The St. Louis Blues were jockeying for a wild-card berth, but inconsistency cost them. That's prompted speculation they could clear cap space to bring in younger talent. Jordan Binnington [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA1NjQxMzk4NTU1MjU2MjYx/usatsi_22866394_168400847_lowres.jpg] Jordan Binnington Poised to miss the playoffs for the second straight season, the St. Louis Blues could face some off-season changes. The retooling Blues jockeyed for a playoff berth for most of this season. As The Hockey News St. Louis' Lou Korac recently observed [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/column-after-that-disgraceful-performance-against-the-sharks-on-saturday-an-embarrassing-4-0-loss-we-can-finally-stop-with-the-playoff-talk-about-this-undeserving-blues-roster], they struggled against weaker opponents like the Columbus Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks. They're the only club [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/blues-sharks-takeaways-st-louis-once-again-let-down-by-special-teams-season-in-microcosm-on-display-once-again-in-inability-to-defeat-worst-team-in-hockey-san-jose-for-third-time-this-season] to lose three games this season to the bottom-feeding Sharks. Korac said a flawed roster is behind the Blues' inconsistency this season. They're in the midst of a transition phase, parting ways last year with veterans such as Ryan O'Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko in favor of younger players like Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. Based on this season's performance, GM Doug Armstrong could make a significant off-season move to free up salary cap space and add more youth to the lineup. During Monday's episode [https://www.sportsnet.ca/podcasts/32-thoughts/porky-palmer-eclipsed-this-podcast/] of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek pondered whether Armstrong would make a major change to his roster this summer. Friedman was curious if the Blues GM would consider trading goaltender Jordan Binnington, who has rebounded after two difficult seasons. Binnington has a full no-trade clause that reverts to a modified no-trade next season [https://puckpedia.com/player/jordan-binnington] covering two-thirds of the league, according to PuckPedia. Friedman thinks the 30-year-old goaltender still has value in the trade market, suggesting this might be Armstrong's best chance to get something for him. Salary could be a stumbling block as well. Binnington has three more seasons on his contract, with an average annual value of $6 million. He curtailed his fiery temper for most of this season, but it could still be an issue for some GMs. Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli believes [https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/st-louis-blues-have-some-big-decisions-to-make-during-2024-nhl-offseason] Armstrong could also attempt to trade one of his high-salaried defensemen. Colton Parayko, Torey Krug and Justin Faulk each earn an annual cap hit of $6.5 million while Nick Leddy's cap hit is $4 million. They all carry no-trade clauses [https://puckpedia.com/team/st-louis-blues]. Armstrong tried to trade Krug to the Flyers last summer, but the blueliner spiked the deal [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/krug-addresses-not-waiving-no-trade-clause-committed-to-being-solution-with-blues]. The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford doesn't expect [https://theathletic.com/5373245/2024/03/28/blues-neighbours-contract-mailbag/] Armstrong will attempt to buy out one of them this summer. He could instead package one of them with a draft pick or prospect in a trade. As for their drafting plans, Armstrong told The Hockey News' Ryan Kennedy in March the Blues are in their "asset allocation" portion of their development. He wants the Blues to give themselves the option to trade prospects for other players to become a more competitive team. "We're drafting players now to get the best possible players," Armstrong said in an interview for Future Watch 2024 [https://thehockeynews.com/video/1-on-1-with-st-louis-blues-gm-doug-armstrong-on-the-teams-surging-prospect-pipeline]. "Hopefully, they all play for the Blues, but most importantly, we need them to be good assets for themselves and for us."
