 games from 2021 to 2025, Buchnevich scored 103 goals and 263 points with a +56 rating, averaging 19:09 of ice time. If team’s feel that Buchnevich can rebound to that level of play in a different environment, they may be willing to pay the cost for his services.
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Other Potential Trade Candidates
After two major trades last week involving players like Quinn Hughes, Marco Rossi, Tristan Jarry, and Stuart Skinner, the trade bait boards in the media have removed several names from the potential trade list. There are still many clear candidates available for trade, including Ryan O’Reilly, Rasmus Andersson, Alex Tuch, and Yegor Chinakhov.
We start with a couple of Jets players who are near the bottom of the NHL standings and have been a colossal disappointment this season. Much of their struggles are due to three-time Vezina Trophy winner (and last season’s Hart Trophy winner) Connor Hellebuyck missing three weeks after an arthroscopic knee procedure on Nov. If this slow start persists, the Jets have two veterans, Gustav Nyquist and Jonathan Toews, who could be trade targets if Winnipeg decides to punt on this season.
With just six assists in 24 games, Nyquist hasn’t been a fit in Winnipeg. Should Winnipeg make Nyquist available, he will attract significant interest due to his veteran experience and passing skills. Make no mistake, Nyquist is somewhat one-dimensional at this stage in his career, but he can also contribute on the penalty kill and occasionally score.
Last year at the trade deadline, Nashville traded Nyquist to the Wild for a second-round pick; however, his performance this season (and last year) makes that return unlikely. Initially, Toews’ story was an incredible demonstration of perseverance and grit in getting back to the NHL.
The Jets took a chance on Toews, hoping he could regain his spot as an NHL center in their top six, or at least their top nine. Winnipeg misjudged how effective Toews would be, and they are now paying the price in the standings because of a significant gap in their forward group. That said, they are still in the playoff hunt, and with an intense stretch of play, they could contend again.
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However, if they stumble, they might consider moving Toews if he’s willing to waive his no-move clause. Toews has been moved to the fourth line (along with Nyquist) and has scored just three goals and six assists in 33 games this season with a -13 rating while averaging 15:33 of ice time per game. Those stats mark the worst production of Toews’ career.
He’s appeared slow this year, and Winnipeg seems like a team playing in slow motion when he is on the ice. The Jets signed Toews to make a substantial impact in the playoffs, but if the playoffs look unlikely, it makes sense to see if they can find him a team that will qualify and receive a small return.
Sticking with the Western Conference, the Blues have also disappointed this season, after pushing the Jets to the very limit in last year’s playoffs. St. Louis is a team caught between being a playoff contender and an up-and-coming squad, and it’s fair to wonder how many veterans they might move this season. Joseph is a Stanley Cup champion who could be a reliable addition to a contending team looking to strengthen its depth.
The 28-year-old has a good shot, can kill penalties, and plays with a lot of speed. He is carrying a $2.95MM cap hit in the final year of a four-year deal and won’t cost a fortune for any team aiming to improve their lineup.
Switching over to the Eastern Conference, a name that emerges as a somewhat under-the-radar trade candidate is defenseman Ryan Shea. Shea had spent three seasons in the Stars’ minor league system after captaining Northeastern University in the NCAA.
However, his performance this season (two goals and 11 assists in 33 games) has raised his value, and he could be eyeing a multi-year contract considering his age and recent form. The Penguins have over $54MM in cap space for next season (as per PuckPedia) and could easily re-sign him, but it remains uncertain whether he fits into their long-term plans given their projected window of contention.
Lastly, we have Teddy Blueger of the Canucks. Blueger is a dependable pro and a consistent presence; he is a fourth-line center, no more, no less. The 31-year-old is in the final season of a two-year deal paying him $1.8MM and is likely to get a raise if he can return to the lineup and perform at his best.
Blueger isn’t overly big or fast, but he is an excellent forechecker and has some offensive skills beyond goal scoring, which he isn’t particularly good at. All these factors make Blueger a prime candidate to be moved before the deadline, given his timeline and the Canucks’ plans.
Roster Updates and Injuries
The St. Louis Blues announced that they’ve assigned depth forward Matt Luff to the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds. St. Louis likely felt comfortable reassigning Luff given yesterday’s injury updates. According to Lou Korac of The Hockey News, all three of Jordan Kyrou, Jimmy Snuggerud, and Nathan Walker were skating yesterday morning.
Today’s reassignment concludes Luff’s first playing time in the NHL since the 2022-23 campaign. He’ll return to a Thunderbirds where he’s joined the best stretch of his professional career, at least in the AHL. Throughout the past two years in Springfield, Luff has scored 25 goals and 59 points in 67 games with a -14 rating. It may not be his last pit stop in St. Louis this season.
Given their current trajectory, the Blues are expected to sell off a few pieces leading up to the trade deadline, especially at the forward position. The 27-year-old forward was originally recalled by the Blues from Springfield on Dec. 8. McGing made an instant impact during his recall, scoring his first NHL goal during the team’s road loss to the Nashville Predators.
A 2018 fifth-round pick of the Blues, McGing played his first NHL game in 2022-23 and got into five games in 2023-24. While he has just six points through 18 AHL games this season, he’s managed to score at least 30 points for the Thunderbirds in every full season he’s played there.
While his most recent recall has come to an end, McGing’s NHL performance put him on the radar for future call-ups. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent who could leave the Blues organization for the first time in his career. He’s playing out a two-year, two-way deal that carries a league-minimum $775K NHL cap hit and a $250K AHL salary.
