Armstrong says struggling Blues are listening on trade offers, ‘no untouchables’ on roster
St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong is hoping his team can go on a hot streak once again this season and enter the playoff picture.
However, with the Blues owning a 12-15-7 record this season, Armstrong admitted he’s in no position to hang up when contenders call asking about players on his roster.
“I’m not doing this to threaten anybody, but as [former NFL coach] Bill Parcells said, ‘You are what you are,’ and right now we’re 28th in winning percentage, so everything has to be considered and addressed,” Armstrong told reporters Tuesday, per The Athletic.
“The way the league operates, when we were a highly functioning team, you would call teams that weren’t highly functioning and say, ‘What are you going to do?’ We’re starting to field those calls that we don’t want to field. I can’t stop people from calling, and we’re not doing our due diligence if we’re not listening.”
The Blues won 19 of their final 25 games last season to surge into the final wild-card spot, eventually falling in double overtime of Game 7 to the Winnipeg Jets in their first-round series.
Armstrong admitted he hopes to see that same spark leading up to the March 6 trade deadline in order to close the door on selling, but, as of now, everything – and everyone – is on the table in St. Louis.
“There’s really no untouchables — not [just] on the St. Louis Blues, [but] there’s really few untouchables in the league,” Armstrong said. “There’s a lot of other guys that, when things aren’t going well, I would say that [trade] list grows. Things aren’t going well, so the list couldn’t be, ‘No, we could never ever consider that.’”
Atop the list of players of who could be moved if St. Louis remains out of the race closer to March are veterans Jordan Binnington, Brayden Schenn and Justin Faulk. All three players have limited no-trade clauses and Armstrong said he could check in with the players before executing a deal.
“I’ve done that in the past,” the general manager said. “You want a shared vision. I hope it doesn’t get to that. But I’m hoping they hope I don’t call them and say, ‘This is what we want. Are you okay with it?’ I would want to do what’s right for them, by them, because whatever success I’ve had, big or small, it’s off their backs.
“But I also want to make sure everyone is aware, too, that my loyalty is to the St. Louis Blues more than anything else. It’s to the organization. It’s to the fanbase. More than the owners or anyone else, my loyalty is to the Blues. I’m going to do whatever I think is right for Blues.”
Armstrong stated Binnington’s situation is no different than any of player on the team, and said either side could one day approach the other about a trade.
Binnington is the Blues all-time leader in wins and backstopped the team to a Stanley Cup in 2019. The 32-year-old netminder has struggled this season with a 7-8-5 record, posting a .869 save percentage and a 3.49 GAA. He remains signed though next season at a cap hit of $6 million.
Schenn, 34, is also struggling this season with six goals and 13 points through 34 games. The Blues captain posted 18 goals and 50 points in 82 games last season after hitting the 20-goal mark in each of the previous three seasons. He’s signed through 2027-28 at a cap hit of $6.5 million.
Faulk is off to a more promising start to the campaign with seven goals – already his highest since 2022-23 – and 17 points in 34 games. The 33-year-old defenceman is signed through next season at a cap hit of $6.5 million.
As to what Armstrong will be looking for on the trade market if he moves his veterans, the 61-year-old wants to add to young NHL players, whether that be in the immediate return or through a series of moves.
“We would like to add into that group of players that are the [Jake] Neighbours, [Dylan] Holloways, [Philip] Brobergs, [Logan] Maillouxs, [Joel] Hofers,” he said. “I’m not saying those are all core players, but there’s an age group that you would like to add into. [But] to move anyone that could bring you a first-round pick, that’s likely to a team that has playoff aspirations, and that’s a pick [Nos.] 18 to 31, and historically that shows you those guys click in the league two to three to four years later.
“Well, that doesn’t do that group I’m talking about a lot of good because then they’ll be aged out. But that is an asset that you can use at a later date to get a player in that age group. So, we have to be open to anything, meaning if it is the picks, then we’ll take that pick and do something with it at the draft. Our goal would be, if we acquire things, they have a name attached to them now, not a [draft pick] number.”
The Blues will host the Jets in a playoff rematch on Wednesday before playing the New York Rangers, Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning in their final games before the holiday break.
