Parayko Wasn’t the Only St. Louis Blue to Block A Trade

The St. Louis Blues were supposed to be the focus of the trade deadline. Big-name star players were going to be sold off to the highest bidder... Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Colton Parayko, Jordan Binnington, Pavel Buchnevich, Justin Faulk, Brayden Schenn, and the list goes on.

As we now know, only Faulk & Schenn got moved, and those just barely made it in under the wire, and at least one of them almost didn't happen.

So why didn't more trades take place? Yes, GM Doug Armstrong was asking for exorbitant prices. But also, the proliferation of no-move and no-trade clauses played a big part.

Of course, everyone knows about the very public process that was Parayko's vetoing of a move to the Buffalo Sabres using his NTC. But insider Elliotte Friedman says he wasn't the only one to put the kibosh on a deal:

It was a crazy week in St. Louis. Someday we're going to find out just how many deals out of that team were (blocked). Because I don't think Parayko was the only trade that got vetoed out of there. I think there were some others.

Schenn nearly became the second Blues player to block a trade with his no-trade clause. He has a 15-team no-trade list, and the Islanders were on it. But it took some unique intervention and convincing to get that deal over the finish line.

Binnington has another year remaining on his deal and has a 14-team no-trade list that reverts to a 10-team list on July 1. Thomas, Kyrou & Buchnevich all have five years to run with a full NTC. Parayko has four years left on his deal with an NTC for two of them, then it reverts to a 15-team no-trade list for his last two seasons.

At the very least, amongst all the negotiations that Armstrong and the Blues front office were able to have around the league, they now know what rival teams like and don't like... Where they are and aren't willing to go... And that will inform the team for further discussions in the summer, which could potentially lead to some other moves.

Though, who knows... St. Louis is currently riding a four-game win streak and sit eight points back of a playoff spot. What if they go on another late-season heater like they did last year to miraculously get into the playoffs.........? (just kidding... sort of.)