The value is there for both teams, but the blues aren’t in a position to add another LD. It’s already a logjam.

Even if we buyout Krug?

I don’t even want to think of a world where we buy Krug out for 6 more years

It's not close for the Sharks. I've said this before but the return for Ferraro would be about half of Meiers return which was:
- 1st round pick
- 2nd round pick (with conditions to upgrade to 1st)
- High end prospect
- Young Middle/top 6 NHL forward
- Young Depth NHL D-man with middle paring potential

The offer was an overpay. It was a former 17th OA pick and a 2nd.

If you're looking to get the type of return you suggested, Ferraro isn't getting moved, which I'd imagine is fine if you see him as Jaccob Slavin as you seem to.

Yeah I definitely wouldn't pay that. I don't very many teams that would pay that.



I thought the value was relatively fine. Bolduc has good value, but he might also be one of the better of our abundant young forwards to turn into a defenseman.

I think it's all subjective to what you believe Ferraro is or can be in a better situation.

Defensive defenseman are guys you trade for when you want to push yourself over the top, they’re “ceiling raisers.” The Blues need “floor raisers.” Ferraro barely moves the needle for STL.

I tend to agree that of the "higher end" forwards the Blues have in their system Bolduc is the one that makes the most sense to move in a larger trade. And yes the Blues have been winning recently, so that makes it more tempting to pull of a larger trade now. But I'm not convinced now is really the time for the Blues be moving those assets given the money they have on the books. So many of the guys they're relying on heavily being over 30- Parayko, Faulk, Binnington, Schenn in particular- there's still plenty of opportunity for this team to take a step back in the next year or two even with the reinforcements they have coming.

And there's a lot of variance to what Ferraro can be moving forward. He's got a good enough hockey IQ to be a solid defenseman on a contending team, but at 25 he's probably not reaching "top pair on a contending team" level anymore. I think he was an easy player to get hyped about given his attitude and more intangible qualities but if the Sharks are valuing him at Slavin level, that's especially too rich for the Blues given where they are.

I'm not opposed to adding though. I'd just bet smaller. Blues should consider looking into Ty Emberson if they're targeting young defensemen on the Sharks. Good defensive metrics, better than Ferraro's (on a terrible defensive team). He's been averaging 18 minutes a night for them (though he's only played half the season). Don't think he would cost a lot either.

Fair enough. I don't think the Blues should be buying for this season either. My view was that Ferraro is a young defenseman who would be useful for us down the line when we reach contention again. The only LD or really defenseman of any kind that we have concievably being ready by then would be Lindstein.

Well you need to also factor in that there's 2 drafts and 2 offseasons at least in the perceived time of this rebuild. A trade would be beneficial, but there's plenty of time for that. We're looking at probably 3-4 potentially available guys currently that may make sense to try and add to try and add substance to our LHD group at the top of the lineup. There will be the same most likely in 2-3 years as well. We just need to filter some guys out to get a more clear direction and see what we have at the same time before jumping on something that's wishful thinking

Are you saying Slavin would get dealt for anything less than a 1st ++? I'm not saying he's Slavin at all. There's a massive amount of middle ground between a 2nd and a ok prospect (at best) and the return that Slavin would get.

And yes Sharks will keep him unless the offer is in the stars. That's been established by the organization so I'm not sure why people low ball on this site

Exactly. Sharks don't want to move him. He'll only go if it's a fantastic offer.

Bolduc is a mid 1st round pick who is making his NHL debut tomorrow at 20. Saying an ok prospect at best is pretty disingenuous. He was a key piece in a team that won the Mem cup last year. Does he have possible bust potential? Sure but he also has very clear top of the lineup potential as well. In my viewing, there's nothing that suggests that Ferraro should return more than a 2nd and quite possibly 2 2nds. Generous comp Devon Toews, now granted that's also pretty unfair after seeing how things turned out.

What i'm suggesting is. If you're looking for a 1st + 2nd conditional to upgrade + a better than top 50 prospect last year + a young roster middle 6 forward and young roster defensive prospect you're valuing Ferraro similar to what I would imagine Jaccob Slavin would return which is just a wild assessment.

I mean you're comparing the return for Toews which is known as a brutal return. In hindsight even more so, but even at the time that was awful for the Islanders. Add to that the Islanders were in cap trouble and had a lot of blue liners and were actively looking to move one. That's the opposite situation the Sharks are in.

And no, that's not what i'm saying. That's the return that Timo got. What I'm saying is Ferraro is worth about half that. So a 1st + a good prospect. Or a First + young NHLer with top 6 FW/top 4 D potential. Or a conditional 2nd and a REALLY good prospect. Again, Sharks don't WANT to move him but will if someone comes to them with a very good return. He still fits the timeline of the rebuild and is a huge leader on this team

Seems like we had a miscommunication initially. Yes it was a brutal return in hindsight and yes situations are different.

I understand the rational of wanting a 1st and a good prospect for Ferraro, but I’m not really sure what he’s proven to return that at this point. He may be best off as a piece the Sharks keep that helps stabilize the youth. And that still a valuable role assuming he wants to continue in that role past his current contract. I know we all shoot for the best possible return. But I’m starting to slowly realize that there really aren’t a lot of buyers that have capital + cap flexibility + prospects to be in a position to make a push the chips move as well as pay for it. I think you’ll see a lot less movement of higher end players with term where it’s reasonable to ask for a good deal because of it. I’m not trying to dump on Ferraro, I just have a hard enough time seeing justification for a front office to pay a large amount for him. But then again I guess you could turn towards McCabe last year and even see that Monahan returned a 1st and see it the other way around.