For the first half of the season yes. Brayden Schenn will fade away in the 2nd half.

He didn’t put up as good numbers in the second half this year, but he certainly didn’t fade away.

It’s a fine team but it’s going to result in a 3rd place finish in the central at best. Not a cup contender.

Totally agree. To me, Stastny is the epitome of the Blues failure and mediocrity over the last few seasons. They need to move forward even if it means a worse team.

Neither Skinner nor Stastny can cure what ails this team. Blues need a legit 1C to pair with Tarasenko, and a better option than Skinner to round out the top 6. They need veteran muscle in the bottom 6. They need testosterone on defense. And they need chemistry and coaching tonfix the special teams. Thats a tall order. Kudos for trying, but this team needs more radical change than this.
That said--I think what you've proposed is probably very close to what we'll get.

Couldn’t of said it better myself

Well, every Blues fan on this board has spent the last year telling the Caps they would never trade their three best prospects and a high first pick for Nick Backstrom, so I'm certainly not going to suggest that here...

...and the whole board has made it clear that Brooks "leading playoff defensemen in hits, plus/minus, and SCF GWG" Orpik has negative trade value, so....

...yeah. The Blues are probably just destined to spend another year rebuilding, because no appropriate trade partners exist who have any legitimate #1 centers who have been in the top 20 centers in points for the last six straight years, or any defensemen with "testosterone" to get Saint Louis out of its funk. Sorry to hear it, guys. Best of luck.

Nonsense.
-If Tavares leaves NYI, he'll be a Blue.
-Blues have pieces to trade for one of Draisatl, Hoffman, RoR, or RNH. Any of those players would improve the Blues top 6.
-With players like Roussel, Grabner, Maroon, and Reaves on the market, the Blues could land one or more of those guys and dramatically improve the bottom 6.
-I absolutely expect a trade on defense (I'm personally hoping the Blues acquire Mayfield or Nurse).
-If Allen has a bounce back year, Blues can compete with the lame offense they already have. This is unlikely. But--some modest acquisitions like what the OP described, paired with some strategic addition by subtraction and a couple veteran leaders with some cajones could work wonders, regardless of the goaltending.

I've read rumors of Tavares to his hometown of Toronto, and if that's not it, I suppose there are fifteen other teams that made the playoffs without him, and would be less of an uphill climb than the Blues or Islanders. RNH plays left wing on the hottest line of the last quarter of the regular season. Isn't moving this summer. Yeah, Hoffman or Draisatl could potentially get traded to a lucky team or two.

I defintely agree there are lots of bottom six forwards on the market this summer as UFAs. Didn't even address that part. Too many to count or predict. Mayfield might be available, because even though the Isles need defense, he's not going to eat enough minutes to get Leddy and Methusaleh off the ice enough to make the playoffs or make Tavs want to stay. Nurse played as Edmonton's #1 D this year. If Klefbom and Sekera had been healthy, left D would have been Edmonton's second-deepest position after center.