The injury bug appears to have placed a moratorium on the St. Louis Blues' involvement on the trade market.
With several players banged up, and only four games remaining until the NHL's All-Star break, general manager Doug Armstrong isn't expecting to make any moves in the immediate future.
"It’s easier to trade when you know what you have," Armstrong said, according to Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Right now it’s very difficult to tell with six and seven guys out, what you need, because you’re just treading water. I’m going to let the team evolve when it gets back. Hopefully we just get down to maybe just one or two guys out a few weeks before the trade deadline, so we’ll have a good look."
St. Louis has been without projected top-six forward Jaden Schwartz all season, while Dmitrij Jaskin, Magnus Paajarvi, and Steve Ott have also been sidelined in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, the Blues are believed to be one of a few teams seriously interested in acquiring Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin. However, one of Armstrong's young forwards has stepped up his game as of late, and in doing so may have given the GM reason to pause on pulling the trigger.
"I look at the positive, like Robby Fabbri, that’s really a positive for us," Armstrong said. "He is playing well beyond what we thought we would need from him. I didn’t think we were going to need him to this level, but injuries came on, we’ve needed him, and he’s responded."
Fabbri, selected 21st overall in 2014, has already recorded more goals than Drouin at the NHL level, despite playing fewer games and averaging less ice time.
| Player | GP | Goals | Shots | Avg Ice Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Drouin | 89 | 6 | 95 | 13:25 |
| Robby Fabbri | 42 | 11 | 67 | 13:04 |
Schwartz is expected to make his season debut following the All-Star break after fracturing his ankle back in October, and the Blues' offense should get a big boost as a result. His return could also act as a pre-deadline addition of sorts, and would likely give Armstrong yet another reason to wait things out.
"We’re not in the 'sell or buy' mode, we’re in the 'play for now' mode," he said. "I like our depth, I like our group, we’ll see how it plays out."
Through 48 games - the most played by any team - the Blues have amassed 59 points, and hold a seven-point cushion on the Minnesota Wild for third place in the Central Division.
