Better than it went for the teams that did sell forwards at this deadline. Pretty much everyone went for peanuts except Adam Henrique.

You are missing the point by a mile.

Name me any other player in the history of the league traded for 3x1st, I'll wait.

The only “mistake” JR made was his wording of the Kyrou/Berube tweet, which obviously upset you since you’re Kyrou’s #1 fan. For a guy who has covered the team for close to 20 years he’s done a decent job. Listen to the Last Minute Blues Podcast once and you’ll realize how often Kyrou’s effort is criticized. I can’t wait til they trade him and see you on every Blues forum degrading the return we get.

Would be another story if you were at the Sharks point of a retool but except if he simply doesn't like his coach or GM I'd just keep him around.

Yup. I'm not suggesting there's no way Kyrou ever gets traded, but there's a segment of the town who have been pushing the concept of running him out of town for years now, since before he even came up. Because that's their idea of being a Blues fan, I suppose.

I'm just wanting to chime in after finally reading all of this (thanks to a busted windshield, my CF reading was delayed).

I honestly have high hopes for Kyrou. He fits the core perfectly and he has a speed element that the rest of the team lacks. Does he have his flaws? Of course. But one thing is it seems like he is focusing more on his defensive game this season since that was a flaw last year, but his offense is taking a hit. If I remember correctly, it was a similar situation with Perron before he left. Just don't see Kyrou leaving then coming back like Perron did, but I can see him steadily improving his game. Signing at that 8 year deal will look like a steal, especially if he can be a consistent PPG player. I'd rather him be here at a PPG player with potential for more than that than trade him and have him somehow put up 100 points in a new system and making us look like fools. However, on the flip side, if we can get a huge haul for him somehow that is centered around a young d-man, I may be for that as long as it makes the team better overall.

Personally, I would like to keep Kyrou. He seems to love STL and shows passion when he wants. Just wish he was more consistent but that should come over time

(sigh)

No, it was wildly unprofessional for him to do what he did with that Kyrou quote. That was the antithesis of journalism. He knowingly posted a stray quote with zero context of any kind, and then he DEFINITELY lied by saying it was a mistake - "gosh, I had no idea it would have this reaction". Lie. You know it. I know it. We all know that is a bald-faced lie. Not having a confession is not the same as having an opinion. Let's not pretend here. And saying he has zero scoops, and his attempts are comically poor is not an opinion, either. Feel free to name the last scoop JR broke. Or the last time he tried and it wasn't a flop. He doesn;t even try anymore, because he knows nobody tells him anything.

Saying why he did it definitely is an opinion, or really more theory, but... c'mon. This is certainly not the first time he's done something like this. One time is one thing. Repeatedly is another. Again, let's not pretend. He's earned this criticism.

1 - Uhh... what? The wording. I genuinely have no idea what you think you mean by that, as the fact there was no wording to speak is the entire journalistic issue. And a glaringly obvious J-101 kind of issue, at that.

2 - Muh huh. Not hating Kyrou = #1 fanboy. Got it. Never heard that one before. But no, it upset me as a Blues fan and as a person who insists on professional journalism.

3 - And there it is. It's not even about Kyrou the player anymore. And if they do trade him, I can't wait to see which Blues ace you'll pick next to run out of town fueled by a misguided yet intractable grudge. Should be fun had by all.

can't remember for certain, it was a few weeks ago but it was on twitter, probably one of the guys noted listed

To not have a self awareness when the one coach in the history of an organization to bring you a championship gets fired to not say anything but nice things about him when he gets fired is a pretty big red flag. You can blame JR all you want, but Kyrou is the one that said it and he never denied saying it...

Yeah, I can only assume it was Rutherford. He went on a podcast and guess there was a "50-60% chance" the Blues trade him before the NTC kicks in. It wasn't news or anything like that. Like I said, it's not the first time he's done this with a Blues player. He was constantly trying to push Tarasenko out of town, presumably because Tarasenko refuses access to clowns, and predicted several times over years that Tarasenko was soon headed out the door, only to be super wrong every time - until he was a UFA on a cap strapped team missing the playoffs, which was plainly obvious to everyone.

This is not a new routine from JR. Just FYI.

1 - The issue is not the accuracy of the quote. Completely irrelevant.

2 - Kyrou said nothing wrong. There's nothing wrong with being diplomatic. It's not like hockey players tend to say anything interesting in interviews anyway.

3 - The only thing JR is being blamed for is being an unprofessional hack on a sinking ship of an outlet with no accountability who tries to manufacture player controversy all the time. Which he is. But hey, if you want to back the guy who messes with your players for clicks and then lies to you about it with the lamest lie possible, more power to ya.

