Of course
Wilde and Mayfield or wilde and a second or Mayfield and a second
tho Wilde and a second is the preferred deal
Its the isles fans that dont really want him or want him for next to nothing but his value is hard to gauge to me its somewhere between a first - a second and a b level prospect

He just offers more to us than you are willing to give up. At this point I really don't see them moving him. It seems more likely he plays with us so DA can try and increase his value.

WIlde is the one prospect that stands out to us since we need to add to our RD pipeline. Obviously both teams are up on the cap so it will need to be moved around, ideally to another team. Bailey and Wilde seem like a good framework for a trade.

Honestly, I don't feel like the Isles are a good fit for a trade. All the things that would be very tempting to me (i.e. Beau, Dobson, Bolduc, etc) are things the Isles aren;t giving up. There are a couple of mildly interesting prospects, but A) they have serious holes in their games at this time & B) the Blues will likely prefer at least something that helps them sooner rather than later. Personally, I'd be much more interested in trading Taraseno to Carolina.





The Blues do not want or need Bailey. We already have more than enough pass first wingers, he's almost 32 and already declining, and his deal has as much money remaining on it as Vova's. And while Wilde is interesting, there are major questions about his defending and his offense has not translated to the pro game yet.

I here you, but what equivalent value of Bolduc, Beauvillier and Dobson would Carolina or any other team, give up for him? I don’t think that kind of value is out there… only if they retain. His injury problems, caphit and the knowledge of him wanting out + not picked by Seattle has hurt his value a lot. What leverage does Armstrong have? Only option is to keep him then, which doesn’t seem good at all for the locker room because he clearly wants out. With all this said, I wouldn’t want to give up a star when healthy for free either. Tricky situation all in all.

1- Carolina has a slew of NHL-ready and nearly ready young players, plus a very acceptable guy like Neidereiter who is headed for UFA soon. They have a lot more to offer, and others do, as well.

2- That had absolutely zero effect on his trade value. None.

3- He has possession of a player that other teams want, and that player is major difference maker when at/near his best, and there are multiple teams eager (bordering on desperate, in some cases) to add such a difference maker. That's a lot of leverage. Everybody acts like they've never seen a disgruntled player return great value before.

4- Tarasenko is not going to cause a problem with his teammates or the coach. And him staying for the moment and playing can only help the Blues.

1. Which are those nearly ready NHL-players that are better than the nearly ready NHL players Islanders has? Dominik Bokk = Kieffer Bellows. Ryan Suzuki, not available. Nino Niederreiter, sure. Wouldn’t believe Jack Drury is available either etc.

2. I’m not to sure it has zero impact, but what do I/we know.

3. If teams are desperate for a player like him, why hasn’t he already been traded? The caphit and uncertainty if he can be a consistent elite player going forward, is of course question marks.

4. No but is that good for the group to have a guy who clearly doesn’t wanna be there? Historically that has been a problem.

1- Keane, Suzuki, Sellgren, Bokk, etc. Surely you must realize that plenty of other teams have a better young player pool right now than the Isles. Carolina is definitely one of those teams.

2- It has zero impact. An expansion draft is not a trade, and Seattle clearly wanted to go for cheaper players (even taking a few who have no NHL future simply to avoid any cap hit). Dunn was the right pick from the Blues.

3- Heh. Team desperation is not the only variable in a trade. Far from it. And yes, obviously teams may find him to hold uncertainty. Of course, lots of things have uncertainty - like draft picks and prospects, for instance. Somehow this always is ignored when discussing Tarasenko's uncertainty. As is the fact that he returned last season from a long layoff with no preseason, into a condensed schedule with almost no practice time. Let's see how he looks after an actual preseason, and with motivation to prove doubters wrong.

4- History is littered with championship teams that had locker room clashes and even players who'd asked out. For that matter, it's also littered with players who asked out only to change their mind later. The Blues have loads to gain by keeping him around to score some goals. And if he does do that, the uncertainty lifts and his price skyrockets. Teams will be wishing they could go back and agree with Army's original ask.

1. They wouldn’t trade Ryan Suzuki for Tarasenko. Wilde and Bellows are better then Keane and Bokk. Salo and Bolduc are better then Sellgren. Even if he’s good. I haven’t said there isn’t better pools of young talent than the Isles. We talked about a potential deal for Tarasenko, specifically.

2. Of course Dunn was the right pick, but what signals does it send by letting Tarasenko be available for free? That they weren’t afraid of losing him for free.

3. Yeah but draftpicks and prospects doesn’t cost you 7.5 mil on the cap for 2 years in a capfreeze, so the risk is much higher for the team who acquires him.

