pens 3C Options

Mittelstadt is on pace for 50pts for us playing on our 3rd line
That’s pretty good, so i don’t think we’ll part with him cheap

Jost is probably unavailable as well
Just bc he’s more valuable to us than what you’d likely be willing to give up in a trade
He’s been a good bottom6 forward for us

In terms of Mittelstadt, he has 23 points in 39 games and is -11. Most of his points have come in bunches, and he goes a few games without any points. In watching his play against Detroit in three games, his point total in those games was not reflective of his contributions.

I used to think he was a great young prospect. After seeing how bad he was against Detroit, I changed my mind. He got very lucky with picking up points, he doesn't move as fluidly as he should, he is weak on the puck, and he is a terrible backchecker. There is nothing about the way he plays to suggest he could break out. He doesn't have anything about shooting, passing, stickhandling, or effort that screams he can get any better; in fact he probably digresses.

Oh my!!

Blues are perpetually in an odd spot this season.

I think even if they are in a spot for a playoff race or at least close, some of the UFAs will probably be traded assuming the price deems doing so.

I’d imagine for ROR that’s somewhere in the 23 1st, 24-25 3rd, a prospect and preferably a defensive prospect. The isssue with the Penguins is the prospect pool is somehow just as bare or even a little more bare than ours. The good news is that I could see Pickering be someone that the Blues target. The bad news is I don’t know if that’s someone that would really be up for grabs in the rental market. But then again, the Penguins are aging and I’d imagine a rebuild in the future when some of the prospects are getting to the hypothetical time where they may help out the NHL. I don’t know where Pickering is viewed or at what level, but given position and frame I’d be happy if the Blues got him and the 231st for ROR.

Barbashev isn’t really ideally a center although he can play center. I think if the UFAs he may be the most likely re-sign candidate but I could be completely wrong on that. I think the best case for a team looking at Barbashev would be to look at him as a 2nd or 3rd line winger who has the flexibility to play in almost every scenario as a power forward more support type of player. I don’t know the value he’d return. Possibly 2 2nds or something like that. It’s really hard to tell, he’s coming off a 60point season, and he does have a lot of playoff experience and flexibility. However, the 60points was more of an outlier than anything. I think he’s firmly a 40-50 point player with extreme flexibility.

Suter can be had for anywhere from a 2nd to a 5th, it really just depends on how silly the trade market gets for depth centers. I expect him to go for a mid-round 3rd.