Meanwhile, we're still waiting on his analysis of the very noticeable improvements Kyrou has made to his 200 ft game in the last year... or how Schenn is by far the worst Blues forward defensively, and a captain with a long, juicy contract no less... I won't hold my breath.

First of all, yes the Oilers got 3 1sts for Gretzky, and he's the best player of all time, and those picks were 16th, 18th, and 20th overall, in drafts where there were at most 26 1st round picks, and as few as 21, so they're late picks. Not saying they aren't 1sts but Montreal would be trading a former 26th overall pick, the jets 1st which is currently 26th overall in a draft that supposedly drops of significantly after pick 20 or so, and a pick that realistically is no higher than 11th, but even then that's a stretch (read the conditions on the flames/panthers pick if you don't understand that). Jordan Harris is expendable, and if we were to trade him alone I doubt the return is more than a 3rd, Engstrom was a 3rd 2 years ago, and RHP is nothing special, just a hard-working undersized depth forward.

I'm not saying Kyrou is worth more than Gretzky, but you're ignoring the fact that the Oilers got more than just 3 1sts for him, they got 15 million dollars (almost $40 million in todays world with inflation), Jimmy Carson, a 22 year old forward who just had a 55 goal 107 point season, and Martin Gelinas who was drafted 7th overall that same summer. By your logic, Gretzky got 5 1sts, not 3, and 2 of those 1sts being top 10 picks, one of them already being a legitimate superstar.

There may not have been any other players traded for 3 1sts, but the reason I made the offer for Kyrou so big is because the Blues might not be 100% willing to move him, and so you've gotta pay more than "what he's worth" (which is subjective based on your opinions and how you value assets), but it wouldn't ruin Montreal making this deal because we've been stockpiling picks/prospects for the past 3 years and not all of them are gonna have the same value in 5 years as they do now. For all we know, all 7 pieces going to St. Louis in this deal could "bust" and the Blues end up with nothing for Kyrou, or all 7 could explode in St. Louis and Montreal look back on this trade the same they do with the Drouin-Sergachev deal (or even worse). There's only room for 23 guys on the roster, and 50 under contract, at some point guys will have to go so why not get value for them all now rather than lose some of them for nothing

yup, that's it

Explain how he is being a "hack" by reporting exactly what Kyrou said? Before you said he took him out of context - how? Kyrou said: "I've got no comment. He's not my coach anymore." Where are the lies and agenda that you imply???

You see nothing wrong with someone showing no remorse or responsibility about the only coach in the history of the organization to win the cup getting fired because of your team's performance? We live by 2 different codes then...

TL;DR; No player not named Gretzky was ever traded for 3x1st, making this trade idea for even a bigger return totally unreasonable in reality based on comparables.

If you would've read it you would see Gretzky got more than 3 1sts, and this return isn't even relatively close to what Gretzky got

Okay, well apparently you don't understand what out of context means. Not trying to dig, it's just the case here. Out of context means exactly what it says: presented out of context. Posting a quote without even telling what the question was is the literal definition of it of context. AND he also clipped off the end of the quote. One could not get more out of context if they tried. On the out of context scale, that hits 100%. Every time. That he did it like this in the wake of Chief's firing, with half the town screeching that Kyrou got Berube fired, was not just journalistic malpractice, it was a nasty thing to do. He was trying to push his agenda against Kyrou. And we both know it's not the first time he's done this. That's a hack and a half.

Then when it caused the obviously predictable reaction, he wrote his little pretend act column saying ohhhh I had no idea it would cause such a stir OMG I have toootally learned my lesson now! Straight up bull****. He knew what the reaction would be, because duh. Mr. Been Covering For 20 Years had no earthly clue? Didn't know all along that what he was doing was the opposite of journalism? Didn't know he'd get sooo many clicks? The 20 year journo was totally surprised by all of it?

Brother. If you believe one word of that tale for one second, could I interest you in a timeshare on Mercury? Because if you buy any of that, you'll buy anything.

1. JR caused a stir based off his tweet about Kyrou and Chief’s relationship, perhaps he could have worded his question to Kyrou differently. Perhaps people wouldn’t have boo’d him them.

2. I’ve never seen a Kyrou post on any forum here you have at least slightly agreed with, you usuallly defend Kyrou to the core.

3. When Kyrou gets traded in the next 15 months you’ll rip the return the Blues get and say it’ll set us back years, I guarantee it. FYI Snuggerud will be better than Kyrou. I’d rather give Snug the top minutes and see what type of chemistry he can cook with Thomas.

