According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the Blues appear to be in on Arizona Coyotes defender Jakob Chychrun and Montreal Canadians rear-guard Ben Chiarot.
Of note here, Friedman said St Louis has been aggressive in their pursuit of Chiarot, and it seems that they believe Chiarot would be the person to add at the deadline. So, let's look at both players and see who would potentially be a better fit with the blue notes.
Chychrun, 23, has 5 goals and 14 assists for 19 points in 45 games this season. He's not the best at producing offence on a basement-dwelling team like Arizona, but if you were to put him on a team like St. Louis, I would expect those offensive numbers to go up. Chychrun is also on a team-friendly deal with 4 years left at $4,500,000 and room to grow.
Chiarot, 30, has 7 goals and 9 assists in 51 games this season. He's on an expiring deal worth $3,500,000 and is one of if not the worst defenders in the league, albeit on a re-building Montreal squad. Like I said above, if Chiarot were to land in St.Louis, his numbers would most likely improve, but not by a whole lot.
Opinion: If I'm the GM of the St. Louis Blues and I have a chance to land both of these players, I pick Chychrun over Chiarot all day, every day.
POLL | ||
9 MARS | 71 ANSWERS St. Louis Blues linked to two ''big name'' defenders Who should the Blues Acquire at the deadline? | ||
Chiarot | 18 | 25.4 % |
Chychrun | 25 | 35.2 % |
Other | 28 | 39.4 % |
List of polls |