“Big, Bold, and Younger: How the Blues Could Rebuild Their Blue Lineand Land a Potential Superstar on Offense”

By Jason Fink

The Blues need a little bit of an overhaul on defense. They almost pulled off a coup at

the trade deadline when they had a deal in place to send defenseman Colton

Parayko to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a first-round pick and Sabres number

one prospect defenseman Radim Mrtka. Unfortunately, the trade fell through when

Parayko exercised his no-movement clause.

Don’t get me wrong, Parayko has been a stellar defenseman during his time with the

Blues, which goes all the way back to 2015, but his point total went down by half

from last season. There is a lot of wear on those tires, and it’s time to make some

wholesale changes if the Blues are looking to get younger, and it seems they are

based on the trades of former captain Brayden Schenn and defenseman Justin Faulk

at the trade deadline. If anything, they need more size and physicality on their

backline.

I have three ideas that could help them add more size, skill, and physicality to the

defense along with getting the Blues a potential superstar in the making. Number

one, the Blues should revisit acquiring Mrtka. He’s a 6-foot-6, 218-pound

defenseman who plays a two-way game. Mrtka is a very good skater for a man of his

size and has great vision on the ice. He finished up the past season with the Seattle

Thunderbirds of the WHL with one goal and 38 points in 43 games. Very good

offensive numbers for an 18-year-old just finding his way in a league one step below

the NHL.

Photo- NHL.COM

With the abundance of young talent the Sabres have on defense, Blues general

manager Doug Armstrong should pick up the phone and give former Blues assistant

general manager and current Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen a call and

see if he would be willing to trade Mrtka in exchange for winger Jordan Kyrou. I

know some of you are laughing about the prospect of trading Kyrou, but hear me

out. Alex Tuch is due for a big payday to the possible tune of $11 million AAV. Kyrou

makes $8.125 million AAV and is two years younger than Tuch. Kyrou’s contract

runs through the 2030-’31 season. The Sabres would be saving a little bit of money

and they would be getting a player who, like Tuch, is a three-time 30-goal scorer.

Unlike Tuch, Kyrou is a three-time 70-point scorer.

I’m sorry, but the rumors out there circulating that the Blues are asking for a high-

end player, a top prospect, and a first-round draft pick in exchange for Kyrou seem

unreasonable to me. Don’t get me wrong, I believe Kyrou is a very good player, but

he’s coming off an 18-goal, 46-point season. He went down 24 points from the year

before when he scored 36 goals and had 70 points. Kyrou needs a change of scenery

and maybe he would waive his no-movement clause in order to go to a team that is

rapidly rising and full of youth.

Philip Broberg- Elite Prospects

Adding Mrtka would give the Blues a nice nucleus of young defensemen in Philip

Broberg, Logan Mailloux, and Theo Lindstein. With Adam Jiricek and Lukas Fischer

on the horizon, the Blues should have a nice defensive corps for years to come. How

about adding even more size and toughness on the blue line? That brings me to

potential scenario number two. How about signing Buffalo Sabres defenseman

Logan Stanley when he hits the free agent market in July? He’s 6-foot-7 and weighs

231 pounds. Not to mention he plays a big physical game. He would be a good fit on

the third pairing alongside Lindstein. If you could get him to sign a three-year deal at

$4–4.5 million AAV, he would be a nice stopgap until Jiricek and Fischer are ready to

step into the lineup.

Now I’m sure the next question is what happens to Parayko? Well, what if the Blues

packaged all three first-round draft picks in this year’s draft along with Parayko to

the San Jose Sharks for their number two overall pick? The Sharks finished near the

bottom of the league in goals allowed, and Parayko would give them some much-

needed stability on the defensive end. The Blues could then use the pick to land

forward Ivar Stenberg, who is one of the most coveted prizes in the 2026 NHL Draft

along with teenage sensation Gavin McKenna.

Photo- Daily Faceoff

That leaves Tyler Tucker. The Blues could either rotate Tucker into the lineup when

needed or they could deal him for a future draft pick. I am of the opinion that Tucker

is better served as a seventh defenseman as opposed to being put in the starting

lineup each night.

The Blues have done a tremendous job rebuilding their prospect pool over the last

couple of seasons, but now comes the difficult part: deciding which veterans still fit

the long-term vision. If the goal is to get younger, bigger, and more difficult to play

against, then standing pat on defense doesn’t make much sense.

Doug Armstrong has never been afraid to make bold moves, and this offseason may

require exactly that. Whether it’s acquiring a potential cornerstone like Mrtka,

adding size and toughness through free agency, or swinging for a franchise-changing

draft pick, the opportunity is there for the Blues to reshape their blue line for the

next decade.

The Western Conference is only getting faster and more physical. If the Blues want

to keep climbing back into contention, their defense can’t just stay the same. It has

to evolve.

Jason Fink Can also be found at theaidearmer.com