St. Louis Blues Show Their Acquisition Abilities
The St. Louis Blues have seemingly had the golden touch this offseason. They have managed their assets well, and through trading and drafting have strengthened their team overall.
Two week ago, the Blues acquired Montreal Canadiens playoff hero Jaroslav Halak in an unexpectedly brazen deal that sent two of the Blues’ best forward prospects to Montreal. In exchange for one of hockey’s most dynamic young goalies, the Blues had lost Lars Eller and Ian Schultz but are well on their way in recovering their offensive firepower.
As Blues President John Davidson described the situation: "We needed to fill another part of the kitchen. We needed to fill the forward position."
The Blues began replenishing their front line with the selection of the USHL's top scorer Jaden Schwartz at No. 14. Schwartz has been highly touted by professional scouts and has often been compared to Buffalo Sabres star Thomas Vanek. To make up for the other traded forward, St. Louis sought to somehow obtain Russian forward Vladimir Tarasenko.
When describing Tarasenko, the son of legendary Russian forward Andrei Tarasenko who played in the 1994 Olympics, Davidson simply said: "He's a tank.”
Unfortunately, the Blues only had one first round pick and did not think such a talented right-winger would ever be available as a second-round. Davidson contacted Vice President of Player Development Doug Armstrong, and the Blues began assembling ideas on how the Blues could manoeuvre their way into another first round pick.
An analysis of the Blues depth chart revealed that the team had an over-abundance of offensive defencemen, versatile players that are sought by many teams. Of the three surplus offensive blue-liners, the Blues finally settled on using their last year’s first round pick David Rundblad as a trading option for a first-round pick.
The other two options were Erik Johnson and Alex Pietrangelo. Johnson, the first overall draftee in 2006, was deemed too valuable and heavily entrenched in the Blues line up to be given up for a pick. Pietrangelo, the Blues’ first-round pick in 2008, is finally entering the NHL and was also too heavily developed to be traded for a pick.
Speaking of the defensive overcapacity Davidson wisely said: "It would be hard to fit those three guys in your line up at the same time. There's not enough ice, not enough power-play time."
The Blues’ efforts were rewarded when the Ottawa Senators showed interest in adding the Swedish Rundblad to a line with their own Swedish defender, Erik Karlsson. Karlsson was the 15th pick in the 2008 draft, and if he and Rundblad mesh well they could prove to be a imposing back-line duo.
The Senators consider the Rundblad deal to be a blessing as well, and have had their eye on the defenceman for a while. "He's one of the people that fit today's game," Murray said, praising Rundblad's skating and puck-moving prowess. "I remember seeing [St. Louis VP of Hockey Ops] Al MacInnis at World Juniors, and saying, ‘Boy, you have a heck of a player there.' He said, ‘I know.'"
After the Los Angeles Kings traded up to one pick above the Blues’ newly acquired position at 16th, the entire franchise waited with bated breath to see which prospect the Kings were going after. Luckily for St. Louis operations staff, the Kings went for American defenceman Derek Forbort. The Blues quickly selected Tarasenko with their pick.
These behind-the-scenes dealings are great for the Blues’ future growth. They have replaced Chris Mason, a great backup goalie but not a leader, with Jaroslav Halak. Halak almost single-handedly orchestrated the Canadiens’ surprising playoff with his acrobatics in net. This upgrade cost them two forward prospects, who they have replaced with similarly regaled forward prospects. Davidson’s savvy is evident in these moves. Although it won’t be immediate, if Tarasenko and Schwartz develop according to potential the Blues will soon have a franchise to be reckoned with.
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