Friedman: "Blues are looking at this as a 'win now' year"

Elliotte Friedman was on Calgary’s Sportsnet’s 960 on Friday morning.

On if the St. Louis Blues are looking at this year as a chance to win:

“There’s no question in my mind the St. Louis Blues are looking at this as a ‘win now’ year. And it’s not only because other teams are down, it’s because you look at their division - you have to go in there with your best. Even though Chicago is going to be missing Patrick Kane, St. Louis is looking at them in the first round like, ‘This is not going to be easy.’

“They had Chicago down 2-0 last year and couldn’t close them out. I still think they look at it like this is a team they have trouble beating.

“There’s no question – they’re another team, I think, that was interested in doing Michalek and Vermette together. I couldn’t get any confirmation out of Armstrong, but I do believe they’re a group that’s willing to do that.

“They saw Calgary twice this week on back-to-back nights in New York and New Jersey. That’s no coincidence. They’re there for a reason. They are trying to add.

“And you know what? The other thing too is if you look at their roster, they’ve got some big decisions they’ve got to make. Jake Allen is a restricted free agent. Tarasenko is a restricted free agent. Lehtera is an unrestricted free agent next year. Jaden Schwartz is a restricted free agent next year, and they had a really hard contract battle with him early this season.

“They know they’re getting to the point – and they want to do Tarasenko long term – so they know they’re getting to the point where this group, they’re going to have to break them up a little bit. This is potentially the last year of the window for this particular team. They are absolutely out to buy.”

Source: Sportsnet 960/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey

Nichols on Hockey

Nichols on Hockey

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