Blues’ Robert Thomas is available – but does Doug Armstrong ideally want to move him?
Much has been made of St. Louis Blues center Robert Thomas and his availability heading towards the trade deadline. With just 11 goals and 33 points through 42 games this season, Thomas is set to fall well short of the back-to-back 81-plus point campaigns he is coming off of.
Sitting last in the Central Division, the Blues have been under the microscope as one of the teams potentially gearing up to be sellers in a parity-filled NHL. In a league with so few sellers, the Blues could corner the market (to an extent) and put up some for sale signs on some valuable assets – Thomas included.
Speaking with several league sources over the last couple of weeks, the common answer I’ve gotten regarding Thomas’ availability is that GM Doug Armstrong isn’t looking to move him, but he is available at a very high price. Even with the down season, the 26-year-old Thomas is under contract until 2031 at an $8.125 million AAV. Speaking with one Western Conference executive, the dollar value for Thomas is still very much a good one despite his down season. In a league so scarce of available centermen, there is no doubt that there would be more than a handful of teams looking to bang down Armstrong’s door to negotiate a price.
Speaking with one team that had brief talks with the Blues about Thomas, the conversations did not get very far. Armstrong’s willingness to move him, coupled with his hefty asking price, killed talks in the cradle. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as it was heavily hinted to me that Thomas was being groomed to be the team’s next captain when I spoke to Armstrong a little more than two years ago for a feature article.
Back then, the Blues were in a period of transition from the days of Ryan O’Reilly and Alex Pietrangelo, slowly moving toward the likes of Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. Fast forward two seasons later: could the Blues be looking for a second phase of transition? Looking to turn things over to the likes of Dalibor Dvorsky, Dylan Holloway, Jake Neighbours, and Jimmy Snuggerud?
Armstrong had already put his succession plan in place well in advance, with special assistant to the GM Alex Steen poised to take over the big chair at the conclusion of this season. Though Armstrong will stay on as president of hockey operations, Steen is (and has been) being groomed as the new GM for the Blues for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Speaking with one league source, it was suggested to me that Armstrong is looking to create a legacy in St. Louis before he officially wraps up his GM-tenure. Described to me as being a little all over the place this season due to his dual-duty with the Blues and Canada, Armstrong has set the bar extremely high for his own players, which often means he won’t get serious offers (as far as his ask goes) until the market is better set. Knowing there aren’t a ton of players (and specifically centers) available, it typically requires really high and low swings with his team, according to a league source.
With Armstrong looking to leave the Blues in good shape for his successor, it will surely take a massive package to pry Thomas out of St. Louis. Especially when you factor in the Blues being a midwestern team with a low appetite for a rebuild, it will likely not be a package of futures that gets it done, but rather something more like a hockey trade.
Armstrong has been one of the league’s best GMs for nearly two decades now and it sounds like he is adamant on closing things out on a high note – even on the trade front.
SPONSORED BY bet365