Gallagher is untouchable, and we don’t want a LHD.

this is a joke right?

I do not understand why everyone's response to losing Pietrangelo is trading our best remaining offensive defenseman.

Like, Krug is great and wonderful but Dunn has played like a legitimate 1D, and Krug is not that. We need both, at least for now, until we know what we have in Perunovich.

Dunn and Sanford for a rental? This is just not a realistic deal at all for either sides.

Lol a wee bit out of context, huh?!?!

No?

Dunn isnt a fit in Montreal. They have their LD stacked with A+ prospects like Norlinder, Guhle and Romanov. Then the 2nd group includes Olofsson, Harris, etc
They'd ask for Schwartz!

NHL GM special give up your own guy that wont budge in negotiations for another.

Dunn has not played like a 1d. He's been good, but a 2LD at best. I like Dunn and don't want to trade him at all, but the Blues have a logjam at LD with Krug, Gunnarson, Scandella, Dunn and also have Mikkola and Perunovich in the wings. Perunovich has a very similar skillset as Quinn Hughes (obviously not as good) so maybe it's for the best. If nothing else, you might be able to trade him for a RHD. Blues need help in that department now and going forward. Personally,that's the route I'd take, but I wouldn't mind a top6 LW for this year.

Montreal is not the best fit for Dunn. Boston or even the Islanders would be better.

This.^

Hilarious how anyone thinks we have a need @ LD. It's a big reason why Habs fans are confused with the Guhle pick. Norlinder is tearing up the SHL with Raymond and looks to have more upside than Romanov

Not MTL, but I feel like a deal around Dunn for DeBrusk would fill a need for both sides.

It was surprising to see MTL take Guhle over Schneider. Schneider would have made a lot more sense.

I actually made that post earlier today. Dunn for DeBrusk straight up

Guhle has better physical gifts but not as polished as Schneider. Made more sense taking Guhle and not Braden, as a risky option with depth on the organization chart, after I hated the pick (no need for LD) They are banking on Guhle putting it all together.

Schneider is not far behind in terms of skills though and he's a right shot. Plus he's really tough to play against and would be great for a playoff run.

I'm not enamoured with either. Its a big guessing game. Scouts are pretty divided on Guhle. Boom or bust. Schneider is a more consensus top4 D

Norlinder seems like the absolute beast of the 3. Romanov hype is great. I think he's really good but top pair is questionable.

I see Schneider as a pre-injured laden Bogosian.

You’re THIS close to going into a full rebuild and you think your UFA is untouchable? Get a grip.

What the hell are you talking about “close to going into a full rebuild”? The retool came and went, the moves management has made this offseason have made it clear that they are trying to win. If Gallagher re-signs, great. If he doesn’t, we’ll keep him as an own-rental and try to re-sign him in the offseason.

Here is how I evaluate our defense.

Legitimate top four defensemen: Dunn/Krug/Parayko.
"Tweener" defensemen who play top four minutes but based on their underlying numbers probably shouldn't: Faulk, Scandella, Gunnarsson
Third pairing/healthy scratch/AHL options: Perunovich, Mikkola (both can pass without waivers next year), Bortuzzo.

So while it looks like we have this "logjam", we really only have three defensemen that should be playing in our top four every night. Mikkola and Perunovich should have to prove themselves about a million times over just like Dunn did before I'm penciling them in anywhere higher than the third pair. Faulk had sixteen points last year and has played primarily third pair minutes the last two seasons, he has mountains to prove still. Scandella historically only performed in contract years, Gunnarsson can't stay healthy and has clearly benefited from playing next to Pietrangelo. And unless you want Bortuzzo as an everyday player, a lefty is going to be playing the right a lot just like Edmundson did in 2018-19.

The defense is not a position of "strength" anymore that we can deal quality from to shore up our forward core (which, I agree, desperately needs help). We no longer have two defensemen that can elevate lesser players. We need both Dunn and Krug in the top four to stay competitive because the top four is already going to be suspect with Faulk in it. Maybe Perunovich is Hughes-lite, maybe Mikkola is the next Jonas Brodin and I legitimately hope they are that would be incredible. But this team is still in a competitive window and you can't rely on that many unknowns right now. You don't solve a problem before it is one, especially if you're just going to create another problem along with it. We can lose a Gunnarsson or a Scandella, but unless a Dunn trade wildly improves our forward core or fetches a legitimate RHD (which I don't think Dunn has that much value considering most people value him, like you do, as a 2D and RHD are more valuable than LHD) then we need to keep our defense as strong as possible by keeping the top end guys we have. That's always how this team has won games. We also have to keep in mind Dunn's contract number (which will be low) verses what he brings compared to these other guys. He's going to make less than Scandella on a short term contract. Value contracts on a cap team are important, and our other top four guys are expensive.

If Pietrangelo were still here I would feel differently. But he's not here. I (might) be down with trading Dunn in the future if the younger guys pan out but there's simply no evidence of that at this point.

You guys are easily a Price and Weber injury away from going back into full rebuild, especially if KK doesn’t show signs of a breakout this year. Gallagher might not look so untouchable 4 months from now. Calling Gallagher untouchable is about as ridiculous as if I were to call Pietrangelo untouchable a year ago.

Pietrangelo was untouchable. There was no realistic situation in which they would have traded him. Sure he left after a year, and that might be the case with Gallagher, but neither team would consider trading those players, so they are therefore untouchable.

And you don’t go into rebuilds because players get injured. Sure, that might mean the team doesn’t do as well as expected for one year, but that doesn’t affect the next season.

Pietrangelo was not untouchable. If we were out of the playoffs like you guys were, he would have been traded, and if not, that would have been Armstrong dropping the ball. Faulk was traded for as insurance for Pietrangelo potentially leaving the team. I don't really care to argue about it much, I just saw Gallagher and "untouchable" in the same sentence and I just found that jarring.

I actually agree with pretty much everything you said. Mikkola I believe earned his shot at full time or switching in and out with Gunnar at the very least and think he should be full time. I also believe Blues SHOULD keep Dunn and not deal him for a forward. Personally, I want us to keep Dunn. However,I can see a scenario where we don't. I want to dump Faulk more than anything