- Ben Chiarot avec les Blues....
- Ça CHAUFFE!!!!
- Selon le journaliste le plus réputé de St-Louis...Jeremy Rutherford...
- Les Blues ont abandonné les dossiers Mark Giordano et Jakob Chychrun...
- Et sont ALL-IN sur Chiarot!!!
Anything can change, but one source said the Blues are no longer involved in talks with Seattle about Giordano, 37, and while Chychrun would make a lot of sense because of his age (23) and the term left on his contract (three years), it’s also thought that he’s not the type of player they’re focusing on.
Chiarot, on the other hand, does possess the attributes the Blues need to add. A 6-foot-3, 234-pound left-shot defenseman, “he’s hard to play against,” one NHL player told me Thursday night. I’ve confirmed that the Blues remain interested in the Montreal blueliner.
The Blues have been scouting Chiarot throughout the season, and just last week, Troy Brouwer, a former Blues forward and current part-time scout for the club, was in attendance for two Montreal games in Edmonton and Calgary.
But the prices for the top defensemen on the market are high.
The ask for Chiarot, for example, is a first-round pick or an “A” prospect. The Blues have their first-rounder this summer, along with prospects who could get the deal done, but is it worth it? At this point, the answer is no for a player who’s in the final year of a three-year, $10.5 million ($3.5 million average annual value) deal and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Going back to when the Blues traded for Jay Bouwmeester from Calgary, or when they got Justin Faulk from Carolina, Armstrong has always been more willing to make a swap for a player with term or one he believes he can sign to a contract extension.