The Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues have demonstrated a good working relationship with each other in recent years. The two teams competed three trades together from 2022 to 2023, and Red Wings general manager (GM) has a history working with Blues GM Doug Armstrong, including time spent together as part of Team Canada’s management team at the Olympics.
The Blues find themselves in the unenviable position of retooling. They have not made the playoffs since 2022, but they also haven’t bottomed out in a way that would lead to a full rebuild like what the Red Wings are currently trying to bring to a conclusion. The Blues are in the Western Conference playoff chase, but they are five points out of a wild card spot; the Red Wings currently hold the first wild card in the Eastern Conference.
The Blues aren’t looking to completely blow their team up, especially with Alex Steen positioned to take over for Armstrong following the 2025-26 season. They have a handful of notable players that could be on the move to recoup assets that would help them during Steen’s tenure. If the Red Wings wish to address their roster needs ahead of this year’s trade deadline, there should be a willing trade partner over in St. Louis.
Blues Forwards
The Red Wings were probably always going to peruse the forward market ahead of the deadline, but they recently gained even more incentive to do so. Andrew Copp, who recently settled in as the team’s second line center alongside Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane, underwent surgery on a shoulder injury earlier this week. He has a recovery timeline of four-to-six months, ending his season in its tracks.
The Red Wings have the ability to add up to $13 million in salary to their books at the trade deadline, which should enable them to pursue a big-ticket item or two if they so desire.
Related: Red Wings Prospect Tiers: Untouchables & Trade Chips
The Blues have a few forwards that should garner interest ahead of the deadline. Most of the conversation currently surrounds their captain Brayden Schenn. He was a member of the Blues’ championship team in 2019, and he has spent most of this season anchoring St. Louis’s second line. He is a veteran of 14 full seasons and parts of two others and just recently played in his 1,000th game.
Other forwards that could be of interest are 26-year-old Jordan Kyrou as well as a familiar face in Oskar Sundqvist, who wore the winged wheel from 2022 to the 2023 trade deadline. Kyrou and Sundqvist bring different things to the table – Kyrou is a speedy, skilled forward that would need to play in the top six, and Sundqvist is a bottom six forward with good size and a willingness to go to the dirty areas of the ice.
Needless to say, the Red Wings have some options if they’re looking to pry a forward away from the Blues.
Blues Defenders
The Blues would probably like to move on from Justin Faulk or Nick Leddy, another former Red Wing, but the Red Wings’ interest on St. Louis’s blue line likely centers around Colton Parayko.
A member of Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off, Parayko is in his 10th NHL season, all with the Blues, and has established himself as a physical defender that generally yields positive results for his team. He is cut from the same cloth as Red Wings defender Moritz Seider, and Detroit could absolutely use another defender like Seider.
However, if you scoffed at the length of Schenn’s deal, you probably won’t find Parayko’s deal any more appealing. The soon-to-be 32-year-old has five more seasons on his contract after this one, and the deal carries an average annual value of $6.5 million. The money itself isn’t too bad, especially with the salary cap expected to exceed $100 million in the not-so-distant future, but defenders that play his style have a high chance of aging poorly due to the physical strain put on their bodies.
Parayko would be a big boost to Detroit’s blue line, but his contract is likely the reason the Red Wings will look elsewhere. There are players/contracts the Red Wings could send back to St. Louis to make a deal more palatable, but there probably isn’t a fit here.
Jordan Binnington
Speaking of Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off, the only goalie to start every one of their team’s games was Jordan Binnington of Team Canada. Seen by many as the weakest starter in the tournament, the 31-year-old was instrumental in Canada’s victory over Team USA in the championship game, making several key saves during the sudden death overtime period. In other words, his stock is at its highest since he helped spur the Blues’ midseason turnaround that ultimately led to the franchise’s first championship.
This season is Binnington’s seventh as the Blues’ go-to starter. His contract has two more seasons left on it and it carries a cap hit of $6 million. While he’s not an elite-level starter in the NHL, he has proven that he can rise to the occasion and his contract is certainly manageable – especially if the Blues were willing to retain a little bit of his salary.
In Nick Kypreos’ recent article highlighting trade targets around the league, he had this to say about Binnington:
The Blues would surely demand more for Binnington, a Stanley Cup winner making $6 million for another two seasons and with an 18-team no-trade list attached to his contract. Binnington would be the focus of the goalie market, and we shouldn’t underestimate the interest level Edmonton, Carolina and Detroit have in him.
The Red Wings have not had a true number one in goal since the early days of Jimmy Howard. It makes sense that Detroit would have interest in changing that, especially when an extra save here and there could be the difference between their playoff drought ending or continuing into its 10th year.
The Red Wings’ goalie tandem currently consists of Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon, both of which have proven to fine NHL goaltenders that are best utilized in a tandem. Behind them is veteran Jack Campbell and “goalie of the future” Sebastian Cossa in the American Hockey League. Trey Augustine, another goalie prospect, continues to impress at Michigan State University as well.
Binnington, known for being a disruptor and a talker in the crease, could prove to be a solid mentor for Cossa, who likes to play his position similarly to Binnington. While the term on Binnington’s deal feels like it would block Cossa’s path to the NHL, it would realistically just bridge Detroit to the point where Cossa is (hopefully) the alpha goaltender they drafted him to be, and Augustine is pushing for NHL time.
Goaltending shouldn’t be at the top of the Red Wings’ to-do list at the deadline, but you can see why Detroit’s front office might covet Binnington. If nothing happens at the trade deadline, the Red Wings still may look to strengthen their goaltending in the offseason.
Let’s Make a Deal
The Blues will have interest in futures (draft picks and prospects) as they attempt to assemble their future core, but they will also want NHL-ready pieces in any deal they make. After all, this is a franchise whose longest playoff drought is three years, and falling short of the playoffs this season would match that total. They don’t do long-term rebuilds in St. Louis, so you shouldn’t expect to acquire their best players with futures alone.
The Red Wings have some players that could fit the bill. Jonatan Berggren has sometimes struggled to find his place in Detroit’s lineup, and he’s one of the few players left in the organization that was not drafted/acquired by the current regime. Justin Holl won’t be of serious value to the Blues, but his contract could help even out some of the money being acquired in a potential deal, and he can be a serviceable defender in St. Louis as they close out their season. Lyon could be of interest to the Blues due to his low-money contract, and the fact he wouldn’t inhibit the growth of their other goaltender Joel Hofer.
Armstrong and Yzerman have a good working relationship with each other, and the trade deadline is all about utilizing those relationships at the managerial level. The Red Wings want to push and the Blues want to build towards the future – it sounds like the conditions for a deal are present to me!