He literally wrote any article quoting Kyrou word for word. Maybe his tweet was attention grabbing but that's his job. He didn't make Kyrou say what he said and Kyrou never denied that he said what he said. At some point, Jordan Kyrou is an adult and is accountable for his own words. Not the reporter who asked him his thoughts on his ex-coach (who will always be beloved in this town). Kyrou got booed and deservedly so for what he said. He later apologized and had an awesome game the next night and was cheered. If you want to blame the whole thing on JR, that's your prerogative. We all make mistakes in life. I commend Kyrou for admitting his mistake in the situation and playing through it and learning. He wasn't"misreported on" or "taken out of context" by even a little bit though...

1 - Nobody even knew what the question was, which is just the start of the problems with what he did. Wording has nothing to do with anything. Scroll up a comment, I explained it in detail.

2 - I'm usually defending him because he's often unfairly attacked. And just because you have not seen my criticize him doesn't mean it hasn't happened. Just recently somebody put him in their top 10 right wingers list and I said, nah, he ain't there yet. Defending Kyrou a lot is just something sane Blues fans have to do.

3 - You have no clue if he will be traded or what the return could be, so it's pretty funny that you can say with absolute certainty what my reaction would be. How does one acquire such superpowers? I could make good use of something like that.

1 - No, he did not write an article at all. He posted the quote with no context of any kind in a tweet. That's what he did. This is an undeniable, immovable fact. There was no article, I have no idea where you got that idea.

2 - No the **** it is not. Forget team beat writer.... you think a journalist's job is grab attention by twisting the knife in an interview subject's back?

The rest of this is just wanton reaching off a false premise. Buddy, I am sorry to be the one to tell you this, but if you do not even know what out of context means (which is just blowing my mind, as it literally states the meaning in the term) and you think what he did qualifies as a journalist's job, then you are not yet capable of opining on the topic at all. That's the most basic journalism 101 stuff. You should start with the meaning of out of context and go from there.

Kyrou doesn't hate JR but you do...Jesus..you're like a Swifty only for Kyrou...

Here is JR's tweet -
Kyrou on relationship with Berube: "I've got no comment. He's not my coach anymore.
https://x.com/jprutherford/status/1735387371053465667?s=20

Here's the article written after the game after Kyrou cried.
https://theathletic.com/5138044/2023/12/15/blues-fans-boo-jordan-kyrou-postgame-tears/

ST. LOUIS — The automatic doors to the St. Louis Blues’ locker room opened Thursday around 11 a.m., and the media did what we always do after a morning skate on game day, dispersing to different players and doing a few interviews.

I saw Jordan Kyrou sitting alone in his stall.

It had been just over 24 hours since the Blues fired Craig Berube and brought in Drew Bannister. Kyrou was someone Berube pushed and prodded to produce, which can often lead to a contentious relationship between a player and a coach. As a reporter who’s around the team a lot, I have been asked about this particular relationship on a number of occasions.

Several of the Blues had spoken about Berube’s departure and how they took the news. I hadn’t read or heard anything from Kyrou, so I decided to talk to him about it myself.

What were your thoughts on the coaching change?

Does it seem like a fresh start?

Then came the third question.

There’s so much out there about the relationship between you and Berube. Is there anything you would want to say about that?

“I’ve got no comment,” Kyrou replied. “He’s not my coach anymore.”

I told Kyrou that I understood and we moved on to a different topic. The chat lasted three minutes, I said “Thanks” and walked away.

Sometimes when a player says something people might be heavily interested in, you post it on social media relatively quickly. But it was three hours before I was back at my laptop, typing in the comments from the morning practice.

Did I think Kyrou’s comment might evoke a response? Sure. I’ve been on X, formerly Twitter, since 2009, and I cover a professional sports team for a living. I know that fans are passionate and reactionary. I’ve sent out a few quotes over the years that created a stir, and as long you’re 100 percent confident in the accuracy, it’s part of the job.

What unfolded Thursday, though, was different. Kyrou was trending on X. National TV networks were creating graphics. And when the Blues’ game against the Ottawa Senators began, many in the crowd of 18,096 at Enterprise Center were booing him when he was announced in the starting lineup and then every time he touched the puck.

Not only was Kyrou booed during his pregame introduction, but apparently #stlblues fans have been booing him every time he touches the puck tonight pic.twitter.com/8FlVUdXCiE

— Blues Buzz (@bluesbuzzblog) December 15, 2023

Even though Kyrou said what he said, I watched from the press box wishing it would stop. I realize fans can do what they desire, but I’m just being honest about how I felt.

After the Blues wrapped up a 4-2 victory, in which Kyrou assisted on the fourth goal, the club’s public relations department said that he would speak with reporters again in the locker room. One by one, Robert Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich and Kyrou emerged.

I felt the responsibility to ask the first question and give Kyrou a chance to say anything he wanted, whether it be a clarification or whatever.

