Jake Allen's return gives St. Louis options in net, on trade market

The St. Louis Blues have their two-headed monster back between the pipes.

Goalie Jake Allen was activated off injured reserve Sunday after being out since Jan. 8 with a knee injury, indicating he's healthy and ready to reclaim the starting job he was forced to vacate 17 games ago.

Brian Elliott has stepped up to the task in a big way in Allen's absence, however, posting even better numbers in what now amounts to an even number of games played.

Ken Hitchcock, then, can presumably roll out either netminder on any given night with confidence, giving them the ability to rest up and stay fresh for the postseason. Both goalies are signed through to the end of 2016-17 at a combined cap hit of $4.85 million, which is a steal based on the numbers they're putting up.

But here's the thing: While it's a sweet luxury to have two goalies capable of carrying the load, the Blues have holes up front and deficiencies on offense that need to be filled in order to help get them over the hump in the playoffs.

After 61 games, the Blues have scored 150 goals - good for an average of 2.46, which is 22nd among all 30 NHL teams.

St. Louis is led in scoring by Vladimir Tarasenko and Alexander Steen, but there's a 15-point drop-off down to third-ranked David Backes. Jaden Schwartz's return gives the offense a boost, but T.J. Oshie hasn't been adequately replaced, and Steen could be out with an injury suffered in Saturday's win over Arizona.

As a result, the question facing general manager Doug Armstrong in advance of the Feb. 29 trade deadline is whether to hang on to both Elliott and Allen in order to ensure strength at a key position, or whether to dangle one - most likely the elder Elliott - on the trade market in order to ice a more balanced lineup.