4. Let’s hope that works out fine for the club and player. But to me it sounds like a dream come true scenario from a fans perspective. I don’t believe it for one sec. He wants out 100% and that isn’t something he just said in the heat of the moment, obviously he’s given it some thought. He’s a professional though and will play in Blues if he has to, but he won’t be happy with it, mark my words.

1- Heh. Much of that is highly debatable. And by highly debatable, I mean I don't agree with some of that at all.

2- Yeah, because of Dunn and because Francis almost completely stayed away from pricy vets. There's no signal that affects trade value.

3- That doesn't erase the uncertainty factor. And these draft picks and prospects don't have anywhere near the potential reward level, either. None of them might just walk right in and score 25 and drive play at an elite level. This is the gamble, man. And the odds are waaaaay higher that Tarasenko turns into a jackpot.

4- Mmmokay. You're quoting a whole lot of conjecture and supposition as fact, bro.

Actually not. I wouldn't move bailey 1 for 1 even at the same cap hit so getting more expensive and adding is certainly not on the to do list.

1. Much debatable? Please tell me where I’m wrong in those prospect comparables. You could argue Sellgren and Bolduc are level, but that’s about it.

2. But why not protect Tarasenko as a symbolic move, if Dunn clearly was the pick all along? Doesn’t make any sense because that is an indicator of trust and the teams perception about the player leaguewide.

3. I completely agree, middle/late 1st round picks and 2nd rounders, B/C prospects tend to be overvalued extremely much in NHL, but that doesn’t change the fact about the reality, which is that prospects/picks are valued extremely high by the people in charge in the league. And that is what I’m discussing here. Reality is, in a cap crunch, that Tarasenko’s value is much lower at the moment than you believe, clearly. Otherwise a trade would already happened.

4. Haha, exactly the same as you do? You believe in a redemption story, I do not. None of us know, still we are speculating based of feeling and by different logic, that’s all bro.

Mokumboi has been trying to trade 2017 tarasenko. He's not gonna listen to anything you say.

Suit yourself. Big homer energy there. I was only considering taking him to close the cap gap.

Yeah, it seems like it. The perspective of reality are hard to find on these boards sometimes. St. Louis should be happy to get rid of his 7.5 mil for 2 years and get something decent for him. - and then invest that capspace in some other areas/players instead.

I have done no such thing.





1- Heh. Find one place that thinks the Isles prospect pool is as strong as Carolina's. I didn;t even list any of their real blue chippers, those are all second tier prospects in the Carolina system, and most of them are at positions where they have their progress to the team blocked by a logjam. That is not the case with guys like Wilde and Bellows. Long story short, I think you're either underestimating Carolina's prospects or overestimating the Isles' prospects. And the scouting pundits and services agree with me.

2- Yeah, it's not. Tarasenko wants out, well, Army tried to give him an easy out, so now nobody can say he's blockiing a move. There's no symbolism here that hurts his trade value. Players get left exposed and then dealt for proper value all the time. For instance, Dillon this summer.

3- Ehh, a trade hasn;t happened because nobody has met the value Army places on him. That's who sets his price tag and nobody has met it. Besides, let's not pretend it's just about Tarasenko's value. Teams have supposedly been asking for retention, which only adds to the price tag.

4- I'm not proclaiming my numerous speculations as fact. That's you, dude. I'm using words like might and outlining possible outcomes and offering examples of why my stance is what it is.

1- Where precisely do you imagine I pushed any such trade at "2017 value" (hilarious how this guy always pretends 18-19 Tarasenko's cup season doesn't exist, like it's been half a decade since he was in top form). Please do show us all one example of where I asked for some outlandish offer for Tarasenko. We'll wait...

2- That would be a great idea if it was still pre-free agency. Now that's just a bunch of BS from a guy who literally declared the Blues should just happily hand over Vladimir Tarasenko for free. And you want to go on like I am the one making ridiculous, delusional demands? Hilarious.

Look... you asked St. Louis fans for what they'd be interested in. I, a Blues fan, said that the things I'd be interested in from the Isles aren;t going to be offered and the things that might be offered aren't that interesting to me. What's the problem? What exactly do you want here? Do you want us all to lie to you? Do you want us all to say "Please take him for free and we'll thank you for it!"?

But yeah, I'm the one who's unreasonable.

Nah just too many question marks with tarasenko whereas with bailey you know what you're getting. Considering our success the last 2 years I'd rather go with what we know works.

1. ”Heh”. You love to put words in my mouth all the time man, it’s annoying as hell. I asked you for examples of tradeable players in a Tarasenko deal from Canes, you gave it to me, then I telled you Isles got better players then the ones you mentioned. Canes have a better prospect pool, but mostly because their depth, not crazy high upside outside Seth Jarvis.

