Blues Rumors: Thomas' Trade Ask Is Very High

Changes are going to come for the St. Louis Blues this season. With injuries, performances, and moves already being made due to where the team is, the Blues need a bigger shakeup. Nick Bjugstad was already traded and players like Jonatan Berggren and Jack Finley were picked up on waivers.

This team is young, will sell their pending UFAs if they can, and also considering trading players with some term. Who that involves may include Robert Thomas, arguably the best player on the Blues. Nick Kypreos said, "I'm not sure how realistic it is that he'll be wearing a new jersey by March 6 because the asking price is very high, higher than what Mikko Rantanen fetched in a trade last year."

This makes a lot of sense if we're talking about the Rantanen trade from the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes because it was without a contract extension. But if we're talking about Rantanen from the Hurricanes to the Dallas Stars that included an eight-year extension, Kypreos would be wrong or the Blues aren't truly looking to move Thomas unless it's an outrageous return.

The Avalanche got Martin Necas, Jack Drury, a 2025 second-round pick, and a 2026 fourth-round pick to trade Rantanen to the Hurricanes without a contract in place, but the Hurricanes then got Logan Stankoven, a 2026 first-round pick, 2027 third-round pick, and a 2028 first-round pick to trade Rantanen with a contract to the Stars. I can't see more than two first-round picks, a top prospect, and more for Thomas as he has 11 goals and 33 points in 42 games. His contract is very good at five more years with a cap hit of $8.125 AAV, but it could be somewhere just higher than the Avalanche's return.

A good NHL player will likely have to be involved in the deal coming back to fill a hole in the lineup, but draft picks or prospects should also bump up the value. Thomas is a number one center, a number two on certain teams, and with centers so scarce and some teams so desperate, his value was never going to be low.