Could St. Louis be a trade match for the Rangers?

One of the last holes the Rangers need to fill is a top-six center, and with the free agent market bare, a trade is the next best option. As the offseason progresses, it becomes easier to identify trade partners for the Rangers to address this issue. Jeff Gorton also needs to address the logjam on the blue line, possibly leveraging the monster offensive season from Nick Holden.

Looking through the rosters, the St. Louis Blues seem to have the opposite problem. With 15 forwards –14 if you don’t include Klim Kostin, their first rounder this year)– and just five defensemen signed, there’s a potential match with the Rangers.

One of the potential targets could be Paul Stastny. A top-six center, Stastny has one year left on his contract at a $7 million cap hit. The 31-year-old is due $7.5 million in salary, and while that may not seem like much of a difference, it might to a budget team like St. Louis. With long-term deals in place for Alex Steen, Patrik Berglund, and the recently acquired Brayden Schenn, Stastny may be a luxury for the Blues that can help them address their blue line. Plus they need to find more top-six time for Robby Fabbri.

For the Blues, their blue line only has a pair of left handed defensemen (Gunnarsson, Edmundson), and neither are really that good. Holden could be viewed as an upgrade to both. In terms of raw salary, it would be a savings of close to $6 million. Some salary would need to be retained on Stastny to make the money work, but there’s a framework there that could be an interesting swap.

Of course one of Steen or Berglund could be a target as St. Louis attempts to free up salary in the long term. It’s a route that Gorton could take, and it would certainly address some of the concerns about a top-six center . In this scenario, I’d prefer Berglund because he has better peripherals than Steen and comes at a much smaller cap hit. He could feasibly handle some of the tougher minutes, freeing up Mika Zibanejad.

I’m not overly sold on Steen, who is already 33 and has four years left on his deal at $5.75 million. Berglund, on the other hand, is 29, but has five years remaining at $3.85 million.

Ideally the Rangers unload Marc Staal in any kind of trade, but let’s assume that isn’t doable. Leveraging the 11-goal and 34-point season from Holden is the only real option.

St. Louis appears to be a good trade partner for the Blueshirts as they look to round out their roster. The pieces for a framework match, and it would be a matter of balancing out the trade and money. Personally I’d prefer Stastny, then Berglund. But as for what Gorton’s up to is anyone’s guess.