Articles in St Louis Blues

from the Toronto Maple Leafs,

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced today that the hockey club has acquired forwards Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari in a three-team trade with the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild.

St. Louis will receive forwards Mikhail Abramov and Adam Gaudette, Toronto's first round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft, Ottawa's third round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft and Toronto's second round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft while Minnesota receives Toronto's fourth round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft.

St. Louis will retain 50% and Minnesota will retain 25% of O'Reilly's salary as part of the trade.

O'Reilly, 32, has collected 19 points (12 goals, seven assists) in 40 games with the Blues this season. In 978 career regular season NHL games with the Blues, Buffalo Sabres and Colorado Avalanche, the Clinton, Ontario native has recorded 691 points (252 goals, 439 assists) while adding 56 points (22 goals, 34 assists) in 64 career Stanley Cup playoff games. In 2019, O'Reilly was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy after leading the Blues to a Stanley Cup championship.

continued

added 2:19pm,

added 2:31pm, NYR release is below.

from Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic,

But don’t rule out the possibility of a contract extension with the Blues, O’Reilly told The Athletic Wednesday.

“Yeah, we’re starting to get a little dialogue going,” he said. “I think there will be some talks kind of going forward here, but yeah, there’s no timeline or such. That’s kind of all I can really give you on that.

“This is where I want to be. I hope I don’t get moved, but I think things will probably progress, especially with the deadline coming up and the talks with that. We’ll see how it goes. We’re starting to get into that.”

In the meantime, NHL clubs will be in contact with Armstrong about what it will take to trade for O’Reilly, and the rumors will continue to roll in.

“I still get messages from buddies every time — you’re rumored to this team, you’re rumored to that team,” O’Reilly said. “It’s honestly in one ear and out the other at this point. If anything, it’s a distraction, and I don’t want it to be a distraction for the team. You hear stuff, but like I said, in one ear, out the other.

“The main focus for me right now is just getting healthy and getting us back into the playoffs, and I think things will flow from there. My focus is to be here and contribute to us getting into the playoffs.”

more ($)

Cancer survivor.

ST. LOUIS - St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced today the team has placed forwards Ryan O'Reilly (broken foot) and Vladimir Tarasenko (hand injury) on injured reserve.

O'Reilly will be re-evaluated in six weeks, while Tarasenko will be re-evaluated in four weeks.

In addition, the team recalled forward Jake Neighbours from its AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds.

ST. LOUIS - St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced today the team has placed defenseman Torey Krug on injured reserve with a lower-body injury.

Krug will be re-evaluated in six weeks.

During his absence, Krug will be designated for the long-term injury (LTI) exception to the salary cap.

In addition, the Blues recalled defenseman Tyler Tucker from the team's AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds.

Krug, 31, has collected 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) and 13 penalty minutes in 31 games with the Blues this season. Currently in his third season with the team, the Livonia, Michigan, native was signed by the Blues as a free agent on Oct. 9, 2020. Overall, he has recorded 429 points (83 goals, 346 assists) and 306 penalty minutes in 669 career NHL regular-season games.

from Lou Korac at Sports Illustrated,

There may have been remnants of it in the past judging by the number of results this season, but it was as clear as day in another discouraging loss, 5-2 on home ice by the Blues against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday at Enterprise Center.

The Blues are a train wreck right now and have no clue how to climb their way out of it.

Craig Berube is one of the most decorated coaches in Blues franchise history, of course the only coach to win a Stanley Cup just over three years ago. But the coach that helped pull the team out of the bottom of the league basement en route to a title in 2019 appears exhausted and near the end of the rope searching for answers in 2022.

And judging by some of the comments he made postgame Thursday, it smelled of a coach trying to send a message to management -- namely GM Doug Armstrong -- that something needs to be done to a roster that is obviously not conducive to the coaching style that has made Berube what he is and how he embodies the style and identity of the city of St. Louis.

continued

Game highlights are below.

from Bennett Durando of the Denver Post,

St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington, still public enemy No. 1 in Colorado after last season’s second-round playoff series, lunged back in front of the net as Hunt tried to get off a shot in the third period of the Avalanche’s riveting 3-2 loss Monday night. Josh Leivo’s stick disrupted Hunt as he tried to turn and fire. Some 18,000 Ball Arena thought the game was tied, but Binnington recovered in time.

It was one of Binnington’s 44 saves, and ironically the best Avalanche opportunity in a frantic third period that ended with a 6-on-3 mad dash caused by two Blues penalties in the last two minutes.

“I felt like our intensity when the game was on the line and our attack mentality was probably better than it was at times during the game,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “But at the same time, I thought we created lots of chances. Enough chances to win.”

After Colorado (8-5-1) cleared the net to upgrade from 5-on-3 to 6-on-3 in the final minute, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar missed the net. A four-game winning streak came to an end despite the kind of end-to-end action that usually favors the Avalanche.

It was also the kind of onslaught Colorado produced throughout last season’s six-game playoff win against St. Louis, a team that is currently trying to climb out of the division cellar after a startling eight-game losing streak. Now the rival Blues have won three in a row.

read on

Game highlights are below.

from Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

Major change was always coming for the Blues.

They were always going to retool their roster and break up the remaining Stanley Cup nucleus. They were going to transition to a younger team with new faces and fresh leadership.

Time marches on in the NHL. The game has gotten faster and the competitive balance has become greater.

General manager Doug Armstrong wanted at least one more run with proud veterans still in place, but, as he noted last week, the players will tell him when the run is over.

Eight consecutive regulation losses after Tuesday night’s defeat in Philadelphia spoke volumes.

While this group has not reached the end of the line just yet, it can see the last stop from its current location. Only a dramatic turn and a sustained surge would keep this group in the race.

continued

from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic,

The Penguins are winless in their past seven games. The Blues have lost six straight in regulation. The Capitals are playing .462 hockey.

Oy.

Three programs with lengthy histories of being winners, going back more than a dozen years, that have combined for four Stanley Cups since 2016, are fighting it big time. Which is not to say they won’t come out of it. There’s too much institutional knowledge to write any of them off yet. But there are clearly some question marks.

continued ($)