The Blues have claimed winger Jonatan Berggren off waivers from the Red Wings, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. The team moved center Nick Bjugstad to injured reserve to open up a roster spot for him, per Matthew DeFranks of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
When Detroit waived Berggren yesterday, the motivations weren’t clear. They might have been attempting to open a roster spot for Mason Appleton to come off injured reserve, or the Wings simply may have been looking to give the fourth-year Swede a fresh start elsewhere. Once a standout who led Sweden’s top junior league in scoring in his draft year, Berggren cracked the Wings’ lineup for the first time in 2022-23.
He’s been a fairly efficient depth scorer ever since, averaging a 15-16-31 scoring line per 82 games despite averaging under 13 minutes of ice time, but had seen his role slashed in Detroit this year. There’s long been optimism about what Berggren’s production could look like if given an expanded role.
The 25-year-old may now get that chance on a decimated Blues team that’s missing three of its top four wingers in Dylan Holloway, Jordan Kyrou, and Jimmy Snuggerud. Now, their low place in the standings pays some dividends in the form of the third-highest waiver priority in the league. In addition to adding some short-term depth, Berggren could continually slot into a top-nine role for St. Louis.
In claiming Berggren, the Blues are on the hook for his $1.825MM cap hit for the remainder of the season. Bjugstad has already missed three games with an upper-body injury, which he sustained seven days ago on Dec. 9 against the Bruins. As such, he’s eligible to come off IR at any time.
The move puts Stenberg, 20, in a position to potentially make his NHL debut as soon as tonight during the team’s contest against the Nashville Predators. The club selected Stenberg No. 25 overall at the 2023 draft, the middle selection in the team’s trio of first-round draft choices that year. 2023 No. 10 pick Dalibor Dvorsky has already landed in the NHL, playing in a total of 25 career games so far, while No.
Stenberg is in the midst of his second season playing professional hockey in North America, and this year is his first year beginning the season in North America. In 2024-25, Stenberg began his season in the SHL before crossing the Atlantic to play in the AHL after the conclusion of the World Junior Championships.
With the Blues down an established NHL forward in Dylan Holloway, who was placed on injured reserve today, Stenberg now has an opportunity to prove himself at the NHL level for the first time. The Blues announced forward Dylan Holloway will miss six weeks due to a right high ankle sprain and has been placed on injured reserve.
Holloway sustained the injury in Sunday’s practice, not during game action. The 24-year-old is now in for his second extended absence of the calendar year. A pending restricted free agent after signing his two-year, $4.58MM offer sheet with St. Louis in 2024, Holloway’s production has taken a hit from last season’s breakout.
After putting together a 26-37-63 scoring line in 77 appearances in 2024-25, he’s come out of the gate with eight goals and 17 points in 33 games this year. That’s due mainly to natural ebbs and flows in luck. His shot and chance generation numbers are nearly identical to last season.
His shooting percentage has dipped by over four percent from 14.6% to 10.5%, though. He’s still second on the team in scoring and a weapon the offense-starved Blues can’t afford to lose for any length of time, particularly with three other forwards - including top-nine names Jordan Kyrou and Jimmy Snuggerud - on IR. He’s averaged 17:52 of ice time per game, third among St. Louis forwards, and is among their most impactful drivers of possession.
Despite the rash of injuries, the Blues have somewhat recovered from their dreadful start. They’re 5-4-1 in their last 10 games and have climbed up to 31 points, four out of a playoff spot. They’ll at least recoup some depth in Toropchenko. The 26-year-old fourth-line piece has been a double-digit goal scorer before, but isn’t on track to do so this year with one goal and two points in 17 outings.
The Blues already had an open roster spot with Toropchenko on IR, so they’ll stick with one now as Holloway takes his place. A six-week timeline puts Holloway back in action on Jan. The St. Louis Blues kicked off practice with good news. Winger Alexey Toropchenko took the practice sheet with his teammates for the first time this month, after missing the last seven games with burns to his legs sustained away from the team.
He is expected to return to the lineup in Monday’s game against the Nashville Predators, per NHL.com’s Lou Korac. Practice took a turn towards the negative partway through, though, when top winger Dylan Holloway sustained a lower-body injury. Blues head coach Jim Montgomery said the team didn’t have a clear view of Holloway’s injury, or availability for Monday’s game, just yet. He will carry a questionable tag moving forward.
Holloway has been a spark plug once again for the Blues. He is second on the team in scoring with 17 points in 33 games. That scoring has stalled as of late, though. Holloway has a nightly spot in St. Louis’ top-six. Should he get knocked out of the lineup, the Blues would likely turn towards Pius Suter, who could nicely rotate with Brayden Schenn on faceoffs.
Toropchenko’s return will balance out the bottom-end of the lineup. He had a quiet season prior to his injury, with only two points in 17 games. Toropchenko has long been a minimal scorer - but hasn’t even reached half of the scoring pace that led him to 18 points in 80 games last year. Should St. Louis want to ease him into a role, they could bring Nick Bjugstad down from the press box.
| Player | Position | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Kyrou | Forward | Injured | Skating, nearing return |
| Jimmy Snuggerud | Forward | Injured | Skating, nearing return |
| Nathan Walker | Forward | Injured | Skating, nearing return |
| Dylan Holloway | Forward | Injured Reserve | Out for six weeks with a high ankle sprain |
| Nick Bjugstad | Center | Injured Reserve | Upper-body injury, eligible to return |
| Alexey Toropchenko | Winger | Returning | Returned to practice after recovering from burns |
| Matt Luff | Forward | Assigned to AHL | Reassigned to Springfield Thunderbirds |
| Jonatan Berggren | Winger | Claimed off Waivers | Claimed from Detroit Red Wings |
| Otto Stenberg | Forward | Recalled | Potential NHL debut |
