ST. LOUIS -- Connor McMichael wasn't caught off guard by getting traded.

In fact, the new St. Louis Blues forward, acquired on Tuesday from the Washington Capitals along with a first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and 2025 second-round prospect Milton Gastrin for Jordan Kyrou, the 25-year-old who is slated to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights on July 1, was prepared for whatever was to come, including moving on if need be.

"I wouldn't say that it caught me off guard," McMichael said Wednesday. "I think any time your contract's up and I wasn't signed by now so just thoughts kind of creep into your head that it's a possibility. It was definitely shocking, but I wouldn't say it was completely out of imagination for myself."

But the forward, who is a center by trade who also had expensive time playing on the wing in Washington, comes to a Blues roster that is more in line with guys his age range, which is something that excites him.

"I'm super-excited," McMichael said. "I think one of the first things I did when I found out is checked the Blues roster and got familiar with the guys. From what I saw, there's going to be a lot of years where we can be competitive. It's a team that's looking to build and get better and better each year. There's quite a few guys the same age as me, so that's real exciting. I'm already familiar with a few guys as well. I'm really happy to be a Blue."

One of those players is Robert Thomas, who infamously was traded for McMichael on Jan. 8, 2018 while both were junior players.  The London Knights traded Thomas to the Hamilton Bulldogs for then-16-year old McMichael, a second-round pick in 2021, three conditional second round picks in 2020, 2025 and 2026 and a conditional third-round pick in 2022.

Now the two, along with Joel Hofer and Dylan Holloway, two other players McMichael has been familiar with in the past through Hockey Canada events, are teammates.

"We've talked about it a few times," McMichael said. "The funny thing about that is when we got traded for each other, we actually traded billet families as well. Sometimes there will be a little family barbeque in the summer and we'll see each other there. We've talked about it a few times, but now it's just kind of normal. I'm sure we'll talk about it a bit more now.

"I've always said Robby's one of the most underrated players in the NHL. He's got real good vision and real good hockey sense as well. I think it's going to be pretty easy to play alongside him and it's definitely exciting."

The Blues are pegging McMichael in as a middle-six forward, more in line to be a second-line forward at the moment; he is coming off a season in which he had 46 points (14 goals, 32 assists) in 78 games after putting up career numbers in 2024-25 with 57 points (26 goals, 31 assists) in 82 games.

"Last year was a bit of a down year for me," McMichael said. "Like you said, the assists were still there, but the goal scoring not so much. That's definitely something I pride myself in. I like to get into the dirty areas, per se, and find the soft spots and find the back of the net. I think I'm a well-rounded player that's going to be able to score and set guys up."

Blues general manager Doug Armstrong has made it clear the age range of players the Blues want to bring in as assets, and McMichael fits the bill.

"McMichael's got speed," he said. "He's got the ability to play multiple positions up front. A little bit younger, we've got control over him for a couple years. The first-round pick was obviously enticing for us entering the draft (Friday), and we're really excited about the Swedish prospect from his draft year last year. He went 37th overall. We love his competitiveness, we love how he can affect the game. There's a growth window there with some players.

"We believe organizationally your second and third line can be a blend. Any one night, the second line can be the third line and any one night, the third line can be the second line. We've seen him fit seamlessly into that area of our team. We do need him to produce offense. That's a calling card that he has, but we do need a two-way game out of him also. If he starts out and to see Holloway, Thomas and Snuggerud continue what they ended up (doing) last year, now you have a wealthy of players in that six that he can move around. We're going to need 200-foot balanced players out of that group that are all going to need to provide offense, not just one or two."

McMichael has the ability to play either center or wing, and the Capitals seemed to use him on most occasions as a wing, and in all areas, including penalty kill.

"Since I've been in the NHL, at least with the Capitals, they've kind of used me all over the place," McMichael said. "I know only growing up and even in juniors, I've only played center. Kind of once I went to Hockey Canada, I moved to the wing a few times. I don't really have a preference to be honest. One big thing about my game is I can move my game easily to wing and center. Wherever they want to use me.

"My biggest attribute I always say is my hockey sense. I think I'm just able to put myself in positions to score and also set up other teammates. I've also been pretty good on the penalty kill. I'm kind of an all-around guy. I'd like to say I'm good at everything. I just like to touch the game in all aspects."

And touch it with the Blues because in the end, it's a team that wanted him.

"Just based off those first few phone calls, it seems like they're excited to have me and happy that they were able to acquire me," McMichael said. 'For me, that's all that matters is that this organization wants me and appreciates me. That's going to be a big thing."

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