Blues' GM Making It Very Difficult To Trade Players

The St. Louis Blues are in no place to compete for a playoff spot this season and there are going to be some moves, or so we think. There should be trades coming, but general manager Doug Armstrong is making it tough to pull anything off as he is overvaluing the players on the roster.

Frank Seravalli said, "I think the price for a lot of the Blues' players has turned people off, so Doug Armstrong is going to have to soften on that or else they're going to be hanging on to their guys."

That wouldn't be good for the Blues who are 31st in the NHL with a record of 20-28-9, have lost three in a row, and eight of the last nine before the break. There hasn't been a lot of scoring, team defense has been poor, and goaltending hasn't been good either. Nothing has gone right, but there are pieces to build around that won't be traded.

The players that aren't going to be in St. Louis for the long haul, whether that is because their contracts are coming to an end within the next couple of seasons, or there is interest in them now, Armstrong likely has a very high price set on them. He has also become very attached to these players and give them opportunities that they may not deserve on the Olympic rosters, so it's not surprising that these struggling players and others on the team will be tough to pull from the Blues.

But St. Louis needs changes to happen and overpricing players to the point that teams will shop elsewhere won't help them either. Players like Justin Faulk, Brayden Schenn, Oskar Sundqvist, Jordan Binnington, and some others need to be moved for what the team can get. It will not only give young and deserving players more opportunities, but what they have hasn't worked and it isn't just an off season.

I think Armstrong will eventually lower the value, but it also might be cutting it close and some suitors will have shopped elsewhere for upgrades.