Are They Really Singing The Blues?
A look into the rental player in the NHL
A look into the rebuilding aspect of the NHL, and how rental players have helped the St. Louis Blues to create a strong group of young players.
Two years ago St. Louis Blues forward Doug Weight was shipped out at the trade deadline to Carolina in exchange for three young players and a first and fourth-round picks in 2006. They then moved up in the draft and were able to select Berglund out of Sweden with New Jersey's pick. They saved cap room and for a struggling team were able to acquire some young talent. It worked out well for Carolina too as they went on to win the Stanley Cup. St. Louis was also able to sign Weight in the off-season thus bringing him back again. And the same could be said for Thrashers forward Keith Tkachuk come this offseason.
Fast forward to this trade deadline and Bill Guerin was shipped out to San Jose for two young players and a first-round draft pick as well. Although it is noted that this time around it is doubtful that St. Louis will be able to sign him this coming year.
Now if you look into the signing that the Blues made in the '06 free agent period the likes of Guerin, Legace, McKee, Rucinsky, Dvorak and of course Weight, it seems to intrigue me that maybe they're onto something down there. If you look at what teams were willing to shell out for high-price talent even if they will only get the use of them for 20 games plus playoffs this could be a big advantage for struggling teams. The team is young rebuilding and was one of the worst in the NHL in the off season, so why not try to sign players who are looking for a second chance in their career to short one or two-year contracts, and some of them will have good seasons with them being a major part of the team (see Bill Guerin) and come trade deadline time ship them out for young talent. All of the previously mentioned players have at one point in their careers proven their worth but of recent have had bad performance or want too much for what they're worth. By signing potential “bounce back” players there’s a good chance one of them will return to form and by doing so as a non-playoff team you can take advantage of the desperation of the other GMs come deadline day.
It seems to me like a good way to build a team, and once your core young players are ready to make a playoff push, you can switch sides and become one of the desperate GMs come deadline day.