“Obviously I respect Chief,” he said. “He’s been my coach for the whole time I’ve been here, right? So I respect everything he’s done here. He’s done a great job. He won a Cup. All I really meant is I’m just trying to focus on my future and focus on what I can do to help my team win. That’s all I really meant.”

Kyrou said that he learned of the backlash when he woke up from his afternoon nap. He said he didn’t know what the reaction would be at the rink. But he quickly found out.

“Yeah, I definitely heard those,” Kyrou said. “That’s not easy, obviously. But I see where they’re coming from, with my comments on it. That’s definitely tough. I love playing here. I love playing in front of the fans.”

Kyrou on getting booed by fans throughout tonight's game: "I see where they're coming from with how my comment sounded."

And he gets emotional when saying: "It's just tough, right? I love playing here. So, it's just tough to hear the fans booing me there." #stlblues pic.twitter.com/FsRZPadaP7

— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) December 15, 2023

Kyrou was asked what he’d say to those fans.

“Sorry if it sounded in a bad way at all,” he said. “I’m just really trying to focus on the future here and focus on what I can do to help our team win and getting wins for the boys.”

Kyrou did help on Thursday. Along with his assist, he was a plus-3 and directed nine shots on net in 17:27 of ice time.

But afterward, he acknowledged, “It’s definitely the toughest game I’ve probably played, to be honest.”

At that point, Kyrou grew emotional and was asked about those raw feelings.

“I mean, it’s just tough,” he said, breaking down a bit. “I love playing here so much. It’s just tough to hear the fans booing me there.”

I asked Kyrou one more question, about this perhaps being a bump in the road and fans loving him again soon.

“Like I said, I just want to focus on my future, focus on trying to be a more complete player and what I can do to help the team win,” he said. “That’s my goal right now.”

I have a goal, too. To make sure that I provide more context when posting comments on social media. Sometimes I do, and other times I don’t, and this is one that could have used some. It’s often difficult to describe someone’s tone. Was it flippant? Was it malicious? For anyone still wondering, and I’ve listened to the audio again many times, it’s not as much disdain as it is matter-of-fact and moving on.

A few fans on social media have suggested to me that Kyrou said what he meant and only clarified it because of the backlash. That’s your right to believe, but I’m going to choose to think that when given the chance to elaborate, he did, and he chose his words well.

“He helped me in a lot of ways,” Kyrou said of Berube after the game. “He’s really helped me round out my game, try to be a more complete player. I respect him as a guy, no hate toward him at all.”

Thursday, there was someone in the press box who knows all about getting booed in St. Louis, so I approached him about the situation.

In 1995, Chris Pronger was acquired by then-Blues GM Mike Keenan from the Hartford Whalers for fan favorite Brendan Shanahan. Pronger was booed by the hometown fans, not for something he said, like Kyrou, but, well, because he wasn’t Shanahan.

I asked Pronger what that was like.

“It’s not nice,” he said. “It’s nice when you’re on the road and getting booed because it means you’re doing your job. But when you’re at home getting booed, whether it’s the team not playing well or you’re not doing your job, or if it’s a trade that, frankly, had nothing to do with me or whatever, the (fans) will get over it.

“Getting booed, you’ve got to put your big-boy pants on. You’re getting paid a lot of money to produce, and you’re getting paid to win. When you don’t, and you’re not performing up to the level that’s expected, emotions are a big part of it — from the fans to ownership, management, coaches, media, all the way down. So it can get a little contentious at times, but in today’s environment, the page is going to be turned and they’re going to go to a new story. It may play out in St. Louis for a couple more days, but NHL Network is going to go to ‘so and so got hurt.’ They’re always going to go on to the next story.”

However long that takes, hopefully this can be a lesson for both a player in a high-profile position and a reporter who has an important responsibility. I know it will be for me.

I don't need you to recap anything. All I need right now is for you to stop litigating and simply learn what out of context means. Not even in a journalistic sense, which is cardinal sin important. Just the basic definition of the term. You've expertly proven my point for me and don't even realize it.

Or don't understand it, it's no skin off my nose. But I won't respond any further on this matter until you can at least understand the absolute basics of what you're on about.

The only point you have proven is your unconditional love for Kyrou. That’s fine and your right as a fan.

His tweet said - Kyrou on his relationship with Berube. “I’ve got no comment. He’s not my coach anymore”

The article showing the full question - didn’t take anything out of context.

Maybe Kyrou meant to say that he was more focused on the future like he did after the game and after he got coached by the Blues PR team. But he didn’t say that at the time of the initial interview…you can defend him all you want but his self awareness was not there initially. I think he is more aware now and that’s good. Your blaming everything on the reporter and having no accountability for the player who actually said the words, not good.