3 St. Louis Blues Who Won't Be Back Next Season: Post Trade Deadline Fallout

The St. Louis Blues have finally jumped into a playoff spot and have been playing well. This isn't a championship team they have, but the building blocks are there. They have to make some offseason changes even though too many clauses in contracts have been handed out over recent years.

Ryan Suter

Ryan Suter is now 40 years old and is nearing the end of his career. He has said he wants to play next season, but the Blues should move on from him. It is just too crowded on the back-end and the expectation is that Torey Krug will be ready for next season. Though Suter has played better than expected, he would be blocking Tyler Tucker and Matthew Kessel from getting more playing time in the NHL.

Nick Leddy

It is a similar situation with Nick Leddy as with Suter. Leddy has also been good enough this season, but the Blues need to move on from their old group of defensemen sooner than later. Leddy's contract opens up from a full no-trade clause to a 16-team trade list after the season and it gives the team the opportunity to clear cap space and a roster spot. Between Justin Faulk, Colton Parayko, Philip Broberg, Cam Fowler, and even Krug, the top-4 is very much full and St. Louis will no doubt have some interest in Leddy so the team can move off of him for the final year of his deal at $4 million AAV.

Radek Faksa

While Radek Faksa is the easiest to move on from because he is the only one of the 13 forwards who is a free agent at the end of the season, he and Oskar Sundkvist are somewhat similar. Faksa is overpaid for what he brings as a fourth line center and penalty killer, but he is great in the faceoffs. That would be the main reason why the Blues could sign him to a cheaper extension, but this team needs upgrades as well at forward. Sundkvist has one more year left on his contract, but if the Blues don't move on from Faksa, I think Sundkvist is the next option.