Even before the 2023-24 NHL season, the St. Louis Blues held slim hopes of cracking one of the top three spots in the NHL’s Central Division. The team was only a year removed from finishing 37-38-11, falling to sixth place in the division, and trading off the likes of Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly during that year’s trade deadline season.
Aside from moving out veteran rentals, the General Manager of the organization, Doug Armstrong, became adamant about shaking up the team’s defensive core last summer. In one of the biggest trades to not happen, the Blues had a deal in place to send struggling defenseman Torey Krug and his bloated contract to the Philadelphia Flyers. As things would turn out, Krug ultimately used the no-trade protection given to him in his current deal to block his inclusion in the trade, leading to a much smaller deal of Kevin Hayes being acquired for a sixth-round draft selection.
While largely bringing back the same defensive core into the 2023-24 season, the Blues performed much better but would end up on the outside looking in. As the best team to not make it into the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, St. Louis finished fifth in the Central Division with a 43-33-6 record. Although Jordan Binnington put together a solid year, the Blues’ downfall would again be their defensive core and lackluster play.
Heading into the summer, St. Louis will once again be looking to shake up their defensive core, which will require superb innovation from Armstrong. Krug, Justin Faulk, Colton Parayko, and Nick Leddy have full no-trade clauses built into their contracts until next summer, meaning Armstrong will need their full cooperation for any trade moving them out of the organization. However, even if Armstrong could convince one of the players to waive their protection, the return value would likely be subpar at best.
If one is not moved this offseason, the quartet will account for just under 27% of the Blues’ total cap space next season. Armstrong could look to move one in a classic hockey trade to address other organizational needs, or strictly go the route of a cost-saving technique. Leddy should represent the most likely to move out of the four given that his contract will end after the 2025-26 NHL season with a manageable $4MM AAV for the remaining years.
Approaching his 15th season in the NHL, Leddy just turned 33 years old and has continued to be a reliable puck-mover from the back end. Throughout the regular season, Leddy played in all 82 games for St. Louis and scored three goals while putting up 25 assists, 23 of which were at even strength. If Armstrong can convince the Eden Prairie, MN native to waive his no-trade protection this offseason, moving out Leddy would allow the Blues to save valuable cap space and open a spot for Scott Perunovich in the top four of the defensive core.