2. You cannot compare Dillon and Tarasenko, just stop. Their situations was/are so different. You are just trying to fit your narrative by comparing apples and oranges here. There wasn’t any question marks around Dillon and he is what he is, a pretty cheap, good top-4 guy who is historically healthy. Winnipeg was in a position of need and had to overpay for him, no doubt. No one are going to pay Tarasenko’s 7.5 mil for 2 more years if it ain’t very cheap. And the league knows his value is extremely low all considered, they just playing poker with Armstrong here. Eventually he has to let him go for close to no value, if not retained. Not according to you, before free agency his value none at all and now his value is much higher? How does that make any sense.
”Army tried to give him an easy out” ok, good starting point in every possible trade for him. I tried to let him go for free, now we want a good prospect or pick or both from you guys.

3. ”Ehh”, good way or arguing… yes exactly, but clearly Armstrong is asking for to much based on his willingness to give him away for free. How can you not accept that Armstrong doesn’t appear to have any leverage in a trade scenario?

4. Haha but I do…
just cause I one time wrote ”mark my words” about he being unhappy if he was to stay in Blues, even though wanting out. Ok man. This style of arguing is so ****ing boring, ignorant and narcissistic.

1. He was exaggerating, probably to make a point about your defensiveness about discussing Tarasenko, as a player when healthy no one doesn’t say or believe he’s got tremendous on-ice value, but it’s not the reality of the perception of him in the league, Friedman and such have said it earlier, it’s not coming from me. Teams have looked into it his shoulder problems etc. and not felt comfortable to trade for him, literally said by Elliotte Friedman.

2. It’s not for free, they literally make up 7.5 mil on the cap for 2 more years and as I wrote, they should get something decent for him, not great. In this league capspace is an extremely valuable asset in itself. + getting rid of a player that doesn’t wanna be there, what message does it send to the group? It’s important to have committed players to be succesful, look at the Isles. They were better without Tavares haha!

3. I wasn’t the thread starter. No I don’t even want Tarasenko at all, I hope you keep him and you’ll see for yourself how happy and committed to the team he really are going to be. Remember when Dubois wanted out from Columbus and they kept him? He was sooo bad in every shift.

1- Yeah, that's just not accurate. At all. The Isles have one of the weakest prospect pools in the entire league. 24th, 25th tops.

2- Dillon was exposed and Seattle passed on taking him. Forget all the other stuff, you said Tarasenko's value drops because Seattle passed on him. Leave the goalposts where they are.

2b- Uhh what the **** are you babbling about? I said nowhere near any such thing.

3- How do you know what Army's ask is? How do you know what teams have offered? Yet again, you repeatedly try to pass off things you pulled our of your rear as canon fact. And wow, against all odds, every single bit of it somehow favors the Isles! What luck!

4- Well, at least you can admit your flaws. That's the first step to recovery. We're all very proud of you.

Don't bother to reply again, because I won't read it.

1- Bulllll****. Read his comment again, it's abunch of hemming and hawing and "I don;t actually know" crap. FFS already.

2- It's free to the Isles. Again.... FFS already.

We're done here.

1. I haven’t discussed Isles prospect pool compared to the league, only compared to Carolina, sigh.

2. Yes that was one factor of many. Tarasenko is considered a star in this league, when healthy, Dillon is not. Teams will try to use the fact he wasn’t protected as a factor in trade talks, exactly the same case if Isles were to trade Bailey. But this is just me speculating.

3. Were have I stated that I know what Army’s ask is? Only that he’s asking for to much, if not, he would have been traded by now, no?

4. Haha you just confirmed what I wrote. All along you have had an aggresive attitude, insinuating how ****ing stupid everyone else is, who’s got an different opinion of yours. ”Ehh”, ”heh” and all other **** you just wrote. And you also like to put words in my mouth in every sentence to create opinions there aren’t there, to fuel your narrative.

1. That’s not what he said on his podcast. He did say he believed teams have looked into his medical records and that they felt uncomfortable with it.

2. No it’s not, I do not want him, as I previously said, what’s your problem? Time and time again you’re just making stuff up. I saif it wasn’t accurate to totally ignore that capspace in itself is hugely valued these days, or haven’t you paid attention in all the deals and trades being made lately?

There definitely is big homer energy there, yeah, but keep in mind the Isles' best weapon on offense is its depth. Giving up a Top 6 forward for another Top 6 forward, even if it's an upgrade, is risky. I think that's why Wilde makes the most sense as a piece in the trade, the Blues need him more than the Isles and he doesn't subtract from the current Isles' roster.